how often do they play the world baseball classic

They play the World Baseball Classic about every four years, similar to the World Cup in soccer.

From its start, the tournament has not been perfectly regular: it was held in 2006, 2009, 2013, 2017, 2023, and now again in 2026. After the 2009 edition, the organizers’ plan was to make it a recurring event on a four‑year cycle, which is why you usually see it described as a quadrennial tournament.