WBSC World Rankings

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.

Top 20 rankings
Men's Baseball as of 5 October 2023[1]
Rank Change Team Points
1Steady  Japan5495
2Steady  United States4492
3Steady  Mexico4390
4Steady  South Korea4025
5Steady  Chinese Taipei3885
6Steady  Venezuela3779
7Steady  Netherlands3288
8Steady  Cuba2818
9Increase 1  Dominican Republic2414
10Decrease 1  Australia2331
11Increase 2  Puerto Rico2238
12Decrease 1  Panama2204
13Decrease 1  Italy1935
14Increase 1  Czech Republic1900
15Increase 1  Colombia1555
16Decrease 2  Canada1397
17Steady  Germany1223
18Increase 2  Great Britain1142
19Steady  Israel1086
20Decrease 2  Nicaragua912
*Change from 15 August 2023
Women's Softball as of 31 December 2022[2]
Rank Change Team Points
1Steady  United States4288
2Steady  Japan2697
3Increase 3  Chinese Taipei2502
4Decrease 1  Canada2342
5Steady  Puerto Rico2330
6Decrease 2  Mexico1927
7Increase 4  Czech Republic1789
8Decrease 1  Italy1776
9Decrease 1  Australia1529
10Steady  Netherlands1498
11Increase 6  Spain936
12Increase 8  Israel844
13Decrease 4  China829
14Increase 4  France791
15Increase 6  Germany779
16Decrease 4  Great Britain761
17Increase 2  Ireland710
18Decrease 2  Brazil644
19Increase 3  Peru631
20Increase 6  Poland608
*Change from 31 December 2021

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

Men's ranking leaders
WBSC World Men's Ranking Leaders
Teams ranking in the top five
Date First Second Third Fourth Fifth
31 December 2012  Cuba  United States  Japan  South Korea  Chinese Taipei
31 December 2014  Japan  United States  Cuba  Chinese Taipei  Netherlands
31 December 2016  Japan  United States  South Korea  Chinese Taipei  Cuba
25 September 2018  United States  Japan  South Korea  Cuba  Chinese Taipei
17 December 2018  Japan  United States  South Korea  Chinese Taipei  Cuba
31 December 2019  Japan  United States  South Korea  Chinese Taipei  Mexico
18 March 2020  Japan  United States  South Korea  Chinese Taipei  Mexico
28 June 2021  Japan  Chinese Taipei  South Korea  United States  Mexico
11 August 2021  Japan  South Korea  Chinese Taipei  United States  Mexico
31 December 2021  Japan  Chinese Taipei  South Korea  Mexico  United States
31 December 2022  Japan  Chinese Taipei  United States  South Korea  Mexico
28 March 2023  Japan  United States  Mexico  Chinese Taipei  South Korea
15 August 2023  Japan  United States  Mexico  South Korea  Chinese Taipei
5 October 2023  Japan  United States  Mexico  South Korea  Chinese Taipei

The rankings of August 2023 saw a record 80 nations earning rankings.[5]

Best Movers
Top five movers per ranking
Date First Second Third Fourth Fifth
31 December 2014  Israel  Curaçao  Iran  Slovenia  Austria
31 December 2016  Guatemala  Slovakia  Sweden  Poland  Lithuania
25 September 2018  Israel  Indonesia  El Salvador  Sri Lanka  Honduras
17 December 2018  Curaçao  U.S. Virgin Islands  Aruba  South Africa  Venezuela
31 December 2019  American Samoa  Guam  Greece  Great Britain  Spain
18 March 2020  Guam  El Salvador  New Zealand  Honduras  Peru
28 June 2021   Switzerland  Honduras  Indonesia  Aruba  Nigeria
11 August 2021  Slovenia  Ireland  Croatia  Uganda  American Samoa
31 December 2021  Sweden  Hungary  Croatia  Great Britain  Venezuela
31 December 2022  Northern Mariana Islands  Bahamas  Curaçao  Bulgaria  Palau
28 March 2023  Costa Rica  Bangladesh  Honduras  China  Kenya
15 August 2023  Palestine  Ecuador  Indonesia  Norway  Afghanistan
5 October 2023   Switzerland  Greece  Sweden  Croatia  Ukraine

