After three years off, the World Baseball Classic is back and the United States is looking to win its first title since 2017. The U.S. lost in the 2023 final to Japan, culminating with the memorable moment of Japan’s Shohei Ohtani striking out Mike Trout in the ninth inning.
This time around, the United States is the heavy favorite, opening at +140 to win the title at BetMGM sportsbooks, and currently the odds-on favorite at -110. Not surprisingly, the U.S. has generated the most bets (35.5%) and total dollars wagered (38.7%) among the 20 teams. The U.S. is the sportsbook’s biggest liability as well.
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The United States will begin its World Baseball Classic campaign in Pool B, with Mexico, Italy, Great Britain and Brazil.
Team Japan, led by Ohtani, has the next-best odds at +350 as it looks to defend its title, followed by the Dominican Republic at +400. Venezuela has 10-1 odds, but then no other team has better than 25-1 odds.
Puerto Rico opened with 12-1 odds, but currently has 25-1 odds, in large part due to New York Mets star Francisco Lindor announcing that he wouldn’t be participating in the tournament after he was unable to get the mandatory insurance required for international competition.
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Six teams — Brazil, Israel, Great Britain, Australia, Nicaragua, and Czechia — share the longest odds to win the 2026 World Baseball Classic at 500-1.
For everything you need to know about the event — which runs from March 5 through March 17 — be sure to check out Yahoo Sports’ primer from Chris Cwik.
Title odds for every team
USA -110
Japan +350
Dominican Republic +400
Venezuela 10-1
Puerto Rico 25-1
Mexico 25-1
Canada 50-1
Korea 66-1
Cuba 100-1
Netherlands 100-1
Colombia 100-1
Italy 100-1
Chinese Taipei 250-1
Panama 250-1
Brazil 500-1
Israel 500-1
Great Britain 500-1
Australia 500-1
Nicaragua 500-1
Czechia 500-1
