American teams have already won the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Under-12 Baseball World Cup and Under-15 Baseball World Cup titles this year, so expectations are high for the home team in Sarasota and Bradenton.

The US had won this event four times in a row before losing to Chinese Taipei in the 2019 final, when the Under-18 Baseball World Cup was last staged in Gijang in South Korea.

Chinese Taipei are second in the WBSC world ranking - behind only Japan, who they join in Group B.

Fourth-ranked Mexico, Panama, Australia and Italy complete the pool.

The Netherlands, South Korea, Brazil, South Africa and Canada join the US in Group A.

The Chinese Taipei squad seeking to defend the title includes first-round Chinese Professional Baseball League draft pick Pao-Lo Huang.

Colt Emerson and Gavin Grahovac won the Under-12 Baseball World Cup with the US in 2017 and have now graduated to the under-18 team.

Round-robin group play is due to begin tomorrow.

The top three in each group will advance to the super round, from which the top two will play for the title.

There will also be a bronze-medal match, with 50 contests scheduled across the entire Under-18 Baseball World Cup.

Medal matches are due to be played on September 18.

This event was moved from September 2021 until this year because of COVID-19 complications.