WBSC World Rankings
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The WBSC World Rankings is a ranking system for national teams in baseball, softball, and baseball5. The teams of the member nations of the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), baseball's world governing body, are ranked based on their tournament results with the most successful teams being ranked highest. A point system is used, with points being awarded based on the results of WBSC-recognized international tournaments. Under the existing system, rankings are based on a team's performance over the last four years, with major international tournaments awarded a higher weighting compared to minor international and continental tournaments.
Five rankings are published by the WBSC, they are: Men's Baseball, Women's Baseball, Women's Softball, Men's Softball, and Baseball5.[3]
History
In January 2009, the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) first published a listing in rank order of its member associations to provide a basis for comparison of the relative strengths of these teams. Though primarily focused on the respective men's senior teams of member nations, the current ranks also include points awarded based on results at the IBAF 'AAA' (Under 18) Junior and 'AA' (Under 16) Youth Championships held during the tracking period. As a result from the merger with softball in 2013, the WBSC is also responsible for ranking international men's and women's softball teams.[4] Beginning in 2015, the rankings also determine which twelve teams participate in the WBSC Premier12 tournament.
Men's
Baseball
Men's ranking leaders
The rankings of November 2023 saw a record 80 nations earning rankings.[5]
Best Movers
Softball
| Rank | Change | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 
|
 Argentina |
4224 |
| 2 |  2
|
 Australia |
3551 |
| 3 |
|
 Japan |
3451 |
| 4 |  2
|
 Canada |
3358 |
| 5 |
|
 United States |
2655 |
| 6 |
|
 Czech Republic |
2526 |
| 7 |
|
 New Zealand |
2280 |
| 8 |
|
 Venezuela |
2133 |
| 9 |
|
 Cuba |
1807 |
| 10 |
|
 Mexico |
1775 |
| 11 |
|
 Denmark |
1069 |
| 12 | 2
|
 Singapore |
994 |
| 13 |
|
 Guatemala |
934 |
| 14 | 2
|
 South Africa |
894 |
| 15 |
|
 Philippines |
623 |
| 16 |
|
 Netherlands |
412 |
| 17 | 4
|
 Israel |
339 |
| 18 | 1
|
 Botswana |
253 |
| 19 | 1
|
 Dominican Republic |
221 |
| 20 | 1
|
 Chinese Taipei |
192 |
| *Change from 31 December 2022 | |||
Women's
Softball
Women's ranking leaders
| Date | First | Second | Third | Fourth | Fifth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 December 2016 | Japan
|
United States
|
Canada
|
Australia
|
New Zealand
|
| 17 December 2018 | United States
|
Japan
|
Canada
|
 Puerto Rico
|
Mexico
|
| 31 December 2019 | United States
|
Japan
|
Canada
|
Puerto Rico
|
Mexico
|
| 1 January 2020 | United States
|
Japan
|
Canada
|
Puerto Rico
|
Mexico
|
| 28 June 2021 | United States
|
Japan
|
Canada
|
Puerto Rico
|
Mexico
|
| 11 August 2021 | Japan
|
United States
|
Canada
|
Mexico
|
Puerto Rico
|
| 31 December 2021 | United States
|
Japan
|
Canada
|
Mexico
|
Puerto Rico
|
| 31 December 2022 | United States
|
Japan
|
Chinese Taipei
|
Canada
|
Puerto Rico
|
| 12 April 2023 | United States
|
Japan
|
Chinese Taipei
|
Puerto Rico
|
Canada
|
| 31 July 2023 | United States
|
Japan
|
Puerto Rico
|
Canada
|
Chinese Taipei
|
| 10 November 2023 | United States
|
Japan
|
Puerto Rico
|
Chinese Taipei
|
Canada
|
| 31 December 2023 | United States
|
Japan
|
Puerto Rico
|
Chinese Taipei
|
Canada
|
Softball saw a ranking featuring 66 countries in November 2023.[7]
Best Movers
| Date | First | Second | Third | Fourth | Fifth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 December 2018 | South Africa
|
 Ireland
|
 India
|
Mexico
|
Dominican Republic
|
| 31 December 2019 |  Belgium
|
 Germany
|
 Poland
|
 Spain
|
Ireland
|
| 28 June 2021 |  Croatia
|
Germany
|
 Slovakia
|
Spain
|
 Russia
|
| 11 August 2021 | Cuba
|
 Indonesia
|
 Hong Kong
|
Botswana
|
 Curaçao
|
| 31 December 2021 | Denmark
|
 Peru
|
Belgium
|
Slovakia
|
 Sweden
|
| 31 December 2022 | Argentina
|
 El Salvador
|
Slovakia
|
 Greece
|
Israel
|
| 12 April 2023 | Singapore
|
Philippines
|
 South Korea
|
 Thailand
|
Botswana
|
| 31 July 2023 | Cuba
|
Curaçao
|
Botswana
|
Venezuela
|
South Africa
|
| 10 November 2023 | Philippines
|
Singapore
|
Hong Kong
|
Belgium
|
 Hungary
|
| 31 December 2023 | Dominican Republic
|
 Colombia
|
Guatemala
|
 Chile
|
 Ecuador
|
Baseball
| Rank | Change | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
|
Japan |
970 |
| 2 |
|
Chinese Taipei |
841 |
| 3 | 2
|
Venezuela |
581 |
| 4 |
|
United States |
510 |
| 5 | 7
|
Mexico |
496 |
| 6 | 3
|
Puerto Rico |
490 |
| 7 | 4
|
Hong Kong |
451 |
| 8 | 5
|
Canada |
428 |
| 9 | 1
|
South Korea |
413 |
| 10 | 3
|
Cuba |
350 |
| 11 | 3
|
Philippines |
324 |
| 12 | 3
|
 China |
277 |
| 13 | 5
|
Australia |
264 |
| 14 | 2
|
 France |
180 |
| 15 | 3
|
India |
177 |
| 16 | 3
|
 Pakistan |
115 |
| 17 |
|
Indonesia |
109 |
| 18 | 12
|
Dominican Republic |
72 |
| 19 |
|
Thailand |
68 |
| 20 |
|
Czech Republic |
56 |
| *Change from 31 December 2021 | |||
In the wake of the International Olympic Committee's decision to cut baseball from the 2012 Olympics program, the IBAF pushed the growth of women's baseball as to include a women's component in its bid for a reinstatement of the sport in future Olympics. The effort to unify the sports resulted in the merger of the IBAF with the International Softball Federation in 2013 to create the WBSC.[9]
The initial women's baseball rankings were based upon results from past Women's Baseball World Cups. While the calculations of the women's rankings are similar to that of the men's, one main difference is that they are inclusive of the three most recent IBAF Women's Baseball World Cups whereas the men's rankings only include the last two. Points are weighted in favor of the more recent results.[10]
Coed
Baseball5
Baseball5 is a mixed-gender sport, with each team of 5 active players having at least 2 players of either gender.
