Itoman Nishizaki Stadium confirmed as WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup second venue
The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) announced that the Nishizaki Stadium in Itoman, Okinawa Prefecture, has been confirmed as the second venue for the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup 2025, presented by RAXUS.
The stadium has a 12,000-seat capacity and is located about seven kilometres, or a 15-minute drive, from the Airport area in Naha, the capital city of the Okinawa Prefecture. It is part of the Nishizaki Athletic Park and the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) use the stadium as one of their spring training camp bases. The Orix Buffaloes (also NPB) used it as well as their spring training facility until 1992.
The Baseball Federation of Japan (BFJ) and NPB Enterprise will co-host the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup from 5 to 14 September in Naha City with the support of the High School Baseball Federation. The Okinawa Cellular Stadium, a 15,000-seat venue in Naha, will be the main field.
The WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup 2025 will be part of the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. Okinawa aims to promote world peace through sports and international exchange initiatives.
The 12 participants will split into two groups.
World No. 1 Japan, No. 6 Korea, No. 9 Puerto Rico, No. 10 Cuba, No. 14 Italy and No. 31 South Africa will compete in Group A.
Group B includes No. 2 Chinese Taipei, No. 5 USA, No. 8 Panama, No. 12 Australia, No. 17 Germany and No. 20 China.
From April 3 to 5, Samurai Japan will hold a training camp for the first-round candidate players for the U-18 National Team 2025, including those currently participating in the National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament.