2022 Earth Water Baseball Classic Qualification

The 2022 Earth Water Baseball Classic will occur in November 2022, in South Africa. A total of 42. The host (South Africa) and the defending champion (United States) automatically qualify, while the remaining 40 will be determined during the qualification period from December 2021 through October 2022, due to the 2020 edition being pushed back to 2021 as a result of COVID,

The number of spots given to each association was determined by FIWBA. The Feeney Cup, which was previously used to award the final spot, was discontinued.
 * North and Central America and the Carribbean: 9 (plus USA automatically qualify as defending champion)
 * Europe: 10
 * Broceania: 4
 * South America: 4.5
 * Asia: 7
 * Africa: 5.5 (plus South Africa automatically qualify as host)

Teams who qualified

 * Africa
 * South Africa (November 26, 2018, qualified as host)
 * Senegal (May 21, 2022)
 * Nigeria (May 27, 2022)
 * Egypt (June 1, 2022)
 * The Gambia (June 3, 2022)
 * Algeria (June 4, 2022)
 * Morocco (October 28, 2022 via intercontinental playoff)
 * Asia
 * Japan (May 5, 2022)
 * Iran (May 8, 2022)
 * Laos (July 19, 2022)
 * Singapore (July 19, 2022)
 * North Korea (July 20, 2022)
 * UAE (July 20, 2022)
 * South Korea (October 22, 2022)
 * Broceania
 * Palau (May 7, 2022)
 * Australia (October 19, 2022)
 * Vanuatu (October 22, 2022)
 * New Zealand (October 24, 2022)
 * Europe
 * France (May 7, 2022)
 * Belgium (May 10, 2022)
 * Netherlands (May 11, 2022)
 * Czech Republic (May 11, 2022)
 * Slovenia (May 13, 2022)
 * Spain (May 13, 2022)
 * Turkey (May 13, 2022)
 * Portugal (May 14, 2022)
 * Switzerland (October 15, 2022)
 * Germany (October 16, 2022)
 * North America
 * United States (November 21, 2021, qualified as defending champion)
 * Mexico (April 25, 2022)
 * Trinidad and Tobago (April 25, 2022)
 * Dominican Republic (April 27, 2022)
 * Costa Rica (April 28, 2022)
 * Canada (April 28, 2022)
 * Jamaica (April 30, 2022)
 * El Salvador (October 17, 2022)
 * Honduras (October 20, 2022)
 * Curaçao (October 20, 2022)
 * South America
 * Brazil (May 10, 2022)
 * Argentina (May 14, 2022)
 * Peru (May 14, 2022)
 * Uruguay (May 20, 2022)

Africa
There are 54 member associations of CAWB (the Confederation of African Water Baseball), which includes all of Africa, eha eha. South Africa, by virtue of being the host, automatically qualify. Five of the remaining 53 nations qualify for the EWBC, with one going to the Intercontinental Playoff!

Teams ranked 44-53 play in a qualifying playoff. Best-of-five series featuring seeded team (44-48) vs. unseeded team (49-53). Seeded team is home for games 1, 2, and 5.

Five winners plus teams ranked 1-43 are moved to group round. They are split into 12, 4-team groups. Each group does a quadruple round-robin tournament. The winner of each group moves to the final round. In the final round, teams play a double-round-robin tournament, though for 10 of the 11 opponents, both games are contested in the same venue. The top five teams in the final round qualify for the Earth Water Baseball Classic! The sixth place team qualifies for the intercontinental playoff

