The WBSC has announced the process of qualification for the Los Angeles Olympic Games, with significant effects for European countries. As a reminder, the tournament is a six-team event, two fewer than when baseball was an official Olympic sport, and the U.S.A. will take one of these places. The remaining teams will qualify in one of three ways, two of which apply to European nations.
The first method applies only to nations from the Americas, for which the top two finishers (other than the U.S.) at the World Baseball Classic will earn a spot in the Olympics. This is the only method by which a team from North or South America can qualify for L.A.
Next is qualification through the Premier12, scheduled for 2027 at a location and dates to be determined. At this event, which will now feature 16 teams, the best-placed team from Asia and the top finisher from either Europe or Oceania will secure a place at the 2028 Olympics.
Finally, the ‘Final Qualifier’ will produce one further Olympic country. The tournament will consist of the top two finishers at the most recent Asian Baseball Championship, the top two from the 2027 European 2027 Baseball Championship, and the winners of the most recent Oceania and African Baseball Championships, neither of which are currently scheduled.
National Team roster sizes for Olympic baseball will be 24 athletes, and the athletes must be at least 18 years old (in the year in which the competition takes place) to participate in any of the three qualification events as well as the LA28 Olympic Games tournament.
For Europe, this means that the two paths, the 2027 Premier 12 and 2027 Baseball Euros, could produce a total of two European nations in Los Angeles.
