Happy New Year from the Ministry of Baseball!
A new year brings many things; goals for self improvement, changing wall calendars, writing the wrong year on documents for a month and a half. But most importantly, it brings a whole new slate of international tournaments to get excited for. There’s plenty of action ahead in the next 12 months, so we’ve compiled a little preview for every event that the guys and gals of GB baseball will be participating in in the year ahead.
The World Baseball Classic
Saving the best ‘til first, March sees the sixth iteration of the WBC take place featuring 20 nations competing in four cities across the globe. Team GB’s pool B will be hosted by the Houston Astros’ Daikin Park in Houston, Texas and see the Lions take on Team Mexico, USA, Italy and Brazil respectively.
Great Britain will be looking to at least match their debut performance from three years ago, when they secured their first victory at the classic after beating Colombia 7-5 and finishing fourth in their group to automatically qualify for this year's edition.
Head Coach Brad Marcelino, who took over the position from Drew Spencer in 2025, has attempted to bolster his squad ahead of the tournament; With names such as Jazz Chisholm Jr., Aroldis Chapman and Shun Mizutani all believed to be in contention for the final 30 man roster.
Of course, the poster child for British baseball on the international stage, Harry Ford, will again be the starting catcher for Great Britain. Ford is now on the cusp of being a certified big leaguer. His trade from the Seattle Mariners to the Washington Nationals in December 2025 has presented him a clearer path to securing a major league role, and he’ll be looking to use the tournament as a springboard to compete for the starting job behind the dish in D.C.
U-12 European Baseball Championship
The next event on the schedule features players who will be the future of British baseball, competing at the highest level on the continent. The U-12 EuroBaseball Championship will be held in Évry-Courcouronnes, France, just outside of Paris. Featuring eight teams including the likes of Italy, The Netherlands and Czechia.
The U-12 GB team secured a spot at the tournament by reaching the final of the European Championship B Pool, a second tier edition of the championship that acts as a qualifier for the main event. Great Britain lost to Spain in the final, but an unbeaten run leading up to that was enough to earn them promotion to the A Pool.
New head coach Lee Manning will be looking to make a positive start during his first tournament in charge of the team when he steps into the dugout in July, appointed in November 2025 taking over from British baseball stalwart Chris Ward.
U-18 European Baseball Championship
Commencing just a day after the U-12 tournament finishes, the U-18 EuroBaseball Championship does not have a confirmed host venue just yet. The GB team will be aiming to secure a medal for the first time at the tournament, after losing out to the Dutch in the bronze medal game in 2024.
There will be another new skipper in the dugout for GB at this event, too. Matt Moran will be taking over from Erick Henson, the man who guided the team to its first ever semi-final appearance at the previous tournament.
Women’s Baseball World Cup Group Stage
Closing out the summer, it’s time for the ladies to take the stage, as the GB Women’s baseball team compete in their first ever baseball world cup. For logistical purposes, the group stages of the tournament are played separately to the medal rounds. With 12 nations split into two groups of 6, one of which will be hosted at Rivets Field in Rockford, Illinois, home to the Rockford Rivets of the Northwoods League.
The location and exact dates for the second group are yet to be announced, and there are four spots still up for grabs in the tournament. GB will enter the competition as underdogs but will do so having jumped 13 places in the world rankings, moving from 28th to 15th; the largest rise of any women’s national team in 2025. They will also be going as European champions, having defeated hosts Czechia in the women’s EuroBaseball final in 2025.
GB will have trailblazer Laura Hirai at their disposal. Hirai has represented GB softball from U-13 to full international, was the first woman to play for GB baseball U-18, and is the pitching coach for the U-12 team. She will also be the sole British representative in the newly formed Women’s Professional Baseball League, drafted by Boston in the 5th round.
U-23 Baseball World Cup
Into the winter window now, the U-23 world cup takes place in November in three cities across Nicaragua. Managua, Masaya and León will play hosts to 12 teams hoping to acquire the title of world champion. GB will be making their second appearance at the event, debuting at the 2023 edition in China, after securing their first ever medal in the U-23 EuroBaseball Championship that same year.
The U-23’s, like their female compatriots, will go into the tournament as continental champions. They beat reigning champions the Netherlands in the semi-final before upsetting the hosts Czechia to claim their first ever U-23 EuroBaseball title.
They’ll be led by head coach Jonathon Cramman. Cramman was appointed as head coach in 2024, taking charge of the team for the first time at the previous edition of the world cup. For his work in capturing the U-23 EuroBaseball gold medal, Cramman was awarded the European Baseball Coaches Association Coach of the Year in 2025. His goal will be to improve on Great Britain’s 11th place finish in China last time out.
2027 Premier12 Qualifiers
Rounding out the year for team GB is, potentially, the qualifying group for the 2027 Premier12. Traditionally, the Premier12 is an event that pits the 12 highest ranked nations against each other in a tournament style bracket. However, for the next edition of the P12, the WBSC has expanded the number of participants from 12 to 16 and introduced a qualifying phase which could include teams ranked as low as 20th in the world rankings.
The GB men's team sit 19th in the rankings as of 31 December 2025, meaning they would meet the criteria for the qualification tournament as a wild card. The eight teams looking to qualify for next year's event will be split into two groups of four; with one group hosted by China and the second TBA. Should Great Britain make it through the qualifiers, it would mark their first ever appearance at the Premier12.
As it stands, 2026 is shaping up to be a really exciting year for Great Britain's national teams. With a number of new personnel at the helm, and tournaments across three continents to look forward to, the next 12 months will see the programme continue to grow as a continental and intercontinental baseball powerhouse. We can’t wait.
By C.J. Hancock
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