Cuba will premiere today at the fourth edition of the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, the capital of Senegal, when its mixed Baseball5 team enters action one day prior to the official inauguration of the multisport event, scheduled to take place from tomorrow through November 13.

According to information received by the sports publication JIT from the host venue, the Cuban team will face Türkiye this Friday in Group A at the Stade Abdoulaye Wade in Diamniadio.

JIT also highlighted that two other matches will take place on the same day: host country Senegal will match up against Chinese Taipei, and Syria—represented by the Refugee Team from the Azraq camp in Jordan—will square off against Mexico.

Eight teams distributedCuba Premieres Baseball5 at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games

Author: ACN

The Cuban mixed Baseball5 team will kick off the nation's participation in the Youth Olympic Games in Senegal prior to the official opening ceremony.

Cuba will premiere today in the fourth edition of the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, the capital of Senegal, when the mixed Baseball5 team enters into action one day before the official inauguration of the multi-sport event, scheduled to take place from tomorrow through November 13.

According to information received by the sports publication JIT from the host venue, the Cuban squad will face Türkiye this Friday in Group A at the Stade Abdoulaye Wade in Diamniadio.

JIT also highlighted that two other matches will take place on the same day, as the host nation Senegal will clash with Chinese Taipei, and Syria—represented by the Refugee Team from the Azraq camp in Jordan—will face Mexico.

There will be eight teams distributed across two groups of four for the regular stage, in which Cuba will play against Senegal on the 31st and close out the qualifying round on November 1 in a matchup against Chinese Taipei.

The other four teams—France, Mexico, Kenya, and Syria—are placed in Group B.

The winners of each group will advance directly to the semifinals, while the second- and third-place finishers will contest the quarterfinals.

Accordingly, the second-place team from Group A will face the third-place team from Group B, while the second-place team from Group B will play against the third-place team from Group A.

It was also learned that the quarterfinals and semifinals will take place on November 2, and the final day, scheduled for November 3, will begin with placement matches before moving on to the medal round.

As a reminder, Cuba is participating in Dakar with 12 athletes: eight in Baseball5—a two-time world champion and recent Youth Pan American titleholder in Barquisimeto—three in athletics, and one in judo.

In athletics, Adriana González will compete in the discus, Daniselis Reyes in the high jump, and Vanessa Velazco in the 200-meter dash, while Kayla Lazaret Pita will represent the country in judo in the +78 kg division.

The largest of the Antilles holds a historical total of 30 medals (19 gold, 4 silver, and 7 bronze) from the three previous editions, placing tenth overall, having participated in those events with larger delegations of athletes and sports.

In Singapore 2010, Cuba finished in fifth place (9-3-2), in Nanjing 2014 in 35th place (2-1-1), and in Buenos Aires 2018 in 16th place (4-0-2).

The all-time medal table is led by China with 152 medals (86 gold, 38 silver, and 28 bronze), followed by Russia (159/74-51-34), the Mixed Team (184/61-59-64), Japan (115/45-38-32), Hungary (86/36-24-26), Italy (108/34-37-37), Ukraine (92/26-31-35), the United States (79/26-24-29), France (89/24-35-30), Australia (81/20-31-30), and Cuba (30/19-4-7), in that order.

Organizers announce that 2,700 athletes—1,350 men and 1,350 women—aged 15 to 17 from 200 countries will participate, competing across 25 disciplines.