World Baseball Classic, Inc. on Thursday announced the schedule for the qualifying rounds of the 2023 World Baseball Classic. The Qualifiers will be played in Regensburg, Germany, at Armin-Wolf-Arena from Sept. 16-21 and in Panama City, Panama, at Rod Carew National Stadium from Sept. 30-Oct. 5. The Regensburg Qualifier will feature the host club Germany, as well as teams from the Czech Republic, France, Great Britain, South Africa and Spain. The Panama City Qualifier will showcase the host club Panama, along with Argentina, Brazil, New Zealand, Nicaragua and Pakistan. The top two teams at each Qualifier will advance to the main tournament in March.
All qualifying games will be available to fans around the world on the World Baseball Classic YouTube and Facebook pages, as well as at WorldBaseballClassic.com and on MLB.TV. In addition, select games of countries participating in the qualifiers will be available locally based on the playing schedule:
United Kingdom: BT Sport
Germany: Sport 1
Nicaragua: Viva 13
Czech Republic: O2 Sport
Panama: Medcom/Cable Onda
France: beIN Sport
South Africa: ESPN Africa; ESPN Player
Brazil: ESPN Brazil
Qualifier Round (Double elimination) schedule — all times ET
Game times are subject to change
Pool A
Location: Regensburg, Germany
Venue: Armin-Wolf-Arena
Countries: Czech Republic, Germany, Spain, France, Great Britain, South Africa
Friday, Sept. 16
Game 1: South Africa vs. Spain, 7 a.m.
Game 2: Great Britain vs. France, 1 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 17
Game 3: Winner Game 1 vs. Czech Republic, 7 a.m.
Game 4: Winner Game 2 vs. Germany, 1 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 18
Game 5: Loser Game 2 vs. Loser Game 3, 7 a.m.
Game 6: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 4, 1 p.m.
Tuesday, Sept. 20
Game 7: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 7 a.m.
Game 8: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 1 p.m.
Wednesday, Sept. 21
Game 9: Winner Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8, 1 p.m.
Pool B
Location: Panama City, Panama
Venue: Rod Carew Stadium
Countries: Panama, Nicaragua, Brazil, Argentina, Pakistan, New Zealand
Friday, Sept. 30
Game 1: New Zealand vs. Brazil, 1 p.m.
Game 2: Pakistan vs. Argentina, 8 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 1
Game 3: Winner Game 1 vs. Nicaragua, 1 p.m.
Game 4: Winner Game 2 vs. Panama, 8 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 2
Game 5: Loser Game 2 vs. Loser Game 3, 1 p.m.
Game 6: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 4, 8 p.m.
Tuesday, Oct. 4
Game 7: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 1 p.m.
Game 8: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 8 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 5
Game 9: Winner 7 vs. Loser Game 8, 8 p.m.