Venezuela comes from behind to beat Italy, earn WBC final spot vs Team USA

Venezula defeated Italy to advance to the World Baseball Classic Final, where they face the United States.

Team USA has its opponent for the World Baseball Classic (WBC) final on Tuesday night. 

Venezuela ended Italy’s magical WBC run on Monday night, coming from behind to defeat them, 4-2, at loanDepot park, earning a spotin the final against the United States. 

Italy was the surprise team of the tournament, taking down the U.S. in pool play before defeating Mexico to finish a perfect 4-0 in Pool B.

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Eugenio Suárez of Team Venezuela celebrates as he rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run against Team Italy in the fourth inning at loanDepot park on March 16, 2026, in Miami, Florida. (Megan Briggs/Getty Images)

But that win over Mexico also kept Team USA alive in the tournament, allowing them to advance to the quarterfinals, where they defeated Canada before earning a thrilling 2-1 semifinal victory over the Dominican Republic on Sunday night to punch their ticket back to the final.

While it felt only right for the U.S. and Italy to meet once more to determine who would win it all before the start of the 2026 MLB season, Venezuela had other things in mind during the bottom of the seventh inning.

Down 2-1 in the contest, Venezuela found themselves threatening with a potential two-out rally after Jackson Chourio, the Milwaukee Brewers’ rising star, singled to center field, allowing Andres Gimenez to advance to third base.

That’s when Ronald Acuña Jr., the face of Venezuelan baseball, reached first on an infield single that allowed Gimenez to score, tying the game at two apiece. But the rally wasn’t over just yet.

The Venezuelans caught fire after Acuña’s single,