Italy has just pulled off one of the most sensational feats in the history of international baseball: on 10 March 2026, the Azzurri beat the United States 8–6 at the 2026 World Baseball Classic in Houston. A result that travelled around the world, and the perfect occasion to explore the data on baseball around the world: a sport far more widespread than people think.

⚾ WBC 2026 · Pool B · Houston, 10 March 2026 🇮🇹 ITALY 8 – 6 USA 🇺🇸 The greatest Italian win in the country’s baseball history

Italy–USA 8–6: What Happened in Houston

It wasn’t just a game. In the words of the Italian national team’s general manager Ned Colletti — an MLB veteran with multiple World Series rings — it was something he had never seen before. The Azzurri, made up largely of Italian-American players active in MLB, dominated the world champions from the very first pitch, building an 8–0 lead before the Americans had even woken up.

Three decisive home runs came from Kyle Teel, Sam Antonacci and Jac Caglianone — the latter with a 110.4 mph hit in the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Michael Lorenzen held the American lineup scoreless for 4⅔ innings. The USA fought back to 8–6, with Aaron Judge, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Gunnar Henderson leading the response.

“This is one of the best days of my life” — manager Francisco Cervelli, a former MLB catcher and 2009 world champion with the New York Yankees. Italy closed Pool B with a 4–0 record, reaching the quarter-finals against Puerto Rico.

🎯 The detail that travelled around the world: The Azzurri’s tradition of celebrating every home run with an espresso served in an Armani jacket and a kiss on the cheek from captain Vinnie Pasquantino won over the media worldwide. A piece of Italian culture brought straight into the Houston dugout.

The World Baseball Classic: History and Roll of Honour

The World Baseball Classic is the leading international baseball tournament for national teams, sanctioned by the WBSC. Launched in 2006 with 16 teams and expanded to 20 from 2023, the 2026 edition ended on 17 March in Miami.

Year	Winner	Runner-up	Score	MVP
2006	🇯🇵 Japan	🇨🇺 Cuba	10–6	D. Matsuzaka
2009	🇯🇵 Japan	🇰🇷 South Korea	5–3 (10th)	D. Matsuzaka
2013	🇩🇴 Dominican Rep.	🇵🇷 Puerto Rico	3–0	R. Canó
2017	🇺🇸 USA	🇵🇷 Puerto Rico	8–0	M. Stroman
2023	🇯🇵 Japan	🇺🇸 USA	3–2	S. Ohtani
2026	🇻🇪 Venezuela	🇺🇸 USA	3–2	M. Garcia

Japan is the most successful nation in WBC history with 3 titles in 6 completed editions (2006, 2009, 2023), an all-time record of 30 wins and 8 losses (winning percentage .789). Italy reached the quarter-finals in 2013 and in 2023. However, the 2026 win over the USA is without doubt its highest point.

Baseball Around the World: The Olympics

Baseball around the world was also an official Olympic sport from 1992 to 2008, returned at Tokyo 2020 and will be back at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics at Dodger Stadium. Cuba never left the podium in the five editions it competed in.

Country	🥇 Gold	🥈 Silver	🥉 Bronze	Total
🇨🇺 Cuba	3	2	0	5
🇯🇵 Japan	1	1	2	4
🇺🇸 USA	1	0	2	3
🇰🇷 South Korea	1	0	1	2
🇳🇱 Netherlands	0	0	0	QF 2004

Cuban pitcher Pedro Luis Lazo is the most decorated athlete in the history of Olympic baseball, with 4 medals (2 golds, 2 silvers) between 1996 and 2008.

📌 Italy at the Olympics: Italy took part in the Olympic baseball tournaments of 1992, 1996 and 2000 without reaching the podium. With baseball returning for LA 2028, the Azzurri — riding the wave of enthusiasm from the 2026 WBC — could be serious candidates to play a leading role.

European Championship: the Netherlands–Italy Rivalry

The European Baseball Championship has been organised since 1954. In 38 editions through 2025, the Netherlands and Italy have won 35 of the 38 available titles between them, meeting in the final 27 times.

