NEWYou can now listen to Pakinomist articles!
Team USA has its opponent for the World Baseball Classic (WBC) final on Tuesday night.
Venezuela ended Italy’s magical WBC run on Monday night, coming from behind to defeat them, 4-2 at loanDepot park, and earn a place in the final against the USA.
Italy were the surprise team of the tournament, knocking off the USA in pool play before defeating Mexico to complete a perfect 4-0 in Pool B.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON Pakinomist
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 win over Mexico also kept Team USA alive in the tournament, allowing them to advance to the quarterfinals, where they defeated Canada before earning a thrilling 2-1 semifinal victory over the Dominican Republic on Sunday night to punch their ticket back to the finals.
While it only felt right for the United States and Italy to meet again to decide who would win it all before the start of the 2026 MLB season, Venezuela had other things on its mind during the bottom of the seventh inning.
Down 2-1 in the contest, Venezuela found itself threatened with a potential two-out rally after Jackson Chourio, the Milwaukee Brewers’ rising star, singled to center field, allowing Andres Gimenez to advance to third base.
That’s when Ronald Acuña Jr., the face of Venezuelan baseball, reached first on an infield single that allowed Gimenez to score, making it two. But the rally was not over yet.
The Venezuelans caught fire after Acuña’s single as Maikel Garcia singled to left field to score Chourio and Luis Arraez brought Acuña home. With two outs, Venezuela grabbed all the momentum with a three-run seventh inning that made it 4-2.
Italy had held onto the lead since the bottom of the second inning, taking advantage of a bases-loaded situation. JJ D’Orazio walked home a run while Dante Nori grounded into a fielder’s choice that scored another 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 were unable to muster any further offense until the seventh inning.
From there, Italy could never get a rally going as Daniel Palencia finally shut the door in the ninth inning, striking out the final two Italian batters.
As Venezuela celebrated, Italy hung their heads, but their story this month has been nothing short of incredible. Their dugout espresso machine — which Kansas City Royals captain Vinnie Pasquantino helped turn into a home run party — went viral as they continued to have success. The list featured established MLB stars, top prospects and players of Italian heritage who received praise from major leaguers over the past two weeks.
But it’s Venezuela, ripe with top MLB talent, ready to take on Team USA and starter Nolan McLean, whom Italy picked up in their pool play, on 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 meet each other at 8 PM ET on FOX.