Schedule


 * R1 Game 1: Friday December 3
 * R1 Game 2: Saturday December 4
 * R1 Game 3: Monday December 5
 * R1 Game 4: Tuesday December 6
 * R1 Game 5: Thursday December 7
 * R2 Matchday 1: Saturday December 9
 * R2 Matchday 2: Sunday December 10
 * R2 Matchday 3: Tuesday December 12
 * R2 Matchday 4: Wednesday December 13
 * R2 Matchday 5: Tuesday February 15
 * R2 Matchday 6: Wednesday February 16
 * R2 Matchday 7: Friday February 17
 * R2 Matchday 8: Saturday February 19
 * R2 Matchday 9: Monday February 21
 * R2 Matchday 10: Tuesday February 22
 * R2 Matchday 11: Thursday February 24
 * R2 Matchday 12: Friday February 25
 * R3 Matchday 1: Friday April 29
 * R3 Matchday 2: Saturday April 30
 * R3 Matchday 3: Tuesday May 3
 * R3 Matchday 4: Wednesday May 4
 * R3 Matchday 5: Friday May 6
 * R3 Matchday 6: Saturday May 7
 * R3 Matchday 7: Tuesday May 10
 * R3 Matchday 8: Wednesday May 11
 * R3 Matchday 9: Friday May 13
 * R3 Matchday 10: Saturday May 14
 * R3 Matchday 11: Tuesday May 17
 * R3 Matchday 12: Wednesday May 18
 * R3 Matchday 13: Friday May 20
 * R3 Matchday 14: Saturday May 21
 * R3 Matchday 15: Monday May 23
 * R3 Matchday 16: Wednesday May 25
 * R3 Matchday 17: Friday May 27
 * R3 Matchday 18: Saturday May 28
 * R3 Matchday 19: Tuesday May 31
 * R3 Matchday 20: Wednesday June 1
 * R3 Matchday 21: Friday June 3
 * R3 Matchday 22: Saturday June 4
 * Tiebreakers: Monday June 6

Round 1

 * (49) São Tomé and Príncipe def. (44) Eswatini 3-1
 * (45) Batswana def. (51) Somalia 3-0
 * (53) Eritrea def. (47) Mauritius 3-1
 * (46) South Sudan def. (52) Scychelles 3-0
 * (48) Djibouti def. (50) Chad 3-2

Round 2

 * Group A
 * (31) Central African Republic
 * (8) Mali
 * (23) Sierra Leone
 * (49) São Tomé and Príncipe
 * Group B
 * (1) Senegal
 * (13) Cabo Verde
 * (30) Angola
 * (46) South Sudan
 * Group C
 * (28) The Gambia
 * (38) Liberia
 * (14) Guinea
 * (12) Congo DR
 * Group D
 * (5) Tunisia
 * (17) Benin
 * (32) Zimbabwe
 * (45) Batswana
 * Group E
 * (10) Burkina Faso
 * (21) Madagascar
 * (27) Niger
 * (39) Sudan
 * Group F
 * (15) Gabon
 * (11) Ghana
 * (29) Togo
 * (40) Tanzania
 * Group G
 * (2) Morocco
 * (53) Eritrea
 * (16) Uganda
 * (35) Rwanda
 * Group H
 * (3) Nigeria
 * (24) Namibia
 * (44) Lesotho
 * (33) Comoros
 * Group I
 * (22) Kenya
 * (6) Cameroon
 * (36) Burundi
 * (37) Malawi
 * Group J
 * (7) Algeria
 * (19) Congo
 * (42) Ethiopia
 * (25) Guinea-Bissau
 * Group K
 * (4) Egypt
 * (18) Equatorial Guinea
 * (26) Mauritania
 * (48) Djibouti
 * Group L
 * (9) C'Ote d'Ivore
 * (31) Eswatini
 * (20) Mozambique
 * (41) Libya

Round 3

 * 1) (1) Senegal
 * 2) (3) Nigeria
 * 3) (4) Egypt
 * 4) (28) The Gambia
 * 5) (7) Algeria
 * 6) (2) Morocco
 * 7) (5) Tunisia
 * 8) (22) Kenya
 * 9) (15) Gabon
 * 10) (10) Burkina Faso
 * 11) (9) C'Ote d'Ivore
 * 12) (31) Central African Republic

Asia
There are 46 members of the Super Cowboy USA Hot Dog Rocket Ship Asian Water Baseball Number One (SCUHDRSAWBNO). Six teams qualify for the Main Event.

The 46 sovereign states are divided into three regions (east, central, and west). Each region is divided into four groups of 3-4 teams, for a total of 12 groups. The 12 group winners advance to the second group stage, in which each of the four group winners from a region form a group. Both of these group stages are quadruple round robin.

The winner and runner up of each second group stage group qualify for the EWBC! The three third place teams are ranked 1-3 and play a mini tournament. Teams are randomly drawn as A, B, and C. A plays B in a 3-game series with A having HFA (in games 2 and 3). The Victor then has HFA against team C. The Victor of that series is in the EWBC.

