The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) has awarded the hosting rights of the U-18 Baseball World Cup 2021 to USA Baseball and the cities of Sarasota and Bradenton. This marks the first time since Cape Cod and Fenway Park hosted the 1995 Junior World Championship that the top youth international baseball event will be held in the United States. The 30th edition of the U-18 Baseball World Cup will take place in September 2021 and feature the world’s best players from 12 countries in the U-18 category (16 to 18 years old). As the host nation, the USA Baseball 18U National Team—the current four-time defending U-18 world champions—will be granted an automatic berth into the global tournament.

All 50 U-18 World Cup games will be played between Ed Smith Stadium and LECOM Park, the Spring Training homes for Major League Baseball’s Baltimore Orioles and Pittsburgh Pirates, respectively. The successful staging of the 2017 U-18 Baseball World Cup in Thunder Bay, Canada, helped the Thunder Bay International Airport break its all-time monthly passenger record for the month of August, while generating a CAD 6.3 million economic impact on the city, as well as multi- millions in brand exposure for sponsors and commercial partners.

U-18 Baseball World Cup 2021 in Sarasota-Bradenton