MLB has a bracket challenge for the World Baseball Classic at worldbaseballclassic.com/bracket
Winner gets:
- $5,000
- 4 tickets to an MLB game of the winner’s choice (MLB says these tickets are worth $2,000)
- and $500 for MLBshop.com
The award goes out only if someone guesses all the bracket correct. Given the size of the bracket, I’m guessing there will be multiple people who get it.
Entries due Wednesday, March 4, 11pm CT.
Here’s my bracket:
I basically picked all the teams that MLB ranked as best: Ranking 2026 World Baseball Classic teams
There’s a lot of text on that page, so let me make it simple for you. Here’s the chart sort by best, and grouped by their pool.
WBC team rankings by pool
| MLB rank | Team | Pool |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Puerto Rico | A |
| 7 | Canada | A |
| 11 | Colombia | A |
| 13 | Panama | A |
| 15 | Cuba | A |
| 1 | United States | B |
| 6 | Mexico | B |
| 10 | Italy | B |
| 14 | Great Britain | B |
| 20 | Brazil | B |
| 2 | Japan | C |
| 8 | Chinese Taipei | C |
| 9 | Korea | C |
| 16 | Australia | C |
| 18 | Czechia | C |
| 3 | Dominican Republic | D |
| 4 | Venezuela | D |
| 12 | Netherlands | D |
| 17 | Israel | D |
| 19 | Nicaragua | D |
Tiebreakers
Since there will likely be a tie, MLB has several tiebreaker questions.
For the tiebreakers, I upped the amount from last WBC. Since the previous WBC in 2023 was so exciting, I think players might be more amped up this year, and thus slightly more HR and runs.
HR total
(How many home runs will be hit by all players during the 2026 World Baseball Classic?)
– 2023: 85
– My guess: 87
Runs total
(How many total runs will be scored by all teams during the 2026 World Baseball Classic?)
– 2023: 502
– My guess: 504
Runs in Final
(How many total runs will be scored in the Final?)
– 2023: 5
– My guess: 3
Best of luck to everyone.
Please join the challenge. I’ve LOOOOVE to see someone I know win.