The 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC), an international professional baseball tournament, is set to be the fifth iteration of the World Baseball Classic. It was originally set for 2021 (as per tradition to hold the event every four years), but was canceled in May 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was later announced that qualifications for the Classic would start in September 2022, as agreed by Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA). The tournament is being expanded from 16 to 20 national teams, with all teams that participated in the 2017 edition automatically qualifying, plus four additional spots.