Thirty-eight times in Little League World Series history, the trophy has left the United States. Since Monterrey, Mexico’s Industrial Little League broke through in 1957 behind Angel Macias’s championship-game perfect game, international teams from six countries — Mexico, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Venezuela, and Curacao — have beaten the American champion in the final, including runs of dominance that reshaped the entire tournament.
The list below is every one of them. It’s dominated by Taiwan’s 18 champions, the greatest dynasty in youth sports, and Japan’s 11, four of which belong to a single league — Tokyo’s Kitasuna, the winningest program in LLWS history. It also includes the tournament’s great one-offs: Seoul’s three titles across three decades, Maracaibo’s two comeback championships for Venezuela, and Willemstad’s 2004 win that made Curacao the smallest place ever to produce a champion.
Every international champion is in the chart below, organized by country. Take a look, then we’ll get into how each nation’s era happened.
LITTLE LEAGUE WORLD SERIES
Every International Team to Win the LLWS
All 38 non-U.S. champions, from Monterrey 1957 to Taipei 2025
INT’L TITLES
38
Of 78 finals
TOP LEAGUE
Kitasuna, 4
Tokyo, Japan
FIRST
Monterrey
1957, perfect game
The complete list
Every international champion by country
| Country | Year | Champion | Final |
|---|
| Taiwan (18) | 2025 | Tung-Yuan LL, Taipei | 7-0 over Las Vegas, Nev. |
| | 1996 | Fu-Hsing LL, Kaohsiung | 13-3 (F/5) over Cranston, R.I. |
| | 1995 | Shan-Hua LL, Tainan | 17-3 over Spring, Texas |
| | 1991 | Tai-Ping LL, Taichung | 11-0 over Danville, Calif. |
| | 1990 | San-Hua LL, Tainan | 9-0 over Shippensburg, Pa. |
| | 1988 | Tai-Chung LL, Taichung | 10-0 over Pearl City, Hawaii |
| | 1987 | Hua Lian LL, Hualien | 21-1 over Irvine, Calif. |
| | 1986 | Tainan Park LL, Tainan | 12-0 over Tucson, Ariz. |
| | 1981 | Tai-Ping LL, Taichung | 4-2 over Tampa, Fla. |
| | 1980 | Hua Lian LL, Hualien | 4-3 over Tampa, Fla. |
| | 1979 | Pu-Tzu Town LL, Chiayi | 2-1 over Campbell, Calif. |
| | 1978 | Pin-Kuang LL, Pingtung | 11-1 over Danville, Calif. |
| | 1977 | Li-Teh LL, Kaohsiung | 7-2 over El Cajon, Calif. |
| | 1974 | Kao Hsiung LL, Kaohsiung | 12-1 over Red Bluff, Calif. |
| | 1973 | Tainan City LL, Tainan | 12-0 over Tucson, Ariz. |
| | 1972 | Taipei LL, Taipei | 6-0 over Hammond, Ind. |
| | 1971 | Tainan Giants, Tainan | 12-3 over Gary, Ind. |
| | 1969 | Taichung Golden Dragons | 5-0 over Santa Clara, Calif. |
| Japan (11) | 2017 | Tokyo Kitasuna LL | 12-2 over Lufkin, Texas |
| | 2015 | Tokyo Kitasuna LL | 18-11 over Lewisberry, Pa. |
| | 2013 | Musashi-Fuchu LL, Tokyo | 6-4 over Chula Vista, Calif. |
| | 2012 | Tokyo Kitasuna LL | 12-2 over Goodlettsville, Tenn. |
| | 2010 | Edogawa Minami LL, Tokyo | 4-1 over Waipahu, Hawaii |
| | 2003 | Musashi-Fuchu LL, Tokyo | 10-1 over Boynton Beach, Fla. |
| | 2001 | Tokyo Kitasuna LL | 2-1 over Apopka, Fla. |
| | 1999 | Hirakata LL, Osaka | 5-0 over Phenix City, Ala. |
| | 1976 | Chofu LL, Tokyo | 10-3 over Campbell, Calif. |
| | 1968 | Wakayama LL | 1-0 over Richmond, Va. |
| | 1967 | West Tokyo LL | 4-1 over Chicago, Ill. |
| Mexico (3) | 1997 | Linda Vista LL, Guadalupe | 5-4 over Mission Viejo, Calif. |
| | 1958 | Industrial LL, Monterrey | 10-1 over Kankakee, Ill. |
| | 1957 | Industrial LL, Monterrey | 4-0 over La Mesa, Calif. |
