Team SA Baseball5 secures World Cup spot as continental runners-up

Team South Africa Baseball5 qualified for the 2026 WBSC World Cup after finishing as runners-up in the continental championship.

Six national teams took part in the WBSC Baseball5 Africa Region Qualifiers, held from 5 to 8 November 2025 at the OYDC Zambia – Sports Development Centre in Lusaka.

South Africa’s campaign began strongly through the group stages, where they recorded key victories over Cape Verde, Zambia, Kenya, and Burkina Faso to secure a semi-final berth.

In the semi-final round, South Africa faced Cape Verde in a tense three-set thriller, winning 5–3, 7–8, 10–5 to qualify for both the championship final and the 2026 World Cup.

In the title decider, South Africa went head-to-head with an unbeaten Tunisia side. The North Africans continued their dominant form, taking the opening set 7–3 before edging the second 6–4 to claim the championship.

The tournament featured Tunisia, South Africa, Cape Verde, Kenya, Zambia, and Burkina Faso. With the expansion of the Baseball5 World Cup from 12 to 16 teams, Africa has two continental spots at next year’s global event, both of which were secured by Tunisia and South Africa.

This year, three regional qualifiers were held across the continent to determine the participating nations — one each for the Eastern, Western, and Southern Zones.

U23 Team Also Headed to World Cup
The success follows an earlier qualification this month when South Africa's U23 team outscored Zimbabwe in the African Championship Game at the Boksburg Cardinals facility in Gauteng to earn a spot in the WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup 2026.

Team SA dominated the two-way round-robin against Zimbabwe and Benin, becoming the 11th team to earn a spot in the WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup 2026.

Nicaragua will host the VI WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup from 6 to 15 November 2026.

 The WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup is an evolution of the U-21 Baseball World Cup, which was hosted by the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association (CTBA) in 2014 in Taichung.

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