Softball
Top 20 Rankings as of 26 April 2023[6]
Rank Change Team Points
1Steady  Argentina4224
2Increase 2  Australia3551
3Steady  Japan3451
4Decrease 2  Canada3358
5Steady  United States2655
6Steady  Czech Republic2526
7Steady  New Zealand2280
8Steady  Venezuela2133
9Steady  Cuba1807
10Steady  Mexico1775
11Steady  Denmark1069
12Increase 2  Singapore994
13Steady  Guatemala934
14Decrease 2  South Africa894
15Steady  Philippines623
16Steady  Netherlands412
17Increase 4  Israel339
18Decrease 1  Botswana253
19Decrease 1  Dominican Republic221
20Decrease 1  Chinese Taipei192
*Change from 31 December 2022

Women's

Women's ranking leaders
WBSC World Women's Ranking Leaders
Teams ranking in the top five
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  Chinese Taipei  Canada

Softball saw a ranking featuring 65 countries in July 2023.[7]

Best Movers
Top five movers per ranking
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

Baseball
Top 20 Rankings as of 22 September 2023[8]
Rank Change Team Points
1Steady  Japan970
2Steady  Chinese Taipei841
3Increase 2  Venezuela581
4Steady  United States510
5Increase 7  Mexico496
6Increase 3  Puerto Rico490
7Increase 4  Hong Kong451
8Decrease 5  Canada428
9Increase 1  South Korea413
10Decrease 3  Cuba350
11Increase 3  Philippines324
12Increase 3  China277
13Decrease 5  Australia264
14Increase 2  France180
15Increase 3  India177
16Increase 3  Pakistan115
17Steady  Indonesia109
18Decrease 12  Dominican Republic72
19Steady  Thailand68
20Steady  Czech Republic56
*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.

Top 20 Rankings as of 22 August 2023[11]
Rank Change Team Points
1Increase 1  Chinese Taipei2243
2Increase 1  France1656
3Increase 1  Japan1639
4Increase 4  Tunisia1610
5Increase 1  South Africa1593
6Decrease 5  Cuba1393
7Steady  Lithuania1217
8Increase 4  South Korea1131
9Steady  Kenya1046
10Decrease 4  Venezuela905
11Decrease 1  Italy819
12Decrease 1  Mexico807
13Increase 20  Ghana755
14Increase 4  Hong Kong718
15Decrease 2  Netherlands714
16Decrease 2  Romania710
17Increase 11  Zambia634
18Increase 6  Malaysia605
19Decrease 4  Czech Republic600
20Increase 4  Tanzania573
*Change from 12 January 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 rank123456789101112
Points138011021004906808710612514416318220122

World Baseball Classic
Final rank12345678910111213141516
Points1150940880820760700640580520460400340280220160100

U-23 Baseball World Cup
Final rank123456789101112
Points69055150245340435530625720815911061

U-18 Baseball World Cup
Final rank123456789101112
Points5754594183773362952542131721319049

U-15 Baseball World Cup
Final rank123456789101112
Points4603673343012682352021691361037037

U-12 Baseball World Cup
Final rank123456789101112
Points345275250225200175150125100755025

See also

Notes and references
  1. "The WBSC World Ranking". WBSC. 5 October 2023. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  2. "The WBSC Women's World Ranking". WBSC. 31 December 2022. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
  3. "WBSC launches first-ever Baseball5 World Rankings". World Baseball Softball Confederation. Retrieved 2023-01-15.
  4. "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.
  5. "Record 86 nations featured in March 2020 WBSC Baseball World Rankings". wbsc.org. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  6. "The WBSC Men's Softball World Ranking". WBSC. 26 April 2023. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
  7. "WBSC Rankings – Women's softball". World Baseball Softball Confederation. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
  8. "The WBSC Women's Baseball World Ranking". WBSC. 22 September 2023. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
  9. "ABOUT THE WORLD BASEBALL SOFTBALL CONFEDERATION". World Baseball Softball Confederation. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  10. "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.
  11. "The WBSC Baseball5 World Ranking". WBSC. 22 August 2023. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  12. "WBSC Rankings - Baseball Men's". rankings.wbsc.org. WBSC. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
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