Whether it was historic upsets, records being broken, controversial calls, or incredibly hype moments, the 2026 World Baseball Classic reminded all of us just how truly amazing the sport of baseball can be and how much it means to people all over the world.
So let's take a look at some of the most memorable moments!
30. Junior Caminero go-ahead home run
Junior Caminero's two-run home run in the Dominican Republic's first game set the tone for the entirety of the World Baseball Classic. Not only did it lead to a win for the DR against Nicaragua, but the energy it brought is still marveled at even after the tournament ended.
Caminero led the DR powerhouse lineup with three home runs in the tournament. He went 7-for-20 (.350) at the plate with seven RBI, one double, one strikeout, and one walk.
29. Otto Lopez's insane relay
Canada shortstop Otto Lopez would have one of the best relays that fans would see all year, even among MLB games, after he gunned down Enrique Bradfield Jr., the fastest prospect in all of baseball heading into the 2026 season.
Lopez finished the 2026 World Baseball Classic going 5-for-19 (.267) at the plate with two RBI, one walk, and three strikeouts.
28. Austin Wells mercy rule home run
Dominican Republic catcher Austin Wells launched a three-run home run to put his squad up 10-0 in the seventh, enforcing the mercy rule on South Korea during the quarter-finals.
It was the only mercy rule called in post-Pool stage play and the most runs scored by any team for the quarter-finals to the title game.
Wells finished the WBC with four hits - two of them being home runs - and five RBI with a .267 average.
27. Manny Machado doing Manny Machado things
Machado doesn't have two Gold Gloves and a Platinum Glove without reason. Not only did he make one of the best plays of the entire tournament, he put up two them...back-to-back...in the same inning!
26. Dante Nori's two home runs
Nori's two solo home runs would help Italy earn their first win of the 2026 World Baseball Classic in an 8-0 shutout over Brazil. He would finish with the best batting average (.400) on the team, leading in hits (8) and RBI (6).
25. Hye-Seong Kim game-tying home run
Hyeseong Kim's only hit of the tournament in 12 at-bats was a game-tying home run in the top of the fourth inning against Japan.
South Korea would eventually lose the game 8-6 after a three-run seventh inning from Japan.
24. Enmanuel De Jesus' eight strikeouts
De Jesus set a Venezuelan record after recording eight strikeouts in five innings that led to an 11-3 win over Israel. He finished the game giving up just one run on two hits with no walks through five innings.
De Jesus would finish with the second-most strikeouts of any pitcher (starter and reliever) with 12.
23. Sam Aldegheri's eight strikeouts
While De Jesus had eight strikeouts, so did Sam Aldegheri in Italy's win over Brazil. However, unlike De Jesus, Adegheri recorded eight strikeouts in 4.2 innings while not allowing a single run on just one hit and two walks.
Aldegheri's .118 opponent batting average in the tournament ranked fourth among pitchers who played in at least two games, with De Jesus right behind (.120).
22. Seiya Suzuki's two home runs
After Japan saw themselves down 3-0 in the bottom of the first, Suzuki hit his first of two homers that would eventually lift Japan to an 8-6 win over South Korea.
His second would come just two innings later, which put them up 4-3. In the seventh, Suzuki would also walk home a run to extend their lead to 6-5.
21. Dominican Republic 15 home runs set WBC record
Caminero launched a solo home run off the USA's Paul Skenes during the semi-finals that marked 15 home runs as a team by the Dominican - the most ever in World Baseball Classic history. They had six players with at least two home runs and eight players in total with at least one.
It would be the only run of the game for the DR, as they eventually fell to the USA in a 2-1 loss.
20. USA hold DR bats to a single run
Heading into the game, the Dominican Republic led all WBC teams with 51 runs - not scoring fewer than seven runs in any game up until this point as they were considered the powerhouse lineup of the tournament.
