Between 23 September and 2 October 2021, Cuba played nine games in the Mexican state of Sonora at the third WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup. They won five of the first six and none of the ones that counted most. This is the record of that campaign, game by game.
The tournament was staged in Ciudad Obregón and Hermosillo — the same city that will host the Serie del Caribe in 2027. Twelve teams were split into two groups of six. Cuba drew Group A at the Estadio Yaquis alongside Mexico, Chinese Taipei, the Dominican Republic, Germany and the Czech Republic.
Group A: four wins and the one that mattered
Cuba opened against the hosts and were shut out. From there they won four straight, including a one-run win over Chinese Taipei that was the best baseball they played all tournament.
| Date | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 24 Sep | Mexico | Lost 0–5 |
| 25 Sep | Chinese Taipei | Won 2–1 |
| 26 Sep | Germany | Won 10–3 |
| 27 Sep | Czech Republic | Won 7–1 |
| 28 Sep | Dominican Republic | Won 6–2 |
Group A record: 4–1. Only the loss to Mexico separated them from the top of the group, and they carried real momentum into the Super Round.
The Super Round undid them in two days
Then it fell apart. Venezuela beat them 11–0. Colombia beat them 6–1 the next day. Two games, two runs scored, and the medal round was gone.
The Panama win was too late to matter. Cuba finished the Super Round fourth at 2–3, which put them in the bronze medal game rather than the final.
Fourth place
On 2 October, Colombia beat Cuba again, 5–3, and took the bronze. Venezuela beat Mexico 4–0 for the gold.
| Medal | Team |
|---|---|
| 🥇 Gold | Venezuela |
| 🥈 Silver | Mexico |
| 🥉 Bronze | Colombia |
| 4th | Cuba |
What it said at the time
Losing to Colombia twice in four days is the detail that should have registered more widely than it did. Colombia is not a traditional power in this region; Cuba beating them is supposed to be the baseline, not the upset. Coming a month after the senior team failed to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, the U-23 result pointed the same way: the gap between Cuba and the rest of the Americas had closed, and at age-group level it had closed further than most people following the senior team realised.
Cuba have since qualified for the 2026 U-23 World Cup in Nicaragua, running 6–15 November. The senior side, meanwhile, went out of the 2026 World Baseball Classic in the first round for the first time in the tournament’s history. The age-group results from Sonora in 2021 look less like an off week now than they did then.
Related: Team Cuba · Cuban baseball, a complete guide
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