The sport of baseball continues its globalization. Baseball is growing in countries like Indonesia, US Virgin Islands, Sri Lanka, Curacao, Aruba, Chile, Ukraine, Ireland and Georgia, according to the official world rankings and WBSC data.
LAUSANNE, Switzerland — The Final 2018 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Baseball World Rankings, published today, include a record high of 76 nations, as the sport of baseball continues its globalisation path.
Japan earned the most ranking points in 2018 to overtake USA and reclaim the No. 1 ranking in the world.
Absent at the biggest international event of the year, the U-23 Baseball World Cup, USA fell to No. 2, despite winning both the U-15 Baseball World Cup and the U-18 Pan-Am Championship this year.
Korea earned the third-most points this year to hold their No. 3 ranking, while No. 4 Chinese Taipei earned the second-most points.
Mexico won their first-ever world championship in baseball, the U-23 World Cup, helping the nation to earn the fourth-most points in 2018.
Dominican Republic, behind the country’s ProBeisbol National Team alliance, scored the fifth-most points in 2018.
No. 7 Australia remains Oceania’s top baseball country, while No. 8 Netherlands remains Europe’s best baseball country.
No. 8 Venezuela is South America’s best-ranked nation.
No. 31 Indonesia was the top climber in 2018, advancing 16 places.
Top overall Climbers in 2018
- Indonesia +16
- U.S. Virgin Islands +12
- Sri Lanka +11
- Curacao +11
- Aruba +11
- Chile +10
- Ukraine +9
- Ireland +9 (tie-7th)
- Georgia +9 (tie-7th)
- Philippines +7
Most ranking points in 2018
- Japan – 1,187 pts.
- Chinese Taipei – 1,049 pts.
- Korea – 829 pts.
- Mexico – 780 pts.
- Dominican Republic – 693 pts.
- Venezuela – 583 pts.
- United States of America – 540 pts.
- Panama – 445 pts.
- Netherlands – 419 pts.
- Colombia – 391 pts.
Full rankings movements and trends can be found at the newly launched http://rankings.wbsc.org.