WBSC World Rankings Update: Japan continues to hold the leading position, Cuba remains in eighth place
- Ray Otero-Alonso
- Sep 3, 2024
- 2 min read
Following their victory at the WBSC U-15 Baseball World Cup, Japan now holds every WBSC Baseball World Cup title except for the U-12 event, as well as the Premier12, Olympic Games, and World Baseball Classic championships.
Japan (4,899 points) continues to lead the WBSC/KONAMI Men's Baseball World Ranking following their victory in Colombia, where they were named world champions at the WBSC U-15 Baseball World Cup.
Currently, Japan hosts the WBSC U-15, U-18, and U-23 Baseball World Cups, along with the WBSC Women's Baseball World Cup, the World Baseball Classic, the Olympic gold medal, and the Premier12 title.
Mexico remains in the second position with 4,063 points, while Chinese Taipei, the new addition to the podium, has climbed two spots to secure third place with 3,706 points.
Although Cuba did not participate in the U-15 World Cup, it remains in eighth place.
The points calculation considers outcomes from international tournaments held within a four-year span, such as the WBSC U-15 Baseball World Cup, WBSC U-12 and U-18 Baseball World Cup European qualification tournaments, U-15 Pan Am qualifier, European Championship Qualifiers, and select friendly series. Notably, points from the WBSC Premier12 2019 have been excluded from the calculation.
The USA dropped to fourth place, Venezuela climbed to fifth, South Korea slipped to sixth by two spots, and the Netherlands maintained its position as the top European country in seventh place.
In the top 12 rankings, Puerto Rico and Colombia have shown the most significant advancement, each moving up two positions to claim the 10th and 11th spots, respectively.
Nicaragua advanced three positions to rank as the 17th program globally, marking the most significant progress among the top 25 programs worldwide.
The upcoming WBSC/KONAMI Men's Baseball World Ranking update is scheduled to be released following the WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup tournament taking place from 6-15 September.
Cuba's non-participation in the U-23 World Cup might affect its ranking.
However, the next important ranking update for Cuba is anticipated following the Premier12 tournament scheduled for November 10-24 this year.
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