Men’s Softball goes global at The World Games 2025 in Chengdu

Despite being an established global sport with a wide international footprint, men's softball will make its debut at a global multi-sport event at The World Games 2025 in Chengdu, China. While the discipline has long been part of the Asian Games and the Pan American Games, it will be the first time men's softball features in a truly global multi-sport competition.

It’s true that men’s softball was included in the first edition of The World Games in Santa Monica in 1981. However, only four teams participated in that event - including two from the United States, along with Canada and the Bahamas - making it a competition limited to the Americas.

Now, 44 years later, Chengdu will host eight of the world’s top teams from four continents, competing fiercely for The World Games gold medal. The qualified teams - Canada and USA (North America); Argentina and Venezuela (South America); Japan and Singapore (Asia); Czechia (Europe); and Australia (Oceania) - are a testament to how global men’s softball has become.

The WBSC Men’s Softball World Cup is the sport’s premier men's competition. It has been hosted across all five Olympic continents, further demonstrating its international reach: Mexico, USA, and Canada in the Americas; South Africa in Africa; the Philippines in Asia; Czechia in Europe; and New Zealand in Oceania.

Moreover, nations from all five continents have reached the playoffs at least once, with Botswana’s top-eight finish in 2017 completing the global representation.

With women's softball featuring at the Olympic Games since its introduction in Atlanta 1996, men’s softball now has a unique opportunity to showcase the very best of the discipline on a major global stage.