Juan Soto says the Dominican Republic is the best team in the world

The Dominican Republic's World Baseball Classic run came to a dramatic end last night (Sunday) as one of the most potent lineups ever assembled managed to score just a single run in a 2-1 loss to Team USA.

Six American pitchers worked together to stifle the Dominican hitters, and a few errors on the bases allowed Mark DeRosa's team (he must be relieved once again) to hold on and advance to the final of the international tournament.

The Dominican Republic set a World Baseball Classic record for most home runs by a team, but missed several scoring opportunities in the semifinal, which ended with a terrible call by the umpire behind home plate at the end of the game.

It's therefore understandable that emotions were running high in the losing team's locker room. And that was certainly the case for Juan Soto in his interview with Jeff Passan of ESPN.

We showed the world who the best team in baseball is. That's all I have to say.

Yeah, right, Juan. It's always a bit surprising to hear an athlete say that the losing team was actually better than the winning one, even with two questionable calls during the game.

Juan Soto after losing to Team USA in the WBC, via @JeffPassan: “We showed the world who's the best team in baseball. That's all I got to say.” pic.twitter.com/5pXFr4AX7v — Underdog MLB (@UnderdogMLB) March 16, 2026

Admittedly, Soto and the Dominicans may feel frustrated after this epic showdown, but they cannot claim they had the best team in the world. To do so, they would have had to defeat the Americans and then win the final.

The United States, for its part, will be able to claim the title that Soto mistakenly awarded to the Dominican Republic on Tuesday night, as they face the winner of the tournament's other semifinal between Italy and Venezuela.

Sorry, Juan.

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