The World Baseball Classic has been an international hit this month — and the 20-nation tournament heads into its finale this weekend at Miami's LoanDepot Park.
Fans from all over the world have come to Miami the past two weeks to see the group of teams from Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Israel play. Fifteen other national teams have also been playing in Taiwan, Japan and Arizona.
Now the tournament’s final rounds are being held in Miami — and all but one of the last remaining six teams hail from the Americas.
In Friday night's quarterfinal game, Mexico plays Puerto Rico — whose pitchers threw a perfect game earlier this week. The winner will take on Japan in the Monday night semifinal.
On Saturday night, the U.S. faces Venezuela in the last quarterfinal; the winner plays Cuba in Sunday night's semifinal. The winners of the semifinal contests will vie for the championship Tuesday night.
The last World Baseball Classic, played every four years, was in 2017. The 2021 tournament was postponed until this year because of the pandemic.
The teams have featured several Major League Baseball stars, including José Altuve of Venezuela (who plays for the 2022 World Series champion Houston Astros) and Julio Rodríguez of the Dominican Republic (Seattle Mariners).
