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Team USA has its opponent in the finals of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) on Tuesday night.
Venezuela ended Italy’s magical WBC run on Monday night, coming from behind to beat them, 4-2 at loan Depot park, to secure a spot. in the final against the United States.
Italy were the surprise team of the tournament, defeating the US in pool play before defeating Mexico to finish 4-0 in Pool B.
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Eugenio Suárez of Team Venezuela celebrates as he rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run against Team Italy in the fourth inning at loanDepot Park on March 16, 2026 in Miami, Florida. (Megan Briggs/Getty Images)
But that Mexico win also kept Team USA alive in the tournament, allowing them to advance to the quarterfinals, where they defeated Canada before a 2-1 semifinal victory over the Dominican Republic on Sunday night to return to the finals.
While it feels right that the US and Italy meet again to decide who will win it all before the start of the 2026 MLB season, Venezuela had other things in mind during the seventh inning.
Down 2-1 in the contest, Venezuela found itself threatening a two-run rally after Jackson Chourio, the rising star of the Milwaukee Brewers, singled, allowing Andres Gimenez to advance to third.
That’s when Ronald Acuña Jr., the face of Venezuelan baseball, reached first on an infield single that allowed Gimenez to score, tying the game at two apiece. But the rally was not over.
The Venezuelans caught fire after Acuña’s single, as Maikel Garcia singled, striking out Chourio, and Luis Arraez brought Acuña home. With two outs, Venezuela grabbed all the momentum with a three-run seventh inning to make it 4-2.
Italy had been clinging to the lead since the bottom of the second inning, when they made the most of a bases-loaded situation. JJ D’Orazio led off with a home run, and Dante Nori singled to give Italy a 2-0 lead.
Slugger Eugenio Suarez got Venezuela on the board in the top of the fourth inning with a solo home run to left-center field, cutting the deficit to one. But they couldn’t muster more offense until the seventh inning.
From there, Italy was unable to start a rally, as Daniel Palencia finally closed the door in the ninth inning, striking out Italy’s final two batters.
As Venezuela celebrated, Italy hung their heads, but their story this month was nothing short of amazing. Their espresso machine in the dugout — captain Vinnie Pasquantino of the Kansas City Royals helped revolutionize the homecoming celebration — went viral as they continued to succeed. The list featured MLB’s established stars, top prospects and players with Italian heritage, receiving praise from major leaguers over the past two weeks.
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But it is Venezuela, mature with top MLB talent, ready to face Team America and starter Nolan McLean, Italy touched in their pool play, Tuesday night to decide who has the rights to call themselves the best baseball team in the world for at least the next three years.
Team USA and Venezuela face off at 8 pm ET on FOX.
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