Schedule


 * GS1 Matchday 1: Wednesday December 1
 * GS1 Matchday 2: Thursday December 2
 * GS1 Matchday 3: Saturday December 4
 * GS1 Matchday 4: Sunday December 5
 * GS1 Matchday 5: Tuesday December 7
 * GS1 Matchday 6: Wednesday December 8
 * GS1 Matchday 7: Wednesday April 13
 * GS1 Matchday 8: Thursday April 14
 * GS1 Matchday 9: Saturday April 16
 * GS1 Matchday 10: Monday April 18
 * GS1 Matchday 11: Wednesday April 20
 * GS1 Matchday 12: Thursday April 21
 * GS1 Tiebreakers: Saturday April 23
 * GS2 Matchday 1: Monday April 25
 * GS2 Matchday 2: Tuesday April 26
 * GS2 Matchday 3: Thursday April 28
 * GS2 Matchday 4: Friday April 29
 * GS2 Matchday 5: Sunday May 1
 * GS2 Matchday 6: Monday May 2
 * GS2 Matchday 7: Wednesday May 4
 * GS2 Matchday 8: Thursday May 5
 * GS2 Matchday 9: Saturday May 7
 * GS2 Matchday 10: Sunday May 8
 * GS2 Matchday 11: Tuesday July 19
 * GS2 Matchday 12: Wednesday July 20
 * GS2 Tiebreakers: Friday July 22
 * R3 Semi-Final G1: Saturday October 15
 * R3 Semi-Final G2: Monday October 17
 * R3 Semi-Final G3: Tuesday October 18
 * R3 Final G1: Thursday October 20
 * R3 Final G2: Saturday October 22
 * R3 Final G3: Sunday October 23

Group Stage 1

 * Not listed due to Scott's indifference

Group Stage 2

 * Group E
 * Japan
 * North Korea
 * South Korea
 * China
 * Group C
 * Laos
 * Singapore
 * Tajikistan
 * Bhutan
 * Group W
 * Iran
 * UAE
 * Oman
 * Israel

Round 3

 * Semi-Final: Oman def. Tajikistan, 2-0
 * Final: South Korea def. Oman, 2-0

Broceania
There are 12 Nations in the Broceania Water Baseball Confederation (BWBF) duking it out for four places in the EWBC. The teams are split into a pair of 6-team groups and will play a quadruple round robin within their group. The top two sides in each group advance to the Earth Water Baseball Classic!

Schedule


 * Matchday 1: Saturday December 4
 * Matchday 2: Sunday December 5
 * Matchday 3: Tuesday December 7
 * Matchday 4: Wednesday December 8
 * Matchday 5: Saturday February 19
 * Matchday 6: Sunday February 20
 * Matchday 7: Tuesday February 22
 * Matchday 8: Wednesday February 23
 * Matchday 9: Saturday April 30
 * Matchday 10: Sunday May 1
 * Matchday 11: Tuesday May 3
 * Matchday 12: Wednesday May 4
 * Matchday 13: Friday May 6
 * Matchday 14: Saturday May 7
 * Matchday 15: Saturday October 15
 * Matchday 16: Sunday October 16
 * Matchday 17: Tuesday October 18
 * Matchday 18: Wednesday October 19
 * Matchday 19: Friday October 21
 * Matchday 20: Saturday October 22
 * Tiebreakers: Monday October 24

Qualifying Round

 * Group A
 * (1) Palau
 * (3) New Zealand
 * (5) New Caledonia
 * (7) Fiji
 * (9) Papua New Guinea
 * (11) Samoa
 * Group B
 * (2) Australia
 * (6) Vanuatu
 * (8) Tahiti
 * (4) Solomon Islands
 * (12) Tonga
 * (10) American Samoa

Europe
There are 54 countries in UEWBA fighting for 10 spots. The first round is a Group Stage for Embarassingly Bad Teams. Teams ranked 47-54 are drawn into two 4-team groups and they will play a double round robin. The winner of each group qualifies fo' the Group Stage. All other teams are eliminated.

The Group stage features 48 nations, divided into eight 6-team groups. Groups consist of one team from each of six pots (ranked 1-8, 9-16, 17-24, 25-32, 33-40, 41-48). The Group Stage is a quadruple round robin. The winner of each group qualifies for the EWBC. The second place teams qualify for the playoff round.

The playoff round features eight group runners-up vying for two spots. Teams are randomly drawn into four best-of-3 series. The winners of those series will play another winner in a best-of-3 series. The winners of those series are in the EWBC!

