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.