The 2025 U-18 Women's Softball World Cup is the fifteenth edition of the U-18 Women's Softball World Cup, which will be hosted for the first time by three nations.
The tournament, with a history of 42 years and 14 editions, moved to a four-year cycle and changed its competition format in 2024. The Group Stage were held between 23 July and 9 September 2024 in São Paulo, Pingtan, and Dallas. The Finals will be held in 27 September–2 October 2025 in Oklahoma City.
The previous U-18 Women's Softball World Cup was played in Lima, Peru in December 2021, with the United States winning their fourth consecutive world title, and eighth overall, following a dramatic 1–0 victory against Chinese Taipei in the final.
Venue selection
On 13 December 2023, the World Baseball Softball Confederation announced Dallas as the host for one of the groups and the Finals. This will mark the first time that Dallas has hosted a softball World Cup at any category. The United States has hosted the U-18 Women's Softball World Cup (previously called the Junior Women's Softball World Championship and U-19 Women's Softball World Cup) six times in the past.
On 21 December 2023, it was announced that the tournament would return to China after 21 years. Nanjing hosted the event in 2003. This will be the third Softball World Cup on Chinese soil, having also hosted the 2006 Women's Softball World Championship in Beijing.
The same day, Sao Paulo was announced as the host city for the other group. Brazil will host a Softball World Cup for the first time, becoming the 16th nation to host a Women's Softball World Cup, across all categories. Counting Men's Softball World Cups, Brazil will be the 20th host nation of a global softball event.
Group A was played in São Paulo, Brazil, from 23 to 27 July. Group B was played in Pingtan, China, from 14 to 18 August. Group C was played in Dallas, United States, from 29 August to 2 September.
Group A Group B Group C & Finals São Paulo, Brasil Pingtan, China Dallas & Oklahoma City, United States Estádio Municipal de Beisebol Mie Nishi Pingtan Softball Stadium The Village Dallas Oge Energy Field Devon Park - Venue 2 Capacity: 2,500 Capacity: 5,030 Capacity: Capacity: Capacity:
Competition format
Under the new format, the Group Stage and Finals of the World Cups are played in consecutive years. A total of 18 teams will participate in the U-18 Women's Softball World Cup, distributed in three different groups for the Group Stage. Two teams from each group, plus two wild cards, will advance to the Finals, to be played in 2025.
Each group of six teams will play a single round robin, with the top four teams in the standings advancing to the play-offs. The play-offs will open with a knockout match between the third- and fourth-placed teams, followed by a one-on-two matchup, with the winner earning the first available ticket to the finals. The winner of the first game (3 vs. 4) and the loser of the second game (1 vs. 2) will meet in the Repechage Game, in a winner-takes-all competition for second place in next year's Finals.
The wildcard designation criteria for the Finals are (in order):
Criteria 1: A wildcard spot secured for the host country;
Criteria 2: Team(s) with the best third-place finish in the Group Stage, based on the final standings of the previous edition of the World Cup;
Criteria 3: Team(s) in third place in the Group Stage based on the highest position in the WBSC World Ranking at the end of the previous calendar year.
During the final phase, after a group round-robin, the top two seeds from each group advance to the Super Round, while the number three and four seeds will compete in the Placement Round. The number one and two seeds after the Super Round will compete in the World Cup Final. The third and fourth-place finishers will play for bronze.
Classification and participating nations With the approved format of 18 national teams, the WBSC has distributed the continental quotas as follows:
Wild card Hosts 2 slots: , WBSC Europe 3 slots: , , WBSC Asia 3 slots: , , WBSC Oceania 2 slots: , WBSC Americas 5 slots: , , , , WBSC Africa 2 slots Wild card 1+2 slots: , ,
The participants were determined through the continental championships. Due to the absence of national teams and qualifying tournaments in Africa, the two available spots for this continent were granted as invitations to teams that did not qualify through their respective continental championships.
+Team Ranking Previous appearances(Last time) Best position 114 (2021)Champions (1987, 1995, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021)226 (2019)Seventh (2011, 2013)1713 (2019)Champion (1985)99 (2021)Fifth (2021)68 (2019)Ninth (1987, 1995, 2015)212 (2019)14.º (2019)313 (2019)Champion (1981, 1991, 1999, 2003, 2013)413 (2021)Runners-up (2021)3311 (2019)Fourth (2013)1013 (2019)Third (1991, 1995, 2003, 2007, 2013)27 (2021)Third (2015, 2017, 2021)513 (2019)Third (2019) 78 (2021)Fourth (2021)142 (2021)Sixth (2021)332 (2021)Eighth (2021)133 (2017)Ninth (2013)812 (2021)Sixth (1985, 1987, 2007)154 (2017)Ninth (2003)
Year in italics means venue of the event. Year in bold means champion of the event.
Officials 32 umpires were selected by the WBSC for the tournament.
