World Baseball Classic qualification is the process that determines which nations will compete at the World Baseball Classic. Qualification takes place the year prior to the tournament, which itself is played every four years. Currently, sixteen nations compete at the World Baseball Classic proper. The twelve highest finishing nations from each WBC automatically qualify for the next edition; the remaining four slots are filled by the winners of four four-team qualifying tournaments. Therefore, twenty-eight nations enter the tournament at any point. To date, twenty-nine nations have entered either qualifying or the main tournament. Unlike other international tournaments such as the Rugby World Cup, FIFA World Cup, and FIBA Basketball World Cup, the qualifying tournaments are not arranged on a regional or geographic basis.
History
The 2006 and 2009 tournaments each had the same 16–team field, chosen by invitation. Starting with the 2013 tournament, the top 12 teams from the previous tournament qualified automatically and a qualifying round was added to determine the remaining 4 teams. For the 2013 tournament, qualifying tournaments were held in late 2012. The four nations – – that had failed to win games in the 2009 tournament were joined by twelve new invited nations. The qualifiers were organized as four independent modified double-elimination tournaments featuring four teams each. The final game was winner-take-all, even if won by the team emerging from the loser's bracket. That is, the team emerging from the winner's bracket might be eliminated despite losing only one game. Canada and Chinese Taipei won their qualifying tournaments to return to the main tournament, while Spain and Brazil qualified to make their World Baseball Classic debuts. For 2017 qualifying, Australia, Mexico, Spain, and Brazil were relegated to the qualification stage. Previous entrants Panama and South Africa returned, joined by the other invited nations, with the exception of Thailand, who was replaced by Pakistan, who was invited following its 5th-place finish at the 2015 Asian Baseball Championship.
