March 24 (Bloomberg) -- The opening round of the 2009 World Baseball Classic will be played outside the U.S., with Tokyo, Mexico City, Toronto and San Juan, Puerto Rico, as host venues.

The locations for second round, semifinal and championship games will be announced in coming weeks, Major League Baseball said in a news release. The World Baseball Classic is the sport's premier international competition and featured 486 players -- including 235 major-leaguers -- from 16 countries during its inaugural tournament in 2006.

The 2009 tournament will start March 5, with China, Taiwan, which is sometimes called Chinese Taipei, Japan and South Korea playing Group A games at the Tokyo Dome. The Boston Red Sox and Oakland Athletics are opening Major League Baseball's 2008 regular season with a two-game series at the Tokyo Dome starting tomorrow.

Australia, Cuba, Mexico and South Africa will compete in the World Baseball Classic's Group B at Foro Sol Stadium in Mexico City, while Canada, Italy, the U.S. and Venezuela will play Group C games at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan will host Group D games involving the Dominican Republic, Netherlands, Panama and Puerto Rico.

``The 2009 World Baseball Classic will further demonstrate the remarkable global growth of our game,'' Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement. ``We are pleased to have four international destinations as our first round venues.''

Next year's tournament will switch to a double-elimination format during the first two rounds of play. The inaugural tournament used a round-robin pool-play system, with every team in a group playing one another in the opening rounds. Japan beat Cuba in the final in 2006.

To contact the reporter on this story: Erik Matuszewski in New York at matuszewski@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: March 24, 2008 01:47 EDT