The tournament was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation, which titled it the Amateur World Series from the 1938 tournament through the 1986 AWS.

The tournament was held, for the only time, in Canada from August 4 to 19.

Cuba defeated Nicaragua in the final to win its 20th title.

[1] There were 12 participating countries, with all games played at the John Ducey Park in the city of Edmonton.

[2] The next eight competitions were also held as the BWC tournament, then was replaced in 2015 by the quadrennial WBSC Premier12.