Welcome to Day One of the WBSC Men's Softball World Cup Group B tournament in Prince Albert, Canada.
Very much looking forward to the best of men's softball taking place in one of the heartlands on international softball. Make sure you don't miss any of the action by watching the live broadcast on gametime.sport.
Weather looking not too bad in the region with summer thunderstorms in the region looking to be missing Prince Albert (halfway between Saskatoon and La Ronge on the map below).
After defending world champions Australia and the Dominican Republic booked their tickets to the Finals 2025 in Group A in Mexico, we will find out the next two teams who will join them over the next five days.
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Looking forward to some great games starting with 2019 world champions Argentina v Israel to get things underway, starting at 11:00 local time. Here's the schedule.
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NZL
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ISR
11/07/2024 10:00 (UTC -6)
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ISR
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HKG
11/07/2024 13:00 (UTC -6)
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CAN
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SGP
11/07/2024 16:00 (UTC -6)
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CAN
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ARG
11/07/2024 19:00 (UTC -6)
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SGP
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ISR
12/07/2024 10:00 (UTC -6)
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SGP
Home
HKG
12/07/2024 13:00 (UTC -6)
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HKG
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ARG
12/07/2024 16:00 (UTC -6)
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NZL
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CAN
12/07/2024 19:00 (UTC -6)
For the first time, the Men's Softball World Cup is being played under the two-stage system. Group A in Hermosillo served as a hot start for the tournament, with No. 14 Dominican Republic and the defending World Champions and No. 2 Australia earning their berth in the Finals 2025. No. 5 Venezuela finished third in Hermosillo, and are waiting for the rest of the groups to see if they earn a wild card for the Finals.
Group B will start with a 15-game round robin, with the top-four making the playoffs on Sunday. The first ticket will be decided in the game between the top two qualified teams; while the second ticket will be contested between the loser of the 1 vs 2 game, and the winner of the 3 vs 4 game.
Argentina and Israel will meet today at 11am (all local time), in Game 1 of this Group B. For Argentina it's their 12th participation, while Israel has played the tournament only once. This is the second time the two teams will face each other in a World Cup opening day. The two teams played Game 3 of the 1996 Men's Softball World Cup in Midland, on Friday 5 July, with the South Americans beating Israel, 13-0. It represented Israel's first-ever Men's Softball World Cup game.
In Game 2, seven-time World Champions New Zealand will take on Singapore. First pitch is scheduled at 2pm. The two teams played each other for the last time in a World Cup in 1992, in Manila, Philippines, with a victory for the Black Sox.
After the Opening Ceremony, scheduled at 16:30, Canada and Hong Kong, China will play Game 3 of the competition at 6pm. Their last meeting in a World Cup was on 10 July 2017 in Whitehorse, when the red and white topped the Asian squad 14-1.