But the USA pitching held them to one run, while recording a whopping 15 strikeouts and allowing just one walk with eight hits, eliminating them from the semi-finals. The Dominican Republic still finished the WBC as the only team to have over 50 runs scored.
19. Cristopher Sanchez's four strikeouts in one inning
Yes, even though three outs end an inning, Sanchez (Dominican Republic) pulled off a rare feat with four strikeouts after the first one became a passed ball, letting the run advance to first.
After giving up a run and loading the bases, Sanchez would punch three more strikeouts to minimize the damage and get himself out of the inning.
18. Julio Rodriguez robs Aaron Judge
Dominican Republic centerfielder Julio Rodriguez made the biggest catch of the semi-finals when he pulled back a home run from the USA's Aaron Judge.
It kept the USA's lead to just one run. But unfortunately for the DR, that's all the Americans needed to eliminate them from the WBC.
17. Trayce Thompson's catch of the tournament
Great Britain didn't have much to celebrate in the World Baseball Classic. However, their right fielder, Trayce Thompson, younger brother to NBA star Klay Thompson, undoubtedly made the highlight catch of the tournament when he robbed Will Smith of a home run.
16. Masataka Yoshida's go-ahead home run
Japan's Masataka Yoshida hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning that gave them a 2-1 lead over the feisty Australians.
They would eventually take a 4-1 lead before Australia hit two home runs in the bottom of the ninth a nail-biting final. But Japan held on and went a perfect 4-0 during the Pool stage.
15. Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) win in extras
The team from Taiwan didn't make it out of the Pool stage, but they trended online during the Classic after their emotional win over South Korea in extra innings that kept them from being eliminated.
Kun-Yu Chiang would hit a sacrifice bunt that would score Chieh-Hsien Chen from the third, which led to their eventual 5-4 win.
14. Mexico's 16 runs
Mexico's 16 runs against Brazil during the Pool stage were the most by any team throughout the tournament. The record of 22, held by South Korea (2023), still stands to this day.
They put up their 16 runs on exactly 16 hits with 11 different players having at least one, and consisted of four total home runs and four doubles.
13. Luis Arraez's historic two home runs
Venezuela's star bat Luis Arraez became the first player in WBC history to have multiple two-home run games. The first came in 2023 when Arraez hit two homers in a 9-7 loss to the USA in the quarter-finals.
This time around? In an 11-3 thrashing of Israel during the Pool stage.
12. Paolo Espino's final outing
Panama only took home a single win during the Pool stage, eliminating them from advancing, but veteran pitcher Paolo Espino received a standing ovation after he tossed 4.1 shutout innings in what would be his final game on the international stage.
11. Canada's first-ever quarter-finals
Canada came out of the Pool Stage with a 3-1 and took first place in a group that consisted of Puerto Rico, who were tournament favorites behind the US, Japan, and Dominican Republic, to advance to their first-ever World Baseball Classic quarter-finals.
They dominated Cuba 7-2 in their final Pool stage game and came out of the first round with the second-best team earned run average of any country, but would eventually lose to the USA in the quarter-finals 5-3 after putting up a tough fight against their North American rivals.
10. Ondrej Satoria's final outing
The Czech Republic were just one of three out of 20 teams that left the World Baseball Classic without a single win. But Ondrej Satoria's story of going from electrician to shutting out the reigning champions in his final ever start on a national stage definitely deserved to be on this list.
He finished the game after 4.2 innings, giving up just six hits and no walks with three strikeouts, one of them on the great Shohei Ohtani.
Satoria would later say, "Ending my national career in a game against the best team in the world is always special, especially here in Tokyo."
9. Bo-Gyeong Moon's WBC RBI record
South Korea's run in the World Baseball Classic came to a brutal mercy rule ending by the Dominican Republic in the quarter-finals, but it didn't come without excitement in the Pool stage beforehand.
