It was originally scheduled to take place in 2021, four years after the previous event, but was canceled in May 2020, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

[2] It was later announced that qualifications for the Classic would start in September 2022, as agreed by World Baseball Classic Inc. (WBCI)[3] The tournament expanded from 16 to 20 national teams, with all teams that participated in the 2017 edition automatically qualifying, plus four additional spots.

[5] Japan won their record-extending third title after defeating defending champions United States 3–2 in the championship game, becoming the second team since the Dominican Republic in the 2013 World Baseball Classic to win the WBC with an undefeated record.

[6] In January 2020, the WBC announced that the 16 national teams which participated at the 2017 World Baseball Classic would automatically qualify for the 2023 tournament.

[7] A qualifying tournament was scheduled for March 2020 in Tucson, Arizona, United States, to determine the last four teams.

[4] On March 12, 2020, Major League Baseball announced that the qualifying tournaments were being postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Remaining pool assignments were made based on WBSC World Rankings, competitive balance, and commercial and geographic interest.

[12] Note: Numbers in parentheses indicate positions in the WBSC World Rankings at the time of the draw.

[14][15] The first round of the tournament drew 1,010,999 fans across all four venues, nearly double the previous record for the WBC.