Houston to host World Baseball Classic games at Minute Maid in 2026

Houston will be one of four host cities for the World Baseball Classic at the next international tournament in 2026, Major League Baseball announced Thursday.

Minute Maid Park will host group stage games and a quarterfinal, MLB announced. Miami, Tokyo and San Juan, Puerto Rico, will also host group stage matches. Miami will host the other quarterfinal, semifinals and final at Loan Depot Park, home of the Marlins.

The tournament is scheduled for March 2026. Houston will be a WBC host city for the first time. This will be the sixth iteration of the WBC, introduced in 2006.

“We are thrilled and honored to host World Baseball Classic games for the first time,” Astros owner Jim Crane said in a statement. “Houston is a global city with the best fans in baseball, and we are proud to welcome fans from around the world to attend international competitions at Minute Maid Park.”

Houston has already been chosen as one of 16 host cities for the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup, with matches to be played at NRG Stadium. Houston had submitted a bid to host all rounds of the WBC.

For the last WBC, played in 2023, more than 1.3 million fans attended 47 matches in total. Eleven of the 15 games played in Miami, which also hosted all three rounds that year, were sold out. The Astros had 14 players from their organization participate in the 2023 tournament, which was won by Team Japan.