2026 World Baseball Classic Preview for Games on Wednesday, March 11, 2026

It’s time for Day 8 of the 2026 World Baseball Classic on Wednesday, March 11th.

Today’s schedule is easily the most exciting slate of the tournament. We’ve got Canada vs. Cuba to determine who advances out of Pool A. After that, it’s a pivotal Pool B matchup between Italy vs. Mexico, where the final result could have USA shockingly crashing out in the group stage. As the main event, we’ve got Dominican Republic vs. Venezuela, where the winner plays Korea and the loser gets Japan.

On this page, we’ll dive into the full World Baseball Classic slate on Mar. 11. You’ll find a game preview for each of these matchups, along with best bets at the end of the page. Visit us daily as we’ll get you set each day of the World Baseball Classic with recaps, look aheads, and much more!

2026 World Baseball Classic Betting Resources

• World Baseball Classic Odds
• World Baseball Classic Pool Play Picks
• World Baseball Classic Team USA Parlays
• World Baseball Classic Futures Picks
• World Baseball Classic Betting Sites
• World Baseball Classic Promotions

Wednesday WBC Schedule

• Canada vs. Cuba (3 p.m. ET) (FS1)
• Italy vs. Mexico (7 p.m. ET) (FS1)
• Dominican Republic vs. Venezuela (8 p.m. ET) (FS1)

Canada vs. Cuba Preview

Canada and Cuba have 2-1 records, while Puerto Rico is 3-1. Despite the upset over Puerto Rico, Canada still needs to beat Cuba to advance. In short, Canada wins Pool A with a victory over Cuba. With a loss, they’re eliminated. If Cuba wins, they advance, but they would be 2nd in the group, since they lost to Puerto Rico.

Veteran righty Cal Quantrill takes the mound for Canada. It’s his first appearance in this year’s WBC. Quantrill has over 800 innings of big-league experience. While he’s struggled at times, he’s still a dependable innings-eater.

Cuba sends out its ace in Livan Moinelo, who pitched 3.2 scoreless innings against Panama earlier this tournament. This is exactly who you want on the mound if you’re Cuba.

This has the feel of a low-scoring game that could be one of the most tense matchups of the tournament, given what’s at stake.

Canada vs. Cuba Game Odds

Italy vs. Mexico Preview

Italy shocked the world with an upset victory over USA on Tuesday, putting them in position to win Pool B with a win over Mexico. Here are the scenarios for Pool B based on this game:

• Italy beats Mexico: Italy (1st), USA (2nd)
• Mexico beats Italy: Goes to tiebreaker, since they’re all 3-1

The tiebreaker is based on lowest quotient of fewest runs allowed divided by number of defensive outs. It’s super confusing, so let’s keep it simple here. For USA to be eliminated with a Mexico win, it needs to be a low-scoring game. If Mexico wins a high-scoring game, USA is going to advance.

• If Mexico wins and scores 6+ runs: Mexico + USA advance
• If Mexico wins and scores less than 5 runs: Mexico + Italy advance

Now that we’ve figured out the scenarios, let’s dive into the matchup.

Italy will be sending out Aaron Nola, who has shown an uptick in velocity in spring training, already maxing out at 93.9 MPH, which he didn’t reach until May 3rd last year.

Mexico hasn’t announced who’s starting just yet. It could be Javier Assad, who is on four days’ rest, having not pitched since their 16-0 win over Great Britain. Expect this to feel like a home game for Mexico, since it’s in Houston. That could give them the edge here.

Italy vs. Mexico Game Odds

Dominican Republic vs. Venezuela Preview

The main event features two of the best teams in the tournament. Even though both Dominican Republic and Venezuela have clinched their groups, there’s still pride on the line here. Oh yeah, and the winner gets to avoid the defending champions in the quarterfinals.

Dominican Republic is starting Sandy Alcantara, who is making his tournament debut. He looked terrific in his spring training start, tossing three scoreless innings against the Astros, who were starting several of their regulars, including Yordan Alvarez and Jose Altuve.