Schedule


 * GS1 Matchday 1: April 1-2
 * GS1 Matchday 2: April 3-4
 * GS1 Matchday 3: April 5-6
 * GS1 Matchday 4: April 7-8
 * GS1 Matchday 5: April 9-10
 * GS1 Matchday 6: April 11-12
 * GS2 Matchday 1: Thursday April 14
 * GS2 Matchday 2: Friday April 15
 * GS2 Matchday 3: Tuesday April 19
 * GS2 Matchday 4: Wednesday April 20
 * GS2 Matchday 5: Friday April 22
 * GS2 Matchday 6: Saturday April 23
 * GS2 Matchday 7: Monday April 25
 * GS2 Matchday 8: Tuesday April 26
 * GS2 Matchday 9: Thursday April 28
 * GS2 Matchday 10: Friday April 29
 * GS2 Matchday 11: Sunday May 1
 * GS2 Matchday 12: Monday May 2
 * GS2 Matchday 13: Wednesday May 4
 * GS2 Matchday 14: Thursday May 5
 * GS2 Matchday 15: Saturday May 7
 * GS2 Matchday 16: Sunday May 8
 * GS2 Matchday 17: Tuesday May 10
 * GS2 Matchday 18: Wednesday May 11
 * GS2 Matchday 19: Friday May 13
 * GS2 Matchday 20: Saturday May 14
 * PR1 Game 1: Thursday July 21
 * PR1 Game 2: Saturday July 23
 * PR1 Game 3: Sunday July 24
 * PR2 Game 1: Thursday October 13
 * PR2 Game 2: Saturday October 15
 * PR2 Game 3: Sunday October 16

Group Stage for Embarassingly Bad teams
The draw was held on February 7, 2022. Groups are as follows:


 * Group A
 * 1. (54) Andorra 4-2-0 (win head-to-head tiebreaker)
 * 2. (47) Estonia 4-2-0
 * 3. (48) Kosovo 3-3-0
 * 4. (52) Latvia 1-5-0
 * Group B
 * 1. (49) Kazhakstan 6-0-0
 * 2. (51) Faroe Islands 4-2-0
 * 3. (50) Azerbaijan 1-5-0
 * 4. (53) Lithuania 1-5-0

Group Stage
The Draw was held on February 7, 2022. Groups are as follows. On February 28, Russia were banished from international competition because of their invasion of Ukraine. As a result, Group F was reduced to five teams.


 * Group A
 * (8) Netherlands
 * (10) Switzerland
 * (36) Montenegro
 * (21) Scotland
 * (27) Northern Ireland
 * (42) Malta
 * Group B
 * (20) Turkey
 * (3) England
 * (11) Croatia
 * (26) Ireland
 * (34) North Macedonia
 * (49) Kazhakstan
 * Group C
 * (18) Czech Republic
 * (4) Italy
 * (16) Poland
 * (31) Iceland
 * (38) Israel
 * (46) San Marino
 * Group D
 * (1) Belgium
 * (54) Andorra
 * (22) Hungary
 * (39) Georgia
 * (14) Serbia
 * (30) Bosnia
 * Group E
 * (6) Portugal
 * (15) Ukraine
 * (17) Austria
 * (25) Romania
 * (33) Albania
 * (45) Gibraltar
 * Group F
 * (32) Slovenia
 * (7) Sweden
 * (14) Wales
 * (43) Moldova
 * (40) Cyprus
 * Group G
 * (2) France
 * (9) Germany
 * (23) Norway
 * (35) Bulgaria
 * (28) Greece
 * (41) Luxembourg
 * Group H
 * (5) Spain
 * (24) Slovakia
 * (12) Denmark
 * (29) Finland
 * (37) Armenia
 * (45) Liechtenstein

Round 1

 * (10) Switzerland def. (3) England, 2-0
 * (24) Slovakia def. (4) Italy, 2-1
 * (7) Sweden def. (54) Andorra, 2-0
 * (9) Germany def. (15) Ukraine, 2-1

Round 2

 * Switzerland def. Slovakia, 2-0
 * Germany def. Sweden, 2-1

North America
There are 40 members of NAWBBF (the North American Water Baseball Federation), which also includes Central America and the Carribbean. The United States, as 2020 champions, automatically qualify. The remaining 39 nations will duke it out for 9 spots.

The first round features 30 teams ranked 10-39 playing a best-of-5 series. The teams ranked 10-24 are seeded and drawn against an unseeded team in the 25-39 range. The seeded team gets games 1, 2, and 5 at home while the other team gets games 3 and 4 at home. The winners advance to the second round.

