Softball On SI

Oklahoma City to Host WBSC Women's Softball World Cup Group Stage in 2026

Oklahoma City has been selected to host the 2026 WBSC Women's Softball World Cup Group Stage, bringing international competition to a premier U.S. softball venue.
Maren Angus-Coombs|
Players cast shadows on the outfield wall as they run drills before a college Bedlam softball game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Oklahoma State University Cowgirls (OSU) at Devon Park in Oklahoma City, Wednesday, April 9, 2025.
Players cast shadows on the outfield wall as they run drills before a college Bedlam softball game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Oklahoma State University Cowgirls (OSU) at Devon Park in Oklahoma City, Wednesday, April 9, 2025. | BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Oklahoma City and USA Softball have been awarded the hosting rights of the third group of the WBSC Women's Softball World Cup 2026/2027, according to an announcement from the World Baseball Softball Confederation on Wednesday.

Oklahoma City joins Lima, Peru, and Prague, Czechia, as the Group Stage 2026 hosts. This will be the third consecutive year Devon Park will be part of a World Cup.

With the venue hosting the Olympics in 2028, the WBSC Women's Softball World Cup will serve as a preview for softball's comeback to the Olympic Games after not being part of the 2024 Paris Games.

"Next year's group will represent the third time the WBSC Women's Softball World Cup visits the USA, returning to the country after 35 years," the press release details. "The 12-time world champions hosted the World Cup before in Stratford, Connecticut, in 1975, and Normal, Illinois, in 1990. In 2022, the World Games in Birmingham awarded the title of World Champions. USA, who finished second behind Japan in the previous edition of the WBSC Women's Softball World Cup in Italy last year, won the title in all three events on home soil."

The tournament's format will split the field of 18 into three group of six with the top two teams in the final standings earning a ticket to the Finals in 2027. 

Per the release, each group plays a single round-robin. The top four teams advance to the play-offs. The play-offs open with an elimination game between the third- and fourth-place teams. Then, the first- and second-place teams face off, with the winner earning a direct ticket to the Finals 2027. The loser of this game plays the winner of the previous match in a Repechage Game - a winner-takes-all contest for the second Finals spot.

The exact dates of the three groups, as well as the host of the Finals 2027, will be announced at a later date.

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Maren Angus-Coombs
MAREN ANGUS-COOMBS

Maren Angus-Coombs was born in Los Angeles and raised in Nashville, Tenn. She is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University and has been a sports writer since 2008. She has been covering college softball since 2016 for various outlets including Softball America, ESPNW and Hurrdat Sports. She is currently the managing editor of Softball On SI and also serves as an analyst for Nebraska softball games on Nebraska Public Media and B1G+.

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