The U-18 Women's Softball World Cup is a fastpitch softball tournament for age 18-and-under national teams held by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC).[1][2][3] Prior to the 2021 edition, the tournament was an under-19 tournament.
Current season, competition or edition: 2025 U-18 Women's Softball World Cup | |
 | |
| Sport | Softball |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1981 |
| Continent | International |
| Most recent champion(s) |  United States (8th title) |
| Most titles | United States (8 titles) |
| Official website | Official website |
The latest edition of the WBSC U-18 Women's Softball World Cup was played in Lima, Peru in December 2021, with the United States claiming their fourth consecutive women's youth softball world title, and eighth overall, following a dramatic 1–0 win against Chinese Taipei in the final. This tournament was rescheduled due to the covid pandemic, originally scheduled for 2020.[4][5][6]
The tournament, with a history of 42 years and 14 editions, moved to a four-year cycle and changed its competition format from 2024. The Group Stage will be held between July and September 2024 in Sao Paulo, Pingtan and Dallas. The Finals will be held in 2025 in the North American city itself.[7][8]
Classification
With the approved format of 18 national teams, the WBSC has distributed the continental quotas as follows: [9][10]
- WBSC Africa: 2 spots
- WBSC Americas: 5 spots
- WBSC Asia: 3 spots
- WBSC Europe: 3 spots
- WBSC Oceania: 2 spots
- Wild cards: 3 spots (including hosts if necessary)
The participants will be determined through the continental championships.
Results
| Year | Final Host[11] | Medalists | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champions | Final score | Runners-up | 3rd place | |||
| Jr. Women's Softball World Championship | ||||||
| 1981 Details |  Edmonton |  Japan | 1–0 |  United States |  China | |
| 1985 Details | Fargo | China | 1–0 | Japan | United States | |
| 1987 Details | Oklahoma City | United States | 1–0 | China | Japan | |
| 1991 Details |  Adelaide | Japan | 1–0 | United States | China | |
| 1995 Details | Normal | United States | 3–0 | Japan |  Australia | |
| 1999 Details |  Taipei |  Japan | 3–1 | United States |  Chinese Taipei | |
| 2003 Details |  Nanjing | Japan | 3–2 | United States | Australia | |
| 2007 Details |  Enschede | United States | 3–1 | Japan | Australia | |
| 2011 Details |  Cape Town | United States | 4–1 | Japan | Chinese Taipei | |
| 2013 Details | Brampton | Japan | 4–0 | United States | Australia | |
| 2015 Details | Oklahoma City | United States | 8–1 | Japan |  Puerto Rico | |
| 2017 Details | Clearwater | United States | 13–4 | Japan | Puerto Rico | |
| U-19 Women's Softball World Cup | ||||||
| 2019 Details | Irvine | United States | 4–3 | Japan |  Canada | |
| U-18 Women's Softball World Cup | ||||||
| 2021 Details[R 1] |  Lima | United States | 1–0 | Chinese Taipei | Puerto Rico | |
| 2025 Details | Dallas | |||||
- Notes
Medal table
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | 8 | 5 | 1 | 14 |
| 2 |  Japan | 5 | 7 | 1 | 13 |
| 3 | China | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 4 |  Chinese Taipei | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 5 | Australia | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| 6 |  Puerto Rico | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 7 | Canada | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (7 entries) | 14 | 14 | 14 | 42 | |