The return of baseball to the Olympic calendar renews the expectations of followers of this sport ahead of Los Angeles 2028, following the announcement of the competitive format and the confirmation of the venue at one of the iconic Major League parks.

The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) confirmed that the games will be held at Dodgers Stadium, home of the current World Series champions, from 13 July 2028, one day before the opening ceremony of the summer event.

The tournament programme envisages two groups of three teams each, which will clash in a Round Robin system on the 13th, 15th and 16th of July, as the 14th is reserved for the opening of the Games.

The winners of each group will automatically advance to the semi-final, while on the 17th, the second-placed team from group A will face the third-placed team from group B and the third-placed team from group A will do the same with the second-placed team from group B in the quarter-finals to define the other semi-finalists.

The 18th of July is reserved for the crossover matches and the winners will go for the Olympic title the following day, while the losers will compete for the bronze medal.

Baseball made its official debut in the Olympic programme at the Barcelona 1992 edition and remained until Beijing 2008, was absent from London 2012 and Rio de Janeiro 2016, had a brief return in Tokyo 2020 and was again excluded from Paris 2024.

Cuba, which only missed the Japanese event, leads the all-time medal table with three golds (Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996 and Athens 2004) and a pair of silvers (Sydney 2000 and Beijing 2008).

The other champions have been the United States (2000), Korea (2008) and Japan in 2020 as hosts. (Author Norland Rosendo González)