{"id":3947,"date":"2026-03-10T05:43:46","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T05:43:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/?p=3947"},"modified":"2026-03-10T05:43:46","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T05:43:46","slug":"five-of-the-greatest-upsets-in-world-baseball-classic-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/five-of-the-greatest-upsets-in-world-baseball-classic-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Five of the greatest upsets in World Baseball Classic history"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The World Baseball Classic (WBC) has been held since 2006, with this year\u2019s edition marking the sixth installment of the tournament.<\/p>\n<p>Traditional powerhouses such as Japan and the United States have dominated much of the competition, with the former alone capturing three titles so far. Yet the WBC has also produced its fair share of shock results. Even in the current edition, fans have already witnessed Chinese Taipei\u2019s dramatic 5-4 win over South Korea and Japan surviving a major scare against Australia.<\/p>\n<p>With that in mind, here are five of the most memorable upsets in WBC history.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_V7ldetbuUY?si=R0k-FY0DJghlszx6\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h1>Australia reach quarter-finals (2023)<\/h1>\n<p>Before 2023, Australia had struggled to make an impact in the WBC, winning only two games across several tournament appearances. Placed in a difficult group featuring Japan and South Korea, expectations were modest for the Australians.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, the Southern Thunder stunned the baseball world with an 8-7 victory over South Korea. The result helped propel Australia into the quarter-finals for the first time.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_eQ6TfePxJE?si=h8MCL8yYiCTrTZob\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h1>Netherlands silence South Korea in Seoul (2017)<\/h1>\n<p>South Korea entered the 2017 tournament as both host nation and one of the favourites. Many expected them to make a deep run, but their campaign unravelled almost immediately.<\/p>\n<p>After losing their opener to Israel, the Koreans were convincingly beaten 5-0 by the Netherlands in front of their home crowd in Seoul. The defeat contributed to South Korea\u2019s shocking first-round elimination.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Strong start to <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/WBC2017?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#WBC2017<\/a> for The Netherlands! They take a 5-0 victory over South Korea. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/EL8reMWvFI\">pic.twitter.com\/EL8reMWvFI<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 World Baseball Classic (@WBCBaseball) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WBCBaseball\/status\/839094378970767360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 7, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h1>Italy edge Mexico in dramatic fashion (2013)<\/h1>\n<p>Italy had long been regarded as one of Europe\u2019s strongest baseball teams but rarely threatened the tournament\u2019s elite sides.<\/p>\n<p>That changed in 2013 when the Azzurri stunned Mexico 6-5 in a dramatic group-stage clash as a crucial ninth-inning double from Anthony Rizzo allowed Italy to overturn a late deficit. The victory, followed by a 14-4 win over Canada, helped Italy advance to the next round.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/WBC?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#WBC<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/TeamItaly?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#TeamItaly<\/a> Classic Moments: 3\/7\/2013 vs Team Mexico \u2026 Anthony Rizzo\u2019s go-ahead two-run double in the ninth propelled <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Italy?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Italy<\/a> to a 6-5 win and opened their tournament with a bang. \ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf9 \u26be\ufe0f \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/NpKea2f3Lk\">pic.twitter.com\/NpKea2f3Lk<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Italian American Baseball Foundation (@IABF5) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/IABF5\/status\/1642158335095980037?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 1, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h1>Double Dutch shock for Dominican Republic (2009)<\/h1>\n<p>Perhaps the most famous upset in WBC history came in 2009. The Dominican Republic entered the tournament with a star-studded roster featuring MLB stars such as David Ortiz, Jose Reyes and Hanley Ramirez.<\/p>\n<p>Yet the Netherlands stunned the baseball world by defeating the Dominicans twice in the opening round: first 3-2 and then 2-1 in an extra-innings elimination game.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Gotta love an upset in the World Baseball Classic! \ud83d\ude31 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/YsKJxx2ACn\">pic.twitter.com\/YsKJxx2ACn<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 World Baseball Classic (@WBCBaseball) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WBCBaseball\/status\/1622799561365377029?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 7, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h1>Cuba eliminate Venezuela (2006)<\/h1>\n<p>In the inaugural 2006 edition, Venezuela fielded a formidable squad featuring MLB stars such as Johan Santana, Miguel Cabrera, Omar Vizquel and Bobby Abreu. Cuba, by contrast, relied entirely on players from its domestic league. Many observers expected the Cuban side to struggle against MLB talent.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, Cuba produced a dramatic 7-6 victory over Venezuela and went on to reach the final, where they eventually finished runners-up to Japan. Their remarkable run established Cuba as the first great underdog story in WBC history.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/KE2yixIFPOc?si=E5Q5H3giVRGqUEnc\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The World Baseball Classic (WBC) has been held since 2006, with this year\u2019s edition marking the sixth installment of the tournament. Traditional powerhouses such as Japan and the United States have dominated much of the competition, with the former alone capturing three titles so far. Yet the WBC has also produced its fair share of &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/five-of-the-greatest-upsets-in-world-baseball-classic-history\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Five of the greatest upsets in World Baseball Classic history<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":3949,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,5],"tags":[268,766],"class_list":["post-3947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-popular","category-top-stories","tag-baseball-en","tag-world-baseball-classic"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3947"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3947\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3951,"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3947\/revisions\/3951"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}