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 ninth time, in Cuba, from October 12 to 25 in the cities of Havana, Matanzas, Santiago de Cuba and Holguín.

[1] Cuba defeated Panama in the final, winning its 24th title.

Guam qualified as runner up of the Oceania World Cup Qualifier but did not take part in the tournament.

[2][3] The next four competitions were also held as the BWC tournament, which was replaced in 2015 by the quadrennial WBSC Premier12.