The 2026 WBC Group C match between South Korea and Australia, held at Tokyo Dome in Japan on the 9th. In the top of the 9th inning, with one out and runners on first and third, South Korea's Ahn Hyun-min celebrates with teammates after hitting a sacrifice fly to center field. [Yonhap News]

Korean baseball has advanced to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarterfinals for the first time in 17 years.

South Korea, led by manager Ryu Ji-hyun, defeated Australia 7-2 in their fourth Group C match of the 2026 WBC at Tokyo Dome in Japan on the 9th.

With a record of two wins and two losses, South Korea tied Taiwan and Australia but advanced to the quarterfinals in second place in the group behind Japan (three wins), due to a better runs allowed average.

In head-to-head comparisons among tied teams, South Korea had a runs allowed average of 0.1228, while Taiwan and Australia had 0.1296. This allowed South Korea to secure a ticket to the United States, edging out the other two nations.

This is the first time South Korea has advanced past the group stage in the WBC since their runner-up finish in 2009, marking a 17-year gap.

The South Korean national baseball team will travel to Miami, Florida, and will face the first-place team from Group D in the quarterfinals at 7:30 AM on the 14th, Korean time.

In Group D, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela are both currently undefeated with two wins.

The final Group C match of the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) between South Korea and Australia, held at Tokyo Dome in Japan on the 9th. In the top of the 9th inning, with one out and a runner on third, South Korea's Ahn Hyun-min hits a sacrifice fly, allowing third base runner Park Hae-min to score, and celebrates with teammates. [Yonhap News]

South Korea needed to hold Australia to two runs or fewer and win by a margin of five or more runs to advance to the quarterfinals.

The starting lineup for the day was: Kim Do-young (KIA Tigers, third base) - Jermaine Jones (Detroit Tigers, left field) - Lee Jung-hoo (San Francisco Giants, center field) - Ahn Hyun-min (kt wiz, right field) - Moon Bo-kyung (LG Twins, designated hitter) - Noh Si-hwan (Hanwha Eagles, first base) - Kim Ju-won (NC Dinos, shortstop) - Park Dong-won (LG, catcher) - Shin Min-jae (LG, second base).

Shey Whitcomb (Houston Astros) and Kim Hye-seong (Los Angeles) were absent, with Noh Si-hwan and Shin Min-jae starting instead.

The starting pitcher was Son Ju-young (LG).

In the 2nd inning, Ahn Hyun-min reached base on an infield hit, and Moon Bo-kyung hit a two-run homer to right-center field, giving South Korea a 2-0 lead.

In the 3rd inning, consecutive doubles by Jones and Lee Jung-hoo extended the lead to 3-0, and Moon Bo-kyung's double to right-center further widened the gap to 4-0.

Moon Bo-kyung also drove in a run in the 5th inning with a two-out double to left-center, making the score 5-0.

Moon Bo-kyung, who added four RBIs in this game, now has 11 RBIs for the tournament, making him the only player among all participants from 20 countries to have recorded 10 or more RBIs.

Australia's Robbie Glendinning hit a solo home run off South Korea's third pitcher, So Hyeong-jun (kt), in the bottom of the 5th inning, narrowing the score to 5-1. However, South Korea responded in the top of the 6th with an RBI hit from Kim Do-young with two outs and a runner on third, making it 6-1 and maintaining their chances for the quarterfinals.

The final Group C match of the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) between South Korea and Australia, held at Tokyo Dome in Japan on the 9th. In the top of the 5th inning with two outs, South Korea's Moon Bo-kyung hits an RBI double, and Ahn Hyun-min, who scores, celebrates. [Yonhap News]

Australia scored one run in the bottom of the 8th inning, making the score 6-2, putting South Korea in a precarious position where they absolutely had to score additional runs in the top of the 9th to advance.

In the top of the 9th, South Korea capitalized on a bases-loaded situation with runners on first and third and one out, following a walk by Kim Do-young and a throwing error by the shortstop on Lee Jung-hoo's batted ball. Ahn Hyun-min then hit a sacrifice fly to the outfield, allowing them to escape the "edge of a cliff" situation and secure their flight to Miami.