Venezuela Surprises World Series Champions With Shocking Victory!
Venezuela defeated Italy in the semifinal of the 2026 World Baseball Classic, setting the stage for a contentious final matchup vs. USA.
© Sam Navarro-Imagn Images Venezuela’s World Baseball Classic semis win vs. Italy sparks wild fan reactions appeared first on ClutchPoints . Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
There is no shortage of heartbreak going around in the 2026 World Baseball Classic, as at the end of the day, only one team will claim supremacy over the opposition. On Monday night, Venezuela and Italy squared off in the semifinal for a chance at a matchup against Team USA for the 2026 WBC championship — with the former taking the win, 4-2, much to the latter’s devastation. Italy had been one of the most pleasant surprises of the tournament; they ended up being the best team of their group in pool play after they took care of business against USA, and it looked as though they were going to build off of that upset win and end up winning the entire thing.
However, in a single-game elimination format, anything can happen. But for Italy to lose the way they did — with MLB veteran Michael Lorenzen coughing up three earned runs during Venezuela’s seventh-inning rally — makes their exit from the WBC all the more stunning . Nonetheless, Venezuela deserves a ton of credit for making it all the way to the final of the tournament.
They received plenty of praise on social media as a result, which is befitting of how they’ve played throughout the entire tournament — especially when they were the team that knocked out the defending champion Japan. Fans react to Venezuela vs. Team USA World Baseball Classic final matchup Sam Navarro-Imagn Images The big subplot coming out of this is Venezuela is about to face Team USA in the final of the tournament, sparking some wild fan reactions considering today’s geopolitical climate.