Team USA has its opponent for the World Baseball Classic (WBC) final on Tuesday night. 

Venezuela ended Italy’s magical WBC run on Monday night, coming from behind to defeat them, 4-2 at loanDepot park, earning a spot in the final against the United States. 

Italy was the surprise team of the tournament, taking down the U.S. in pool play before defeating Mexico to finish a perfect 4-0 in Pool B.

But that win over Mexico also kept Team USA alive in the tournament, allowing them to advance to the quarterfinals, where they defeated Canada before earning a thrilling 2-1 semifinal victory over the Dominican Republic on Sunday night to punch their ticket back to the final.

While it felt only right for the U.S. and Italy to meet once more to determine who would win it all before the start of the 2026 MLB season, Venezuela had other things in mind during the bottom of the seventh inning.

Down 2-1 in the contest, Venezuela found themselves threatening with a potential two-out rally after Jackson Chourio, the Milwaukee Brewers’ rising star, singled to center field, allowing Andres Gimenez to advance to third base.

That’s when Ronald Acuña Jr., the face of Venezuelan baseball, reached first on an infield single that allowed Gimenez to score, tying the game at two apiece. But the rally wasn’t over just yet.

The Venezuelans caught fire after Acuña’s single, as Maikel Garcia singled to left field, scoring Chourio, and Luis Arraez brought home Acuña. With two outs, Venezuela seized all the momentum with a three-run seventh inning that made it 4-2.

Italy had been clinging to the lead since the bottom of the second inning, when they made the most of a bases-loaded situation. J.J. D’Orazio walked home a run, while Dante Nori grounded into a fielder’s choice that scored another to give Italy a 2-0 lead.

Slugger Eugenio Suarez got Venezuela on the board in the top of the fourth inning with a solo home run to left-center field, cutting the deficit to one. But they weren’t able to string together additional offense until that seventh inning.

From there, Italy could never get a rally started, as Daniel Palencia eventually shut the door in the ninth inning, striking out the final two Italian hitters.

As Venezuela celebrated, Italy hung their heads, but their story this month has been nothing short of incredible. Their espresso machine in the dugout — which captain Vinnie Pasquantino of the Kansas City Royals helped turn into a home run celebration — went viral as they continued to have success. The roster featured established MLB stars, top prospects and players with Italian heritage, earning praise from big leaguers throughout the past two weeks.

But it’s Venezuela, ripe with top MLB talent, ready to take on Team USA and starter Nolan McLean, who Italy touched up in their pool play game, on Tuesday night to determine who holds the rights to call themselves the best baseball team in the world for at least the next three years. 

Team USA and Venezuela will face each other at 8 p.m. ET on FOX. 

