Also in that bracket are Mexico, Australia and Germany, as well as favourites Japan and hosts Chinese Taipei.

Cuba was placed in the difficult group A of the VIII U-12 Baseball World Cup, to be held for the fifth consecutive time in Chinese Taipei from 25 July to 8 August 2025.

In the tournament to be played at the Tainan International Stadium, the Cuban squad will share the qualifying round with Mexico, Australia and Germany, as well as favourites Japan and the hosts.

The Taiwanese have won two of the five previous editions, second only to the United States, who have won the other five.

Meanwhile, Group B will bring together the Czech Republic, South Korea, Panama, South Africa, the Dominican Republic and the United States.

Roberto González, methodologist in charge of the U12 age group at the Cuban Baseball and Softball Federation, told JIT that the qualifying phase of the national tournament will be played in April during the school break week.

He explained that the best teams will advance to the final (May) and then a pre-selection will be called, from which the 18 players who will make up the national team for the World Cup will be selected.

Cuba earned its ticket last year, winning the bronze medal at the Pan American championship in Panama. This will be the fourth participation of a Cuban team at this level.

The best performance came with a silver medal in the first edition in 2011 – losing to China Taipei – while they won bronze in their last appearance (2019). In the 2015 event, they did not reach the awards podium.