They triumphed on the last occasion the Championships were held on Canadian soil in Whitehorse in 2012, before successfully defending their crown two years later in Haarlem, The Netherlands.

Their bid for a third title will begin with matches against France and Venezuela in Pool A of the tournament, after the 31 participating teams were split into eight pools as the WBSC revealed the official schedule.

Austria, Brazil, Israel will contest Pool B along with the United States, who finished as runners-up in 2012 and 2014, while Australia, Mexico, Switzerland, Serbia will meet in Pool C.

Canada will be expected to perform well after their gold medal win at the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games and the host nation will face the challenge of Britain, Ireland and Uganda in Pool D.

Pool E will see Chinese Taipei, Puerto Rico, India and Ecuador contest round robin matches, while the 2014 hosts The Netherlands face the Czech Republic, Philippines and Pakistan in Pool F of the event.

The Chinese, Cuban, Guatemalan and Greek teams have been drawn into Pool G, with the final group of four sees New Zealand meet Italy, Kenya and Peru.

After the preliminary round of competition is completed, nations will then be allocated to one of eight sections of four in a second round-robin stage based on their results.

The top two teams from each section will then progress to the Championship double page system, where 17 matches will be held to eventually determine the winners.

A further 17 placement playoff matches are also due to be staged.

Canada will open the tournament against Britain on July 15, with the preliminary round due to draw to a close two days later.

Brazil, Ecuador, India, Ireland, Israel, Kenya, Pakistan, Peru, Serbia, Switzerland and Uganda will all be hoping to make an impact on the Championships, with the nations set to make their debuts in Surrey.

Competition will draw to a close on July 24, when the bronze and gold medal matchers will be held.