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Who will USA play next? Explaining 2026 World Baseball Classic bracket for semifinals originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Closer the United States moves to its second World Baseball Classic title.
Team USA took down its biggest threat yet, the Dominican Republic, with a 2-1 final score on Sunday night, thanks to a strong outing from Paul Skenes, plus home runs from Roman Anthony and Gunnar Henderson.
Mark DeRosa's squad, which had its WBC future up in the air as recently as a week ago due to its Pool B loss to Italy, is now cruising in the elimination bracket. In fact, with one more win, the U.S. will be back on top.
Here's what to know about Team USA's next opponent in the 2026 World Baseball Classic.
WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC HQ:Live scores | Updated standings | Full TV schedule
Who does Team USA play next?
Just one game remains for the United States, and it's the championship. However, the Americans don't yet know their official opponent for Tuesday's final game.
In the 2026 WBC title game, the U.S. will face either Italy or Venezuela; those two teams will meet in the second semifinal matchup on Monday night.
If Italy beats Venezuela, things will come full circle for Team USA. The end of Pool B play was a bit chaotic for DeRosa's team, as it surprisingly lost 8-6 to the Italians, but thanks to an Italy win over Mexico afterward, the U.S. still snuck into the elimination bracket. Now, the possibility of an Italy-United States championship matchup also remains.
The other possibility is United States vs. Venezuela, which would feature two star-studded lineups. Throughout the tournament, Venezuela has been riding the bats of Ronald Acuna Jr., Luis Arraez, Eugenio Suarez and more, including an upset of the defending WBC champs, Japan, in the quarterfinals on Saturday.
Regardless, just one game remains for Team USA, and one more win would cement its second-ever WBC title.
MORE WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC 2026:
- The biggest differences between WBC vs. MLB
- How many innings in World Baseball Classic games?
- Why WBC games can end early with mercy rule
- How qualifying, pool play, standings and more work in the WBC
How does the World Baseball Classic bracket work?
The 2026 World Baseball Classic knockout stage uses a cross-pool elimination format to determine which teams advance to the championship. After the group stage, there is a single-elimination bracket featuring the top two teams from each of the four pools.
The eight advancing teams are paired by their final pool standings, with the winner of one pool facing the runner-up of another. Those quarterfinal games were split between Houston and Miami, and in the semifinals, the tournament shifted entirely to Florida for the concluding rounds.
The winners of the quarterfinals advance to the semifinals in Miami. The four surviving teams compete in winner-take-all matchups to determine the two finalists who will meet in the championship game to crown the world champion.
MORE: How Paul Skenes, USA bullpen shut down loaded Dominican Republic lineup
World Baseball Classic bracket 2026
Here's a look at how the elimination bracket has played out so far at the 2026 World Baseball Classic.
Friday, March 13 - Quarterfinals
| Game | Time (ET) | TV/Stream |
|---|---|---|
| Dominican Republic 10, Korea 0 (7 inn.) | — | — |
| USA 5, Canada 3 | — | — |
Saturday, March 14 - Quarterfinals
| Game | Time (ET) | TV/Stream |
|---|---|---|
| Italy 8, Puerto Rico 6 | — | — |
| Venezuela 8, Japan 5 | — | — |
Sunday, March 15 - Semifinals
| Game | Time (ET) | TV/Stream |
|---|---|---|
| USA 2, Dominican Republic 1 | — | — |
Monday, March 16 - Semifinals
| Game | Time (ET) | TV |
|---|---|---|
| Italy vs. Venezuela | 8 p.m. | FS1 |
Tuesday, March 17 - Championship
| Game | Time (ET) | TV |
|---|---|---|
| USA vs. Italy/Venezuela | 8 p.m. | Fox |
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