Country	🥇 Gold	🥈 Silver	🥉 Bronze	Total
🇳🇱 Netherlands	25	7	2	34
🇮🇹 Italy	10	18	4	32
🇪🇸 Spain	2	3	4	9
🇧🇪 Belgium	1	2	3	6
🇨🇿 Czech Rep.	0	0	1	1

The 2025 edition saw the Netherlands win their 25th European title, beating Italy 6–5 in the final in Rotterdam. The Czech Republic won their first-ever European bronze, defeating Spain in the third-place game.

Where Baseball Around the World Is Played and Watched

According to the WBSC, more than 65 million people in over 140 countries play baseball or softball. Here are the key markets:

Country	Players (est.)	Main league	Fans (per year)
🇺🇸 USA	~15 million	MLB (30 teams)	~68 million
🇯🇵 Japan	~7 million	NPB (12 teams)	~26.7 million
🇰🇷 South Korea	~1.5 million	KBO (10 teams)	~7.5 million
🇩🇴 Dominican Rep.	High (n/a)	LIDOM	N/A
🇲🇽 Mexico	~3 million	LMB / LMP	N/A
🇳🇱 Netherlands	~20,000	Hoofdklasse	Top in Europe
🇮🇹 Italy	~20,000	IBL (7 teams)	Very low

MLB and NPB are the two professional sports leagues with the highest live attendance in the world — higher than the NBA, NFL, NHL and any football league. NPB recorded around 26.68 million total spectators in 2024, with a per-game average of over 29,000.

🌍 Nielsen 2022 survey: Mexico leads global interest in baseball with roughly 50% of the population. Nigeria ranks 2nd. The USA comes 5th with around 30%. Japan shows 26% interest in MLB, but 30% in the WBC — national identity is closely tied to the international tournament.

World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC)

MLB.com

Japan: Where Baseball Is More Than a Sport

Baseball in Japan is not simply popular — it is the national sport. Introduced in 1872 by the American educator Horace Wilson, the game took on a cultural dimension that goes well beyond entertainment.

Around 7 million people play baseball in Japan (5% of the population). The summer high-school tournament — Kōshien — is broadcast nationwide and followed with the same passion Italians reserve for Serie A. NPB teams are often tied to major corporations (Yomiuri Giants, SoftBank Hawks) but have built extremely strong local identities.

The global reach of Japanese baseball peaked with Shohei Ohtani — the two-way superstar signed by the LA Dodgers on a ten-year, 700-million-dollar contract — and with the 2023 WBC title, when Ohtani struck out Mike Trout to win the most dramatic final in the tournament’s history.

⚾ Japanese baseball in numbers: 12 NPB teams · 2024 average attendance: 29,220 per game · 2024 total: ~26.7 million spectators · Yomiuri Giants: most successful club with 22 national titles · Kōshien summer tournament: followed by millions every August.

Italy and Baseball: A Growing Story

Italy has a baseball tradition that few people know about. The Italian Baseball Softball Federation (FIBS) has around 20,000 registered members. The Italian Baseball League (IBL) has 7 teams rooted in Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany and Lombardy — regions where the game arrived with American soldiers after the Second World War.

At the 2026 WBC, the Italian national team fielded young MLB talents — Fischer, Dante Nori, Sam Antonacci — led by veterans including captain Vinnie Pasquantino (Kansas City Royals). Manager Francisco Cervelli built an extraordinary team spirit, blending Italian identity with American technical expertise. The result? One of the greatest feats in the history of international sport.

With baseball returning at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics and a growing youth movement, the future of the Azzurri has never looked brighter.

Conclusions: A Sport Bigger Than You Think

Baseball around the world is one of the few sports with three areas of deep cultural roots — the United States, Japan and Latin America — and steady growth in emerging markets such as Europe, Australia and South Korea. Italy’s win over the USA at the 2026 WBC is not just a sporting feat: it is the sign that the gap between the major powers and the rest of the world is narrowing.

The next time somebody says baseball is “just an American sport”, you can answer: 3 world titles for Japan, 25 European titles for the Netherlands, 3 Olympic golds for Cuba — and an 8–6 win by Italy over the USA that travelled around the world. ⚾🇮🇹

🔗 Suggested links:

Baseball Around the World: Statistics, Global Reach and Who Dominates