Japan will face Mexico in the semi-final of the World Baseball Classic after defeating Italy 9-3 at the Tokyo Dome ©Getty Images

Japan continued their dominance as they defeated Italy 9-3 in Tokyo, while Mexico edged past Puerto Rico 5-4 in a thrilling contest in Miami to set up a huge semi-final between the two sides at the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

Japan took the lead at the bottom of the third at the Tokyo Dome as Kazuma Okamoto hit a homer on a fly ball, putting the Japanese side up by four.

Italy climbed back into the game during the top of the fifth when Dominic Fletcher singled to bring them within two.

Japan regained control and went up five in the bottom of the fifth, as Munetaka Murakami doubled while also scoring before a crowd of 41,723.

"There's a large gap, like a 9-3 score, but no matter who pitched to Team Italy, they almost never swing and miss," Japan's manager Hideki Kuriyama said.

"They swing really hard.

"It was a tough game from the beginning. 

"Like I mentioned yesterday or the day before, this game was an all-in game."

Japan's manager Hideki Kuriyama claimed that it was a tough match-up against Italy despite the 9-3 win ©Getty Images
Japan's manager Hideki Kuriyama claimed that it was a tough match-up against Italy despite the 9-3 win ©Getty Images

Japan went on to win the match-up by six runs, qualifying to the semi-final while remaining undefeated and having an impressive total of 47 runs for and only 11 runs against, as they look for their third World Baseball Classic title.

In the other quarter-final match-up, Mexico came from behind to defeat Puerto Rico at the LoanDepot Park in Florida before an attendance of 35,817 after going by four during the top of the first.

Mexico pulled the score line within two, but it was the seventh inning where the game turned on its head.

Mexico levelled the game after Isaac Paredes singled on a line drive, leading to runs by Austin Barnes and Randy Arozerena.

Then another single by Luis Uriel guided the Mexicans to the lead, and they never looked back.

"It was a difficult start for us," said Paredes. 

"But we are together as a team. 

"It was a one-run homer, the game was still open, but we had many innings to go. 

"We were able to respond, we responded and we got the result."

Mexico advanced to the semi-final for the first in the history of the World Baseball Classic after defeating Puerto Rico 5-4 in Miami ©Getty Images
Mexico advanced to the semi-final for the first in the history of the World Baseball Classic after defeating Puerto Rico 5-4 in Miami ©Getty Images

This is the first-time Mexico reached the semi-final of the World Baseball Classic, and they will look to grab a historic win against favourites Japan in Miami on Monday (March 20).

The final quarter-final match-up is set to be between the United States and Venezuela in Miami tomorrow night.

The winner is set to face Cuba in the semi-final on Sunday (March 19), also in Miami.