Bo Gyeong Moon set the World Baseball Classic Pool stage record with a whopping 11 RBI. In fact, he was tied for the most in the tournament period despite not recording one in the quarter-finals - meaning he led all batters despite playing in only five games (most players could play in was seven).
Only Fernando Tatis Jr. (Dominican Republic) had as much as Moon and he played in two more games than him.
8. Wilyer Abreu home run vs. Japan
Abreu, who was also a hero in the World Baseball Classic final, hit the go-ahead home run against Samurai Japan in the quarter-finals that eventually gave them a 7-5 win over the defending champs.
He finished the WBC with a .250 batting average, tow home runs, and was tied for second on the team with seven RBI.
7. Japan's historic 10 runs in one inning
Japan wasted no time getting their first win after they put up a World Baseball Classic record of 10 runs in one inning.
Shohei Ohtani led the way with a grand slam to put them up 4-0. The remaining six runs would come off a Masataka Yoshida (5-0) followed by four straight singles, with the final one also coming from Ohtani (10-0).
Japan mercy ruled Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) in seven innings and won the game 13-0, giving up just one hit.
6. Darrell Hernaiz hits second walk-off home run
Not only did we see the first walk-off home run in World Baseball Classic history, but we saw two in this tournament alone, with the second coming from Puerto Rico's own Darrell Hernaiz in the bottom of the 10th inning.
Heading into the 9th inning, Puerto Rico was down 2-1 until they walked home a run with bases load, sending it into extras. Panama had scored in the top of the 10th to make 3-2, but Herenaiz launched his lone homer of the tournament, being just one of two Puerto Rican players to hit a home run.
5. Ozzie Albies hits first walk-off home run
The Netherlands had their struggles during their time in the 2026 WBC, but their own Ozzie Albies became the first player in World Baseball Classic history to ever hit a walk-off home run.
Albies' home run was just one of his three hits of the tournament and was also one of two Netherlands players to hit a home run - the other being Didi Gregorius, whose only hit of the tournament was his home run.
There had been a handful of "mercy rule walk-offs", but no actual walk-off home runs. The homer
4. Venezuela clinches first WBC title appearance
After a three-run seventh inning, Venezuela went on to end the run of the WBC's Cinderella team in Italy, who had also advanced to their first-ever semi-finals alongside Venezuela after they entered the game with a perfect 5-0 record.
Ronald Acuna Jr., WBC MVP Maikel Garcia, and Luis Arraez would each bring home one of the three runs with three separate singles. Check out the full game recap and its highlights here.
3. Italy upset USA
The Cinderella story of Italy was one that became known worldwide. They would go a perfect 4-0 in Pool play after a dominant win over Mexico to advance to their first-ever WBC quarter-finals.
But their big moment came during their upset over the USA, which sent shockwaves around the world as they ended up winning 8-6 against a team that was said to have the best roster in tournament history.
2. Vinnie Pasquantino's three home runs record
Italy's Vinny Pasquantino became the first player in World Baseball Classic history to ever hit three home runs in a single game. His historic game helped Italy to a perfect 4-0 record during the Pool stage of the tournament, effectively knocking out Mexico and helping the USA advance.
Pasquantino finished the WBC with just four hits - three of those came from home runs, which tied Caminero, Ohtani, and Jarren Duran (Mexico) for most of the tournament.
1. Venezuela win their first WBC title
For the first time in their country's history, Venezuela won the World Baseball Classic championship that came after a clutch RBI double from Eugenio Suarez in the top of the ninth inning. They held the monstrous USA lineup to just three hits in the end as they went on to become one of the greatest stories in tournament history.
Not even being in the top three teams who were favourites to win the tournament, Venezuela entered the quarter-finals facing the reigning champions in Samurai Japan. After taking them down, they would go on to defeat the Cinderella team of the tournament in Italy before going on to upset a USA team that was said to be the greatest team, on paper, in tournament history.
Maikel Garcia would go on to win the WBC MVP. Check out our full recap and highlights from the game here.