Lithuania win U-18 Baseball5 European Championship, qualify with runners up Türkiye and France for WBSC Youth Baseball5 World Cup 2025
World No. 10 Lithuania defeated No. 13 Türkiye, 2-1 (3-4, 2-1, 4-3), in a thrilling final to claim the Baseball5 U-18 European Championship, which was held at the Clermont Auvergne Métropole-Artenium, Ceyrat from October 29 to November 2.
No. 4 France overcame No. 25 Spain, 2-0 (3-2, 7-1) in the bronze-medal game.
RESULTS, BOXSCORES and STATISTICS
Out of 13 teams participating, Lithuania, Türkiye and France qualified for the WBSC Youth Baseball5 World Cup 2025, which will be held in Mexico and will be a qualifying event for the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympics.
The three Europeans are the first National Teams to qualify for the II Youth Baseball5 World Cup.
After winning the regional tournaments in January 2025, Uganda, Kenya, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Tunisia, and Ghana will compete for two Youth Baseball5 World Cup spots in the Super6 Africa tournament.
The WBSC Executive Board recently approved the expansion of the Youth Baseball5 World Cup and the Baseball5 World Cup.
WBSC Baseball5 World Cup & WBSC Youth Baseball5 World Cup Continental Quota
- Africa: 2 Teams
- Americas: 4 Teams
- Asia: 3 Teams
- Europe: 3 Teams
- Oceania: 1 Team
- Host: 1 Team
- 1 host team of the previous edition in the same age category (if not qualified through the qualification tournament(s))
- WBSC: 1 Wild Card
The WBSC determined these quotas based on various factors, including regional participation rates, historical performances and the goal of fostering balanced international representation.
The host teams of the current and past editions must participate in the qualification process to be eligible for a quota spot. Should a continent fail to organize the continental qualifier on time, the related quota will revert to the WBSC for reassignment.