| Rank | Change | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1
|
France |
3037 |
| 2 | 1
|
Chinese Taipei |
2775 |
| 3 |
|
Cuba |
2393 |
| 4 |
|
 Tunisia |
1995 |
| 5 | 5
|
 Lithuania |
1892 |
| 6 | 1
|
Japan |
1639 |
| 7 | 1
|
South Africa |
1593 |
| 8 | 1
|
Mexico |
1560 |
| 9 | 1
|
South Korea |
1442 |
| 10 | 1
|
 Ghana |
1219 |
| 11 | 5
|
 Italy |
1194 |
| 12 | 7
|
Netherlands |
1179 |
| 13 | 2
|
 Turkey |
1144 |
| 14 | 2
|
 Kenya |
1046 |
| 15 | 2
|
China |
1030 |
| 16 | 7
|
Belgium |
952 |
| 17 | 3
|
 Romania |
905 |
| 17 | 3
|
Venezuela |
905 |
| 19 | 2
|
Czech Republic |
885 |
| 20 | 5
|
 Malaysia |
842 |
| *Change from 18 October 2023 | |||
Calculation method
Men's baseball
Points are awarded in the men's baseball rankings according to finishes in the Premier12, World Baseball Classic, U-23 Baseball World Cup, U-18 Baseball World Cup, U-15 Baseball World Cup and U-12 Baseball World Cup as follows.[12]
Premier 12
| Final rank | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| Points | 1380 | 1102 | 1004 | 906 | 808 | 710 | 612 | 514 | 416 | 318 | 220 | 122 |
World Baseball Classic
| Final rank | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
| Points | 1150 | 940 | 880 | 820 | 760 | 700 | 640 | 580 | 520 | 460 | 400 | 340 | 280 | 220 | 160 | 100 |
U-23 Baseball World Cup
| Final rank | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| Points | 690 | 551 | 502 | 453 | 404 | 355 | 306 | 257 | 208 | 159 | 110 | 61 |
U-18 Baseball World Cup
| Final rank | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| Points | 575 | 459 | 418 | 377 | 336 | 295 | 254 | 213 | 172 | 131 | 90 | 49 |
U-15 Baseball World Cup
| Final rank | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| Points | 460 | 367 | 334 | 301 | 268 | 235 | 202 | 169 | 136 | 103 | 70 | 37 |
U-12 Baseball World Cup
| Final rank | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| Points | 345 | 275 | 250 | 225 | 200 | 175 | 150 | 125 | 100 | 75 | 50 | 25 |
See also
Notes and references
- ^ "The WBSC World Ranking". WBSC. 18 December 2023. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
- ^ "The WBSC Women's World Ranking". WBSC. 10 November 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
- ^ "WBSC launches first-ever Baseball5 World Rankings". World Baseball Softball Confederation. Retrieved 2023-01-15.
- ^ "WBSC launches first-ever Softball World Rankings: Japan Women's No. 1, New Zealand Men's No. 1". Mister Baseball. March 22, 2016. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
- ^ "Record 86 nations featured in March 2020 WBSC Baseball World Rankings". wbsc.org. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
- ^ "The WBSC Men's Softball World Ranking". WBSC. 26 April 2023. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
- ^ "WBSC Rankings – Women's softball". World Baseball Softball Confederation. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
- ^ "The WBSC Women's Baseball World Ranking". WBSC. 22 September 2023. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
- ^ "ABOUT THE WORLD BASEBALL SOFTBALL CONFEDERATION". World Baseball Softball Confederation. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
- ^ "IBAF Releases First-Ever Women's World Rankings". International Baseball Federation. 13 August 2009. Archived from the original on 23 August 2010. Retrieved 13 August 2009.
- ^ "The WBSC Baseball5 World Ranking". WBSC. 16 November 2023. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
- ^ "WBSC Rankings - Baseball Men's". rankings.wbsc.org. WBSC. Retrieved 22 August 2019.