The Little League Baseball World Series is entering the fifth year of its expansion to a robust 20 teams that will take over the Williamsport, Pennsylvania, area from Aug. 19-30.
The United States will account for 10 teams, with the country divided into 10 regions. Ten international teams earned their spots through an automatic/direct bid into the 2026 LLBWS or through competing in one of the international regional tournaments.
The U.S. regional tournaments took place the first two weeks of August, while most of the international regional tournaments happened earlier this summer.
Here is the must-know information about the 20 contenders as the countdown to the Little League Baseball World Series starts:
2026 United States Regional Tournaments
Great Lakes Region
- Team that won: West Side Little League (Hamilton, Ohio)
- Region Tournament Record: 4-0
- League LLBWS Appearances: 6
- State LLBWS Appearances: 13
- Little League Charter since: 1952
Metro Region
- Team that won: Bayonne Central Little League (Bayonne, New Jersey)
- Region tournament record: 3-0
- League LLBWS Appearances: 1
- State LLBWS Appearances: 21
- Little League Charter since: 1951
Mid-Atlantic Region
- Team that won:East Side Little League (West Chester, Pennsylvania)
- Region tournament record: 3-0
- League LLBWS Appearances: 1
- State LLBWS Appearances: 39
- Little League Charter since: 1957
Midwest Region
- Team that won:Davenport Northwest Little League (Davenport, Iowa)
- Region Tournament Record: 4-0
- League LLBWS Appearances: 3
- State LLBWS Appearances: 16
- Little League Charter since: 1952
Mountain Region
- Team that won: Paseo Verde Little League (Henderson, Nevada)
- Region tournament record: 3-0
- League LLBWS Appearances: 2
- State LLBWS Appearances: 5
- Little League Charter since: 2001
New England Region Tournament
- Team that won: Bridgewater Joe Lazaro Little League (Bridgewater, Massachusetts)
- Region Tournament Record: 3-0
- League LLBWS Appearances: 1
- State LLBWS Appearances: 13
- Little League Charter since: 1952
Northwest Region Tournament
- Team that won:SoundView Little League (Tacoma, Washington)
- Region Tournament Record: 3-1
- League LLBWS Appearances: 1
- State LLBWS Appearances: 18
- Little League Charter since: 1970
Southeast Region Tournament
- Team that won: Phenix City Youth Baseball Little League (Phenix City, Alabama)
- Region Tournament Record: 4-0
- League LLBWS Appearances: 2
- State LLBWS Appearances: 9
- Little League Charter since: 1978
Southwest Region Tournament
- Team that won: Boerne Little League (Boerne, Texas)
- Region Tournament Record: 3-1
- League LLBWS Appearances: 2
- State LLBWS Appearances: 33
- Little League Charter since: 2002
West Region
- Team that won: Sweetwater Valley Little League (Bonita, California)
- Region Tournament Record: 3-0
- League LLBWS Appearances: 2
- State LLBWS Appearances: 51
- Little League Charter since: 1961
2026 International Regional Tournaments
Asia-Pacific Region Tournament
- Team that won:West Seoul (B) Little League (Seoul, South Korea)
- Region Tournament Record: 6-0
- League LLBWS Appearances: 2
- Country LLBWS Appearances: 8
- Little League Charter since: 2019
Australian Region Tournament
- Team that won:Ryde Little League (Sydney, Australia)
- Region Tournament Record: 6-1
- League LLBWS Appearances: 1
- Country LLBWS Appearances: 12
- Little League Charter since: 2008
Canada Region Tournament
- Team that won: Little Mountain Little League (Vancouver, British Columbia)
- Region Tournament Record: 8-0
- League LLBWS Appearances: 5
- Country LLBWS Appearances: 68
- Little League Charter since: 1951
Caribbean Region Tournament
- Team that won:Los Nacionales Little League (Santiago, Dominican Republic)
- Region Tournament Record: 7-1
- League LLBWS Appearances: 1
- Country LLBWS Appearances: 10
- Little League Charter since: 2026
Curacao Region Tournament
- Team that won:Pariba Little League (Willemstad, Curaçao)
- Region Tournament Record: 5-3
- League LLBWS Appearances: 5
- Country LLBWS Appearances: 16
- Little League Charter since: 1969
Europe-Africa Region Tournament
- Team that won:South Czech Republic Little League (Brno, Czechia)
- Region Tournament Record: 6-0
- League LLBWS Appearances: 4 as South Czech Republic Little League, 6 overall as league was previously called South Moravia Little League from Brno, Czechia.
