Underdog Venezuela takes the crown for their first WBC championship. Harper’s clutch 2 out homerun in the bottom of the 8th tied it for the US, but after Suarez’s double for Venezuela scoring one the States couldn’t respond in the 9th, making this their first WBC championship.
The first run came across in the top of the 3rd when Garcia (VEN) hit a sacrifice fly ball, scoring Perez (VEN) on third. Later in the 5th, Abreu hit a bomb to center, making the game 2-0. The USA responded in the bottom of the 8th when Witt Jr. walked, and Harper hit the tying blast into the stands of centerfield. The stands went crazy when Suarez hit the go ahead double after Sonaja walked. This would be the last score of the game after the US wasn’t able to rally in the 9th. Acuna Jr. said after the game, “My country [needed] a championship. I just wanted to make my people proud.”
Venezuela wasn’t looked at by any means as the Championship team. Especially after they went 6-1 in pool play. Their loss to the Dominican Republic, who set the new WBC record with 15 homers, where they gave up 4 home runs. After that game, they’d go on to beat the previous champions, Japan. Then after that they beat team Italy, which punched their ticket to the Championship game where they’d go on to win it all.
The United States was the opposite of team Venezuela in the sense that coming into this tournament they were the projected winners, either them or the DR. The United States went 3-1 through their pool play games. Beating teams like Brazil, Great Britain, and Mexico. Their only loss came from the Italian’s, who kept an espresso machine in their dugout for every time they hit a homerun. The US would go on to duke it out through the playoffs beating Canada 5-3 and DR 2-1.
Notable players from USA throughout the tournament are Pete Crow-Armstrong only batting .263 but hit 2 homers, the young star Roman Anthony who also hit 2 bombs, and Gunnar Henderson who hit the go-ahead homer against the DR while batting .400. Countering that Venezuela held stars like Acuna Jr. and Tovar who both hit for average and supplied clutch homers in playoff games. Along with tournament MVP Maikel Garcia.
Venezuela 3-2 United States (Mar 17, 2026) Final Score – ESPN
