Cuba needed to end up on the right side of a complex tiebreaker system to reach the World Baseball Classic quarterfinals.
Qualifying for the semifinals was a much easier process: just beat Australia.
Alfredo Despaigne drove in the tiebreaking run to spark a three-run fifth inning, and Cuba held on to earn a spot in the WBC semifinals with a 4-3 victory over Australia in front of a crowd of 35,061 at Tokyo Dome on Wednesday night.