- Country LLBWS Appearances: 6
- Little League Charter since: 2008
Japan Region Tournament
- Team that won:Joto Little League (Tokyo, Japan)
- Region Tournament Record: 4-0
- League LLBWS Appearances: 2
- Country LLBWS Appearances: 35
- Little League Charter since: 2022
Latin America Region Tournament
- Team that won:Ministerio Sobre Las Alas Del Aguila Little League (Leon, Nicaragua)
- Region Tournament Record: 7-0
- League LLBWS Appearances: 1
- Country LLBWS Appearances: 4
- Little League Charter since: 2026
Mexico Region Tournament
- Team that won: Municipal de Tijuana Little League (Tijuana, Mexico)
- Region Tournament Record: 7-1
- League LLBWS Appearances: 3
- Country LLBWS Appearances: 38
- Little League Charter since: 2010
Panama Region Tournament
- Team that won:David Doleguita Little League (Chiriqui, Panama)
- Region Tournament Record: 11-3
- League LLBWS Appearances: 2
- Country LLBWS Appearances: 14
- Little League Charter since: 1985
Which countries get automatic/direct bids into the Little League Baseball World Series?
Little League separates certain countries into those that get an automatic/direct entry into the Little League World Series and those that are part of a rotating selection.The countries with permanent automatic bids are Australia, Canada, Japan and Mexico. The countries that participate in a rotating selection are Cuba, Curacao, Panama and Puerto Rico.For the 2026 Little League World Series, Little League International announced earlier this year that the champions from Panama and Curacao will have direct entry into this year’s event in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. That means Cuba and Puerto Rico competed in one of the international regions for a chance to make it to the LLWS.
Who won the 2025 Little League Baseball World Series?
An international team is once again on top of the Little League baseball world.
Chinese Taipei, the Asia-Pacific region champion, coasted to the 2025 Little League World Series title behind its ace pitcher, Lin Chin-Tse.
Chin-Tse’s pitching line was simply dominant – 5 innings, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 walks, 4 strikeouts – and he also had the most important hit (a bases-clearing triple) in the game during his team’s five-run bottom of the fifth inning.
On the strength of Chin-Tse’s arm and the stellar defense behind him, Chinese Taipei defeated Nevada, 7-0, to win its first Little League World Series title since 1996, snapping a 29-year drought for the country. -Sherlon Christie and James Williams
Who was the 2025 Little League Baseball World Series U.S. champion?
The U.S. champion of the Little League World Series was crowned in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and Nevada advanced to play the International bracket champion, Chinese Taipei, in the 2025 title game.
Connecticut, the top team in the 2025 tournament with a perfect 4-0 record in U.S. bracket play, faced off against Nevada, which had a record of 4-1. In a fiercely competitive United States championship game, Connecticut fought hard for six innings but, ultimately, Nevada proved to be too strong, defeating Connecticut 6-2 to win the United States championship. - Elizabeth Flores
Who was the 2025 Little League Baseball World Series International champion?
The 2025 Little League Baseball World Series International championship game, which launched last year's two-game lineup, kicked off the action with a bang. Aruba, representing the Caribbean region, faced off against Chinese Taipei from the Asia-Pacific region. Chinese Taipei, continuing their undefeated streak, secured their place in the final championship game by defeating Aruba for the second time in the tournament. Chinese Taipei won the International championship title by defeating Aruba 1-0. - Elizabeth Flores
Sherlon Christie is a USA TODAY Sports senior trending editor and an expert on Little League Baseball and Little League Softball. You can reach him by email at schristie@usatoday.com. Follow him on X at @sherlonchristie, on Bluesky at @sherlonchristie.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What 20 teams made the Little League World Series? Meet the contenders