| South Korea (3) | 2014 | Seoul LL | 8-4 over Chicago, Ill. |
| | 1985 | Seoul LL | 7-1 over Mexicali, Mexico |
| | 1984 | Seoul LL | 6-2 over Altamonte Springs, Fla. |
| Venezuela (2) | 2000 | Coquivacoa LL, Maracaibo | 3-2 over Bellaire, Texas |
| | 1994 | Coquivacoa LL, Maracaibo | 4-3 over Northridge, Calif. |
| Curacao (1) | 2004 | Willemstad LL | 5-2 over Thousand Oaks, Calif. |
Per the official tournament record. Zamboanga City, Philippines won the 1992 final on the field but was disqualified for ineligible players.
Six countries, six stories
How each nation reached the top
| Country’s story | How it happened |
|---|
| Mexico first | Monterrey’s factory-town Industrial league won in 1957-58 with the Macias perfect game — the first proof the title could travel |
| Japan’s two eras | First titles in 1967-68 and 1976, then a modern machine: 8 championships from 1999-2017, with Kitasuna’s 4 the most by any league anywhere |
| Taiwan’s dynasty | 17 titles from 1969-1996 — five straight twice interrupted-adjacent runs, a 31-game win streak, and dominance so complete it triggered 1975’s international ban; returned to the summit in 2025 |
| Korea’s three decades | Seoul in 1984, 1985, and 2014 — the longest gap between a country’s titles bridged by one city |
| Venezuela’s comebacks | Maracaibo won both its titles the hard way; the 2000 team remains one of only two champions to lose its opening game |
| Curacao’s one shining year | Willemstad in 2004, from an island of 150,000 — followed by six runner-up finishes that keep it the best program without a second title |
INTERNATIONAL CHAMPION FACTS
The 120-2 stretch
Across one nine-game span of the early-70s finals era, Taiwanese teams outscored American opponents 120-2 — the stat that drove the 1975 ban on international teams.
Kitasuna’s four
Tokyo Kitasuna (2001, 2012, 2015, 2017) has more championships than every country except the U.S., Taiwan, and its own — no other league anywhere has more than two.
The one that got away
The Philippines is the only country to win a final (1992, 15-4) and not appear on this list — the title was forfeited to Long Beach for roster violations.
The international teams that conquered Williamsport.
What International Dominance Looked Like
The margins tell the story. Taiwan’s 18 champions won their finals by a combined score that lapped the field — 21-1 in 1987, 17-3 in 1995, shutouts everywhere — and between 1969 and 1996 an American team beating Taiwan in Williamsport was itself the story (Kirkland 1982, Trumbull 1989, Long Beach 1993 are remembered as upsets). Japan’s era was surgical rather than overwhelming: Kitasuna’s teams played clean, low-error baseball that won four finals by a combined 44-16. And the single-title countries prove the door stays open — Willemstad 2004 and Maracaibo’s two remain blueprints for every small program that arrives in August believing.
The Bottom Line
Thirty-eight international champions from six countries have won the Little League World Series, led by Taiwan’s 18 and Japan’s 11, with Tokyo Kitasuna’s four titles the most of any league on earth. Monterrey opened the door in 1957 and Taipei’s Tung-Yuan closed the latest chapter in 2025. For the American half of the ledger, see every U.S. team to win the LLWS; for the totals, titles by country; and for every final ever played, the complete results by year.
