It was the first edition of the tournament to be held in three countries, as well as the first since 1967 with games held in Belgium.[2]
The Netherlands won the tournament, beating Italy in the championship 6–5 in Rotterdam after beating defending champion Spain in the semifinal. It was the 25th European championship for the Dutch and 27th time facing Italy in the final game. The Czech Republic defeated Spain in the third-place game, their first-ever medal in the tournament. Two Dutch players won the top individual awards, with Didi Gregorius named the MVP and Kevin Kelly the best pitcher.
Hungary and Lithuania, which both lost all their games, were relegated during the tournament.
Four groups of four teams competed in a round robin to begin the tournament. The top two teams from groups A and B qualified for the quarterfinals, the second round of the tournament stage. The first round of the tournament, called the crossover playoff, included the bottom two teams from groups A and B and top two teams from groups C and D. The bottom two teams from groups C and D competed in an best-of-three relegation series.[6][7][8]
Fan entrance to games in Rotterdam on 20 September were affected by pro-Palestinian protests regarding the Gaza war and Israel's participation in the tournament.[11][12][13] Protesters returned for subsequent Israel games.[14] Rain also delayed some of the 20 September games in Rotterdam.[15]
Two of the three host countries, the Netherlands and Italy, went undefeated in group play while Belgium managed one win and was eliminated from the final round.[8][16]
The relegation round was a best-of-three series with the third and fourth place teams of Groups C and D, with the result of the Group stage game serving as Game 1 of the series. The losers of both series, Lithuania and Hungary, was relegated. Both teams lost all their games in the tournament.
The Netherlands won the tournament, going undefeated. In the semifinals, avenging a loss to Spain in the2023 championship semifinals, Dutch pitcher Kevin Kelly relieved the injured Tom de Blok in the first inning and got 16 strikeouts in 8+1⁄3 innings.[17][18] That performance, along with two saves earlier in the tournament, won Kelly the best pitcher award.[19] The Netherlands beat Italy, which had been the only other undefeated team, 6–5 in the championship game. Giaconino Lasaracina, who hit a tournament-leading six home runs, homered for Italy in the loss, while Sharlon Schoop hit a home run for the Dutch and had 2 runs batted in.[20][21][22]
Spain lost in the third place game, 9–2 to the Czech Republic, giving the Czechs their first medal in the European tournament.[23]Great Britain, after finishing second in the 2023 tournament, was knocked out of title contention again by Spain, losing in the quarterfinals.[24]
Gregorius, playing shortstop, batted .321 with 3 doubles and one home run.[25] Kelly led the tournament with two saves and had 21 strikeouts, tied for the most with Greece's Noah Zavolas. He also won a semifinal game and allowed no walks.[19][1] Martini batted .480 with 2 doubles, 1 triple, and four walks.[26][27]
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Spain 
Netherlands (25th title)
Italy 
Czech Republic 
Hayden Jung-Goldberg &
Markus Solbach [a] (0.00)
