How many World Series championships have the Washington Nationals won?

The Washington Nationals have been in MLB since 2005, after relocating from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Since then, the Nationals have had much more success as compared to the franchise’s time in Montreal, thanks to stars like Bryce Harper, Stephen Strasburg, Anthony Rendon, and Juan Soto. But have the Nationals or Expos ever won any World Series titles? Here’s an answer to that question.

Washington Nationals World Series history

The Expos/Nationals franchise has won just one World Series title, not titles. That lone victory came in 2019.

Prior to moving to Washington, D.C., the Montreal Expos were never particularly a competitive team in the National League. Despite 16 seasons in which the Expos had a .500 or better winning percentage, Montreal made the playoffs just once.

That lone appearance came in 1981, a season that saw the Expos win 60 games during the shortened season. In the 1981 NL Playoffs, Montreal would beat the defending champion Phillies in the NLDS. But in the NLCS, Montreal would fall in five to the eventual World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

After the move to D.C., the Nationals would start its tenure in the town with six consecutive seasons in which Washington finished with a .500 or worse record. During that time, the Nationals would draft Stephen Strasburg, Bryce Harper, and Anthony Rendon. The former two, alongside Rendon after his debut in 2013, would form a nucleus that would take the Nats to the playoffs in 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2019.

The Nationals’ first four playoff appearances would end in heartbreak. Washington lost in the NLDS in each of those four seasons. 2019, though, was a different story for the Nationals.

After losing Bryce Harper in the 2018 offseason, Washington got off to a very slow start. After the end of May, the Nationals began a red-hot stretch that would lead the Nats back into the postseason.

In the NL Wild Card, Washington defeated the Brewers to advance to the NLDS. The Nationals would avenge the team’s woes in that round, beating the Dodgers in five games. Washington would follow that with a sweep of the Cardinals in the NLCS to make it to the World Series for the first time.

The Nationals met the Astros in the 2019 World Series. Washington won the first two games in Houston, before dropping the next three at home. Down 3-2, the Nats beat the Astros in Houston both in Game 6 & 7 to win it all for the first time.