Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto will play for Japan in the upcoming World Baseball Classic, per Yahoo! Japan.

Dodgers ace and World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto will pitch for Japan in the 2026 WBC, marking his second straight appearance. Fellow star Roki Sasaki will miss the tournament.

Both finished strong, but Roki Sasaki and Yoshinobu Yamamoto had very different seasons for the Dodgers in 2025, and now each faces a different outlook for the WBC.

Here is Japan's World Cup group stage opponents, which stadiums they will play at, and the times for the games.

The Major Leagues may be considered the top baseball league globally. But in international competition, Japan reigns supreme. Since the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006, Samurai Japan is the only country to win multiple titles,

In Japan, the World Baseball Classic is held to a higher standard of importance than most other countries (and, to its fans, an even more significant level than the World Series itself).

Japan's best result in the World Cup is a Round of 16 (2002, 2010, 2018, 2022) finish and enters the 2026 tournament ranked No. 18 in the latest FIFA World Rankings. Group play begins for Japan on June 14 against Netherlands in Arlington, Texas.

As the final session began at last month's Berlin security conference, U.S. ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said he looked forward to the day when Germany would volunteer to take over the role of Supreme Allied Commander Europe,

World Cup playoff guide with schedule, bracket breakdown and the teams battling for the final spots in the expanded tournament.