+ Umpires Confederation Umpires WBSC Africa George Ashley Mmakola (South Africa) WBSC Asia Cheng Tao (China) Xu Jianying (China) Hu Yue (China) Li Yunxiao (China) Hu Tshang-Sheng (Chinese Taipei) Yu-Sung Lin (Chinese Taipei) Koji Ogawa (Japan) Miki Yabe (Japan) Jo Boyeon (South Korea) WBSC Americas Analia Laura Merrizi (Argentina) Gabriela Elizabeth Jimenez (Argentina) Nicolas Deu (Argentina) Nicolas Eleazar (Argentina) Anderson Umakoshi (Brazil) Patricia Hamamoto (Brazil) Emma Rose Jerome Smith (Canada) Kris Lee Hartley (Canada) Laura McMillan (Canada) Maykel Garcia (Cuba) Bradley Craig Newton (United States) John Baca (United States) Mark Craver (United States) Naomi Erdahl (United States) Stacy Michelle Newton (United States) Carlos Alberto Padron (Venezuela) WBSC Europe Megan Hylton (Germany) Denis Codarini (Italy) Ibon Arévalo (Spain) WBSC Oceania Derrin Clark (Australia) Kerry Lee Franklin (Australia) Anthony Kairuna (New Zealand)
39 scorers and technical commissions were selected by the WBSC for the tournament.
+ Scorers and technical commissions Confederation Scorers and technical commissions WBSC Asia Jiaqi Xu (China) Liu Yuxue (China) Huanyun Shen (China) Min Xue (China) Susan Zhang (China) Xie Jin (China) Wayne Horng (Chinese Taipei) Akane Touki (Japan) Fuka Nakamura (Japan) Masayoshi Sato (Japan) Kok Wooi See (Malaysia) Jisuk Woo (South Korea) WBSC Americas Cristian Lacout (Argentina) Jorginho Kozano (Brazil) Regina Someya (Brazil) Ricardo Yokohama (Brazil) Sayuri Egashira (Brazil) Brent Chadwick (Canada) William Cogollo (Colombia) Roberto Castro (Costa Rica) Carlos del Pino (Cuba) Juan Chavez (Guatemala) Gabriel Almaraz (Mexico) Juan Cubillo (Nicaragua) Daniela Osaki (Peru) Annette Willians (United States) Carson Paige Osborne (United States) Jackie Shults (United States) Michael Craig (United States) Paige Bond (United States) Rich Cress (United States) Ray Gutierrez (United States) Steven Mc Cown (United States) WBSC Europe Eleonora Toneli (Italy) Giovanni Sanna (Italy) Roberto Saletti (Italy) Guillem Alzamora (Spain) WBSC Oceania Brooke Penfold (Australia)
Group stage
Group A Group A will be contested in Sao Paulo during 23–27 July 2024.
Bracket
Round Date LocalTime Road team Score Home team Inn. Venue Gameduration Attendance Boxscore5th place match27 July 202410:005–67Estádio Municipal de Beisebol Mie Nishi2:08422Boxscore3rd place match27 July 202413:000–27Estádio Municipal de Beisebol Mie Nishi1:33106BoxscoreFinal27 July 202416:001–95Estádio Municipal de Beisebol Mie Nishi1:21388BoxscoreRepechage27 July 202419:007–17Estádio Municipal de Beisebol Mie Nishi1:56232Boxscore
Group B Group B will be contested in Pingtan during 15–19 August 2024.
Bracket
Round Date LocalTime Road team Score Home team Inn. Venue Gameduration Attendance Boxscore5th place match19 August 2024:B6CancelledB5Pingtan Softball Stadium3rd place match19 August 2024:B4CancelledB3Pingtan Softball StadiumFinal19 August 2024:B2CancelledB1Pingtan Softball StadiumRepechage19 August 2024:Winner of Game 17CancelledLoser of Game 18Pingtan Softball Stadium
Group C Group A will be contested in Dallas during 29 August – 2 September 2024.
Bracket
Round Date LocalTime Road team Score Home team Inn. Venue Gameduration Attendance Boxscore5th place match2 September 202410:300–47The Village Dallas1:3272Boxscore3rd place match2 September 202413:005–67The Village Dallas2:18130BoxscoreFinal2 September 202415:300–76The Village Dallas1:43180BoxscoreRepechage2 September 202418:302–95The Village Dallas1:10132Boxscore
Finals rankings The ranking of the wildcard spots for the finals stage are as follows. 1) Hosts 2)Top third-place team(s) in the Group Stage, based on final standings from the previous edition of the World Cup 3)Top third-place team(s) in the Group Stage based on the highest position in the WBSC Rankings at the end of the previous calendar year.
Rank Team Previous WC Ranking Qualification1 (H)60Qualified as hosts243Qualified from previous World Cup ranking334
United States qualified for the finals as host of that stage, while Mexico qualified as the third placed team with the next best finish at the previous U-18 World Cup.
Finals
Group A
Group B
Placement Round
Super Round
Third place play-off
Final
Final standings Rank Team45678
References
External links Official website