Venezuela is countering with Eduardo Rodriguez, who has also looked sharp in spring, tossing two scoreless innings vs the Royals in his most recent outing. He showed an uptick in velocity there, hitting 93.1 MPH on his four-seamer (averaged 92.0 MPH last season).

This is going to be an exciting game, with the crowd in Miami rocking at LoanDepot Park.

Dominican Republic vs. Venezuela Game Odds

Dominican Republic vs. Venezuela Betting Pick

I’m zeroing in on Dominican Republic vs. Venezuela for my betting pick for the Wednesday slate.

This Dominican team has been absolutely on fire, out-scoring opponents 34-5 in the tournament so far. While Venezuela is a legit contender, and I have this game as a preview of the finals, I still have to ride with D.R. here.

Aside from the red-hot bats, I’m confident that Alcantara will pitch a gem. Now one year further removed from Tommy John surgery, there’s a chance that Alcantara returns to his previous form.

I’m laying the juice with D.R. as they look to avoid Japan in the quarterfinals.

Best Bet: Dominican Republic ML to win 1 unit

2026 World Baseball Classic Betting Tracker

• Record: 4-3
• Units: -0.65

2026 World Baseball Classic Betting Results

• Moneyline (Favorite-Underdog): 28-8
• Run Line (Favorite-Underdog): 20-16
• Run Total (Over-Under): 14-22

Wednesday, Mar. 4

• Chinese Taipei 0 vs. Australia 3 (+2.5) – Under

Thursday, Mar. 5

• Czechia 4 vs. Korea 11 (-6.5) – Over
• Czechia 1 vs. Australia 5 (-4.5) – Under

Friday, Mar. 6

• Chinese Taipei 0 vs. Japan 13 (-4.5) – Over
• Panama 1 vs. Cuba 3 (-1.5) – Under
• Netherlands 2 vs. Venezuela 6 (-3.5) – Under
• Great Britain 2 vs. Mexico 8 (-4.5) – Over
• Colombia 0 vs. Puerto Rico 5 (-2.5) – Under
• Nicaragua 3 vs. Dominican Republic 12 (-4.5) – Over
• Brazil 5 vs. USA 15 (-9.5) – Over

Saturday, Mar. 7

• Korea 6 vs. Japan 8 (-4.5) – Over
• Colombia 2 vs. Canada 8 (-1.5) Over
• Nicaragua 3 vs. Netherlands 4 (-2.5) – Under
• Brazil 0 vs. Italy 8 (-4.5) – Under
• Panama 3 vs. Puerto Rico 4 (-3.5) – Under
• Israel 3 vs. Venezuela 11 (-5.5) – Over
• Great Britain 1 vs. USA 9 (-9.5) – Under
• Korea 4 vs. Chinese Taipei 5 (+2.5) – Over

Sunday, Mar. 8

• Australia 3 vs. Japan 4 (-4.5) – Under
• Netherlands 1 vs. Dominican Republic 12 (-4.5) Over
• Colombia 4 vs. Cuba 7 (-1.5) – Over
• Great Britain 4 vs. Italy 7 (-4.5) – Over
• Nicaragua 0 vs. Israel 5 (+1.5) – Under
• Brazil 0 vs. Mexico 16 (-7.5) – Over
• Canada 3 vs. Panama 4 (+4.5) – Under

Monday, Mar. 9

• Australia 2 vs. Korea 7 (-2.5) – Under
• Panama 3 vs. Colombia 4 (+1.5) – Under
• Israel 1 vs. Dominican Republic 10 (-7.5) – Under
• Brazil 1 vs. Great Britain 8 (-2.5) – Under
• Nicaragua 0 vs. Venezuela 4 (-6.5) – Under
• Mexico 3 vs. USA 5 (-3.5) – Under
• Cuba 1 vs. Puerto Rico 4 (-2.5) – Under

Tuesday, Mar. 10

• Czechia 0 vs. Japan 9 (-2.5) – Under
• Netherlands 2 vs. Israel 6 (+1.5) – Under
• Puerto Rico 2 vs. Canada 3 (+1.5) – Under
• USA 6 vs. Italy 8 (+5.5) – Over