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

Monday’s Results

BASEBALL

CITY SECTION

Alliance Ouchi 13, Rise Kohyang 5

Carson 5, Narbonne 3

Fremont 8, Marquez 4

Garfield 9, LA Roosevelt 4

Huntington Park 15, Maywood Academy 4

San Fernando 6, Granada Hills Kennedy 4

Sotomayor 3, Rancho Dominguez 1

Sun Valley Poly 1, North Hollywood 0

Sylmar 6, Verdugo Hills 2

Torres 8, Gardena 4

Vaughn 8, Eagle Rock 7

SOUTHERN SECTION

Ambassador 9, Whitney 7

Aquinas 10, Arrowhead Christian 1

Baldwin Park 23, Pioneer 5

Beaumont 12, Jurupa Hills 9

Beckman 4, Woodbridge 1

Bloomington Christian 12, Joshua Springs Christian 7

Calvary Baptist 25. Packinghouse Christian 0

Calvin Christian 14, California Lutheran 3

Capistrano Valley 12, Northwood 1

Chino Hills 5, Colony 3

Corona 3, Riverside King 0

Corona Santiago 11, Eastvale Roosevelt 3

Crean Lutheran 7, Sunny Hills 5

de Toledo 8, Hoover 7

Desert Christian 15, Valley Torah 0

El Toro 4, Esperanza 3

Granite Hills 8, Eastside 0

Great Oak 4, La Palma Kennedy 1

La Quinta 13, Palm Springs 5

La Serna 4, Monrovia 4

Loma Linda Academy 16, Desert Chapel 4

Meadows School 8, Bellflower 7

Milken 9, Malibu 6

Mission Viejo 8, Irvine University 0

Norco 8, Corona Centennial 4

North Torrance 12, St. Monica 1

Oak Park 7, Windward 4

Palm Desert 18, Rancho Mirage 0

Paramount 6, Cerritos 5

Redlands East Valley 16, Indio 3

Riverside Prep 4, Sonora 1

Rolling Hills Prep 6, HMSA 4

San Clemente 3, Sonora 0

San Juan Hills 7, El Dorado 2

San Marino 6, California 5

Serrano 10, Adelanto 7

Shadow Hills 12, Xavier Prep 1

South Hills 10, Los Altos 1

St. Bernard 8, La Salle 3

Twentynine Palms 21, CIMSA 3

Valley Christian 13, Bishop Montgomery 0

Whittier 11, Gabrielino 1

Woodcrest Christian 6, Chaparral 5

Yucca Valley 4, Desert Hot Springs 3

YULA 5, Shalhevet 3

INTERSECTIONAL

Berkeley Prep 4, Gahr 1

Calabasas 12, Taft 1

Compton 5, King/Drew 1

Garden Grove Pacifica 6, Parker (CO) Legend 2

Lakeview Charter 14, Community Charter 4

Redlands Adventist Academy 16, Public Safety Academy

Santa Margarita 13, Mountain Vista (CO) 2

SOFTBALL

CITY SECTION

Animo Venice 25, Animo Robinson 5

Bell 18, Huntington Park 4

Bernstein 23, Belmont 2

Contreras 24, Roybal 14

Discovery 20, Locke 6

Fremont 21, Dymally 0

Garfield 10, LA Roosevelt 0

Harbor Teacher 11, Narbonne 8

Hollywood 15, RFK Community 1

LA Marshall 18, USC-MAE 1

Middle College 29, LAAAE 8

Northridge Academy 17, Grant 0

Rancho Dominguez 8, Orthopaedic 6

South Gate 5, South East 1

VAAS 21, Panorama 5

SOUTHERN SECTION

AAE 14, ACE 3

Aquinas 10, Riverside Notre Dame 3

Arlington 15, Vista del Lago 2

Arrowhead Christian 4, Hesperia Christian 1

Chino 7, Diamond Bar 6

Corona 15, Walnut 1

Covina 17, Muir 13

Crean Lutheran 11, Tustin 1

Elsinore 10, Irvine University 4

Garey 8, Sierra Vista 5

Grace 12, Del Sol 0

Godinez 14, Estancia 3

Lakewood 12, Valley Christian 5

Los Osos 6, Canyon Springs 1

Maranatha 11, Heritage Christian 1

Newport Harbor 13, Portola 11

Northwood 3, Trabuco Hills 1

Oaks Christian 11, Crescenta Valley 6

Orange 2, Santa Ana 0

Oxford Academy 15, Loara 14

Palm Desert 13, Rancho Mirage 12

Palos Verdes 12, South Torrance 7

Pasadena Marshall 21, Bassett 8

Redlands 9, Fontana 7

RSCSM 21, Mesa Grande Academy 7

St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy 23, Glendale 4

Twentynine Palms 13, Moreno Valley 10

Yucca Valley 1, Desert Hot Springs 0

INTERSECTIONAL

Animo Watts 22, Stella 13

Burbank Providence 14, Van Nuys 0

Dorsey 1, Inglewood 1

El Segundo 7, Wilmington Banning 4

Port of LA 9, Peninsula 8

Redondo Union 10, LA Hamilton 0

Sierra Canyon 16, El Camino Real 0

Team USA World Baseball Classic manager Mark DeRosa shared the reason why Robert J. O’Neill, the U.S. Navy SEAL who is credited with killing terrorist Osama bin Laden, was invited to speak to the team last week.

O’Neill spoke to the team before the U.S. defeated Canada in the quarterfinal. The decision sparked a social media meltdown.

But before the game against the Dominican Republic, DeRosa was questioned about having O’Neill in the locker room.

“That was my decision to bring him in,” DeRosa said, via Defector. “He was brought in, actually, a couple of days in Houston. It wasn’t before the Canada game. I think for me there has to be … you never want it to get lost why you’re doing this. Whatever that ‘why’ is and a lot of people, like Paul Skenes said to me when he signed up for this, ‘I want to do this for every service man and woman that protects our freedom. That’s why we wear USA across our chest.’

2026 WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC ODDS: USA HEAVY FAVORITE TO WIN IT ALL

“I just thought it would be like a time to kind of redirect and get those guys to understand that, although this is an unbelievable event and you get a chance to share a locker room with the game’s greats, there’s a reason why you’re doing it and a reason why people protect our freedom at night. I just wanted to honor that.”

O’Neill wasn’t the only one to hype up Team USA before the game.

DeRosa revealed that USA hockey hero Jack Hughes, who scored the winning goal in the gold medal game against Canada at the Olympics, reached out to the American baseball players before Friday’s game.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

The U.S. defeated Canada and then went on to beat the Dominican Republic to reach the World Baseball Classic final.

Fox News’ Jackson Thompson contributed to this report.