I know that all of the details haven't been released by the WBC Steering Committee about the upcoming Qualifiers. Which teams will get an invitation to the next year's WBC Qualifiers? We know the previous winless teams are in (Canada, Panama, South Africa and Taiwan) and I think it's safe to assume that Colombia and Nicaragua are also in. That leaves ten other teams that aren't clear locks for an invite, but here is my guess of what the WBC Qualifiers will look like:
Asia Group host: Taiwan
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Taiwan
Philippines
Pakistan
Indonesia
Commonwealth Group host: Canada
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Canada
South Africa
Great Britain
New Zealand
Latin America Group host: Panama
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Panama
Spain
Colombia
Brazil
Europe Group host: Germany
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Nicaragua
Germany
Czech Republic
Sweden
If anyone is thinking that Nicaragua and Spain should be swapped, then you may not be familiar with the IBAF rankings. Taiwan, Canada, Nicaragua and Panama are the top IBAF ranked of the teams listed above. Panama is my favorite to host the Latin America group, because they will be hosting a dress rehearsal called the 2011 IBAF World Cup. Nicaragua shouldn't be and won't in the same group as Panama in the interests of having some competitive balance in the WBCQ.
Germany has recently applied to host a WBCQ and I believe they will get it. Germany and Canada will probably host in mid October 2012; while Panama and Taiwan will host a little later in 2012.
The WBC itself will look like this:
Group A host: Japan
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Japan
Netherlands
China
Asia Group Winner
Group B host: South Korea
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South Korea
Cuba
Australia
Europe Group Winner
Group C host: Mexico
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Mexico
U.S.A.
Italy
Commonwealth Group Winner
Group D host: Dominican Republic
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Venezuela
Puerto Rico
Dominican Republic
Latin America Group Winner
I'm probably completely off with my predictions, but the WBC Steering Committee's inactivity made me do it.
2013 World Baseball Classic
2013 World Baseball Classic
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