World Baseball Classic champions: Every winning team over the years
· Yahoo Sports
After advancing to the final on a controversial third strike call, Team USA is in position to win their second World Baseball Classic championship. They'll face the winner of Monday's semifinal between Venezuela and Italy.
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The United States won their first title on the world stage in 2017 with an 8-0 rout over Puerto Rico. They also reached the final in the previous Classic in 2023, but lost to Japan after an iconic standoff between then-Los Angeles Angels teammates Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout for the final out. In 2026, it was Paul Skenes' heroic effort on the mound to quiet a Dominican Republic lineup that hit 14 home runs to that point, holding them to just one run on a solo shot from Junior Caminero.
Nolan McLean will be on the mound for the Americans in the championship.
If USA were to win their second WBC title, they would then have the second-most in the tournament's history behind only Japan, who won both of the first two in 2006 and 2009 and their third in '23.
Here's a look back at every World Baseball Classic winner through the years:
2006: Japan
- Championship game: Japan 10, Cuba 6
- Location: Petco Park, San Diego
- Third-place finisher: South Korea
- Fourth-place finisher: Dominican Republic
- MVP: Daisuke Matsuzaka, Japan
2009: Japan
- Championship game: Japan 5, South Korea 3 (10 innings)
- Location: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles
- Third-place finisher: Venezuela
- Fourth-place finisher: United States
- MVP: Daisuke Matsuzaka, Japan
2013: Dominican Republic
- Championship game: Dominican Republic 3, Puerto Rico 0
- Location: AT&T Park, San Francisco
- Third-place finisher: Japan
- Fourth-place finisher: Netherlands
- MVP: Robinson Canó, Dominican Republic
2017: United States
- Championship game:United States 8, Puerto Rico 0
- Location: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles
- Third-place finisher: Japan
- Fourth-place finisher: Netherlands
- MVP: Marcus Stroman, United States
2023: Japan
- Championship game:Japan 3, United States 2
- Location: LoanDepot Park, Miami
- Third-place finisher: Mexico
- Fourth-place finisher: Cuba
- MVP: Shohei Ohtani, Japan
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: World Baseball Classic winners: Every champion since 2006