CARY, N.C. – USA Baseball, Chinese Taipei Baseball Association (CTBA), and Japan University Baseball Federation (JUBF) announced today the joint creation of the World Collegiate Baseball Championship (WCBC). This event, which marks a significant addition to the global baseball calendar at the collegiate level, will bring together four teams for a five-day tournament that showcases the premier collegiate talent on an international stage.

The inaugural World Collegiate Baseball Championship will take place July 11-15, 2026, at Taichung City Intercontinental Baseball Stadium in Taichung City, Taiwan.

As the founding federations, USA Baseball, Chinese Taipei Baseball Association, and Japan University Baseball Federation will compete in the event each year, while the fourth team will be a wild card participant selected by the host country. The host country, as well as the wild card participant, will rotate annually. This year’s host country, Chinese Taipei, has invited Korea, who will represent the Korea Baseball Softball Association (KBSA), as the wild card team.

As part of the rotation of this event between the three federations, the United States is set to host in 2027 at the National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina, and Japan will host in 2028. The dates for the 2027 and 2028 events, as well as the wild card participants, will be announced at a later time.

The World Collegiate Baseball Championship format will feature five days of games, with three days of pool play followed by the semifinals and medal games. This year’s pool play games will be held July 11-13, with the semifinals to be played July 14 and the finals, which will consist of gold- and bronze-medal games, to be played July 15.

“We are excited to be the first host of this newly created event, which promises to be a very high level and competitive event. The main goal for this new event is to provide a stage for the best collegiate players to compete internationally and showcase their talent, thus gaining invaluable experience which will be beneficial to their baseball careers” said Richard Lin, Secretary General of the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association.

“This is an incredible opportunity for our Collegiate National Team to return to the international tournament stage by competing at the inaugural World Collegiate Baseball Championship,” said Paul Seiler, USA Baseball’s Executive Director/CEO. “Our goal working with the other international federations to create this event was to provide the highest level of competition for our respective teams while striving for a gold medal, which is what this tournament will do. We anticipate this being a marquee event on the international baseball schedule for years to come, and we look forward to not only representing the United States this year in Taiwan, but also hosting the event at the National Training Complex in 2027.”

“We are truly excited for this opportunity and believe this tournament will become an invaluable stage for our college baseball players, serving as an important steppingstone for their future careers. Gaining experience in such a high-level international competition is of great significance,” said Masayuki Naito, Japan University Baseball Federation Secretary General. “We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the United States for its outstanding leadership to make it happen, and Taiwan for being the first host for this tournament.”

The United States has a long-standing history of playing in head-to-head friendship series at the collegiate level with Chinese Taipei and Japan over the past five decades. The USA vs. Japan Collegiate All-Star Championship Series began in 1972 and has been played 45 times, while the USA vs. Chinese Taipei International Friendship Series was introduced in 1987 and has been played 21 times. Many notable players from the three federations have gone on to play professionally, including Alex Bregman (U.S.), Lin, An-Ko (CTBA), Kyle Schwarber (U.S.), Sung, Chia-Hao (CTBA), Morishita Shota (JUBF), and Sugano Tomoyuki (JUBF). Bregman, Schwarber, and Tomoyuki currently play in Major League Baseball (MLB), while Lin and Sung, and Shota compete in in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). Bregman, Ko, Schwarber, Sugano, and Shota all played for their respective countries at the 2026 World Baseball Classic.

Additionally, the three founding federations have competed against each other countless times at the youth level in World Cup events dating back to 1987. With these deep roots already established amongst the countries at the international stage, this tournament now provides an opportunity for collegiate level athletes to compete at a high level annually in a tournament setting.

USA Baseball will announce its full Collegiate National Team schedule, coaching staff, and Training Camp roster at a later time. For the most up-to-date information on USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team, visit USABaseball.com and follow @USABaseballCNT on Twitter/X and @USABaseball on Instagram.

The full 2026 World Collegiate Baseball Championship schedule is as follows:

(Game - Date - Matchup - Time (subject to change))

*all games will be played at Taichung City Intercontinental Stadium

Pool Play

• Game 1: July 11 - USA vs. Korea - 12:30 a.m. ET/12:30 p.m. local
• Game 2: July 11 - Chinese Taipei vs. Japan - 6:30 a.m. ET/6:30 p.m. local
• Game 3: July 12 - Japan vs. Korea - 12:30 a.m. ET/12:30 p.m. local
• Game 4: July 12 - Chinese Taipei vs. USA - 6:30 a.m. ET/6:30 p.m. local
• Game 5: July 13 - Japan vs. USA - 12:30 a.m. ET/12:30 p.m. local
• Game 6: July 13 - Korea vs. Chinese Taipei - 6:30 a.m. ET/6:30 p.m. local

Semifinals

• Game 7: July 14 - 2nd place vs. 3rd place - 12:30 a.m. ET/12:30 p.m. local
• Game 8: July 14 - 1st place vs. 4th place - 6:30 a.m. ET/6:30 p.m. local

Finals

• Game 9: July 15 - Loser Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8 - 12:30 a.m. ET/12:30 p.m. local
• Game 10: July 15 - Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8 - 6:30 a.m. ET/6:30 p.m. local