<P> The 2016 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2016 season . The 112th edition of the World Series, it was a best - of - seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion Chicago Cubs and the American League (AL) champion Cleveland Indians, the first meeting of those franchises in postseason history . The series was played between October 25 and November 2 . The Indians had home - field advantage because the AL had won the 2016 All - Star Game . It was also the last World Series to have home - field advantage determined by the All - Star Game results; since 2017, home - field advantage is awarded to the team with the better record . </P> <P> The Cubs defeated the Indians when they won 4 games to 3 to win their first World Series since 1908 . Game 7, an 8--7 victory in extra innings, marked the fifth time that a Game 7 had gone past nine innings and the first since 1997 (which, coincidentally, also featured the Indians). It was also the first to have a rain delay which occurred as the tenth inning was about to start . The Cubs became the sixth team to come back from a 3 - 1 deficit to win a best - of - seven World Series, following the 1925 Pittsburgh Pirates, the 1958 New York Yankees, the 1968 Detroit Tigers, the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates, and the 1985 Kansas City Royals . </P> <P> The Cubs, playing in their eleventh World Series and their first since 1945, won their third championship and first since 1908, ending the longest world championship drought in North American professional sports history . It was the Indians' sixth appearance in the World Series and their first since 1997, with their last Series win having come in 1948 . The two teams entered their matchup as the two franchises with the longest World Series title droughts, a combined 176 years without a championship . Cleveland manager Terry Francona, who had previously won World Series titles with the Boston Red Sox in 2004 and 2007, fell short in his bid to become the third manager, and the first non-Yankees manager, to win his first three trips to the Fall Classic, after Casey Stengel and Joe Torre . </P> <P> The Cubs made their eleventh appearance in the World Series; their only previous two championships were in 1907 and 1908, both against the Detroit Tigers . They lost their eight other appearances, in 1906 against the Chicago White Sox, in 1910 against the Philadelphia Athletics, in 1918 against the Boston Red Sox, in 1929 against the Athletics, in 1932 against the New York Yankees, in 1935 against the Tigers, in 1938 against the Yankees, and in 1945 against the Tigers . </P>

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