The second round features 24 teams: Those ranked 1-9 and the 15 winners of the first round. These teams are divided into six groups of four teams each. Groups consist of teams selected from 6 pots (teams ranked 1-4, 5-8, 9-12, 13-16, 17-20, and 20-24 based on February 2022 FIWBA Earth Rankings) Teams will play a quadruple-round-robin schedule, with two home and two away games against the balance of their group. The top team in each group qualifies for the EWBC. The second place teams will be drawn against each other for a best-of-5 series. Those winners also qualify for the EWBC.

Schedule


 * R1 Game 1 - Friday April 1
 * R1 Game 2 - Saturday April 2
 * R1 Game 3 - Monday April 4
 * R1 Game 4 - Tuesday April 5
 * R1 Game 5 - Thursday April 7
 * R2 Matchday 1 - Monday April 11
 * R2 Matchday 2 - Tuesday April 12
 * R2 Matchday 3 - Thursday April 14
 * R2 Matchday 4 - Friday April 15
 * R2 Matchday 5 - Monday April 18
 * R2 Matchday 6 - Tuesday April 19
 * R2 Matchday 7 - Thursday April 21
 * R2 Matchday 8 - Friday April 22
 * R2 Matchday 9 - Sunday April 24
 * R2 Matchday 10 - Monday April 25
 * R2 Matchday 11 - Wednesday April 27
 * R2 Matchday 12 - Thursday April 28
 * R2 Tiebreakers - Saturday April 30
 * R3 Game 1 - Friday October 14
 * R3 Game 2 - Saturday October 15
 * R3 Game 3 - Monday October 17
 * R3 Game 4 - Tuesday October 18
 * R3 Game 5 - Thursday October 20

South America
There are 10 teams in CONMEBOA (the Confederación Sudamericana de beisbol agua). The ten nations are split into two 5-team groups, which play a quadruple-round-robert schedule. The top two teams in each group qualify for the Earth Water Baseball Classic! All other teams are eliminated. The third place teams in each group will play a best-of-3 series, with the winner of that series battling an African nation in the Intercontinental Playoff.

Schedule


 * Matchday 1: Tuesday, April 19
 * Matchday 2: Wednesday, April 20
 * Matchday 3: Friday, April 22
 * Matchday 4: Saturday, April 23
 * Matchday 5: Tuesday, April 26
 * Matchday 6: Wednesday, April 27
 * Matchday 7: Friday, April 29
 * Matchday 8: Saturday, April 30
 * Matchday 9: Tuesday, May 3
 * Matchday 10: Wednesday, May 4
 * Matchday 11: Friday, May 6
 * Matchday 12: Saturday, May 7
 * Matchday 13: Tuesday, May 10
 * Matchday 14: Wednesday, May 11
 * Matchday 15: Friday, May 13
 * Matchday 16: Saturday, May 14
 * Matchday 17: Tuesday, May 17
 * Matchday 18: Wednesday, May 18
 * Matchday 19: Friday, May 20
 * Matchday 20: Saturday, May 21
 * Tiebreakers: Monday, May 23
 * PLAYOFF Game 1: Wednesday, May 25
 * PLAYOFF Game 2: Friday, May 27
 * PLAYOFF Game 3: Saturday, May 28

Main Qualifying Round
Group A


 * 1) (1) Brazil
 * 2) (5) Peru
 * 3) (9) Venezuela
 * 4) (4) Colombia
 * 5) (8) Paraguay

Group B


 * 1) (2) Argentina
 * 2) (3) Uruguay
 * 3) (7) Ecuador
 * 4) (6) Chile
 * 5) (10) Bolivia

Playoff Round

 * (7) Ecuador def. (9) Venezuela, 2-1

Intercontinental Playoff
An intercontinental playoff will be held for the final spot, between a Ecuador (5th place playoff winner in South America) and Morocco (6th place in Africa). This will be a best-of-5 series in which Ecuador hosts Games 1 and 2 and Morocco gets Games 3, 4, and 5 at home.

Ecudaor won the opening game, but Morocco won the next three games to clinch the final spot.


 * Game 1: Friday October 21
 * Game 2: Saturday October 22
 * Game 3: Thursday October 27
 * Game 4: Friday October 28
 * Game 5: Saturday October 29