I don’t have time to create a full preview like I did with Taipei, so here is a mini-preview of the Tucson region of the 2026 WBC qualifiers. This is sort of a potpourri group that is unlikely to draw as large of crowds the other qualifier, but should still be entertaining.

• Colombia enters the region as the likely favorite. Although Jose Quintana dropped out late in order to fight for an MLB spot, this is still one of the most experienced teams in the group. It has former MLB pitchers with Luis Escobar, Guillermo Moscoso, Jhon Romero, Reiver Sanmartin, and most notably two-time all-star Julio Teheran. They have MLB-experienced players in the field as well, most notably Gio Urshela, Dilson Herrera, and Harold Ramirez, with Jair Camargo (who had a cup of coffee for the Twins last season) at catcher. They also have a few players playing in high level foreign leagues in places like Mexico and Taiwan. In his preview, friend of the Continuum Michael Clair says to keep an eye on Mariners prospect Michael Arroyo- the infielder is a top 100 project.
• Germany looks to make its first main WBC tournament with a team that includes MLB-experienced players like outfielder Donald Lutz and German-American pitcher Nick Wittgren, as well as longtime pitcher Markus Solbach, who reached as high as AAA in America. The most famous player on the team, however, is probably Jaden Agassi- the son of tennis legends Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf- who has German citizenship through his mother. The pitcher did well in summer ball last season and has pitched for USC.
• China is likely outmatched here, but may be able to pull an upset thanks to help from Chinese-American players like pitcher Alan Carter (going by his Chinese name of Yunlun Zhang this time around), former draft pick Jeremy Wu-Yelland (currently in high-A in the Boston organization), and indy leaguer Samuel Benjamin. Beijing born Tom Sun plays Division II ball at Augustana University.
• Finally, Brazil has a good chance of reaching the main tournament, although they will likely have to win the 2/3 play-in game to do so. In addition to “passport players” like Dante Bichette Jr., the Brazilians will have a AAA veteran in infielder Leonardo Reginatto, NPB-experienced players in pitchers Oscar Nakaoshi, Bo Takahashi, and current minor leaguers like pitcher Eric Pardinho.

Overall, I feel like Colombia is by far the favorite in this group, with Germany and Brazil the top candidates for the second spot. China may be able to surprise but has an uphill battle.