WBSC World Rankings explained

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.[1]

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.[2] Beginning in 2015, the rankings also determine which twelve teams participate in the WBSC Premier12 tournament.

Men's

Baseball

Men's ranking leaders

WBSC World Men's Ranking Leaders

Teams ranking in the top five
DateFirstSecondThirdFourthFifth
31 December 2012
31 December 2014
31 December 2016
25 September 2018
17 December 2018
31 December 2019
18 March 2020
28 June 2021
11 August 2021
31 December 2021
31 December 2022
28 March 2023
15 August 2023
5 October 2023
2 November 2023
18 December 2023
31 December 2023

The rankings of November 2023 saw a record 80 nations earning rankings.[3]

Best Movers

Top five movers per ranking
DateFirstSecondThirdFourthFifth
31 December 2014
31 December 2016
25 September 2018
17 December 2018
31 December 2019
18 March 2020
28 June 2021
11 August 2021
31 December 2021
31 December 2022
28 March 2023
15 August 2023
5 October 2023
2 November 2023
18 December 2023
31 December 2023

Softball

Women's

Softball

Women's ranking leaders

WBSC World Women's Ranking Leaders

Teams ranking in the top five
DateFirstSecondThirdFourthFifth
31 December 2016
17 December 2018
31 December 2019
1 January 2020
28 June 2021
11 August 2021
31 December 2021
31 December 2022
12 April 2023
31 July 2023
10 November 2023
31 December 2023
Softball saw a ranking featuring 66 countries in November 2023.[4]

Best Movers

Top five movers per ranking
DateFirstSecondThirdFourthFifth
17 December 2018
31 December 2019
28 June 2021
11 August 2021
31 December 2021
31 December 2022
12 April 2023
31 July 2023
10 November 2023
31 December 2023

Baseball

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.[5]

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.[6]

Coed

Baseball5

Baseball5 is a mixed-gender sport, with each team of 5 active players having at least 2 players of either gender.

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.[7]

Premier 12

align=left bgcolor=#efefefFinal rank width=201 width=202 width=203 width=204 width=205 width=206 width=207 width=208 width=209 width=2010 width=2011 width=2012
align=left bgcolor=#efefefPoints width=201380 width=201102 width=201004 width=20906 width=20808 width=20710 width=20612 width=20514 width=20416 width=20318 width=20220 width=20122

World Baseball Classic

align=left bgcolor=#efefefFinal rank width=201 width=202 width=203 width=204 width=205 width=206 width=207 width=208 width=209 width=2010 width=2011 width=2012 width=2013 width=2014 width=2015 width=2016
align=left bgcolor=#efefefPoints width=201150 width=20940 width=20880 width=20820 width=20760 width=20700 width=20640 width=20580 width=20520 width=20460 width=20400 width=20340 width=20280 width=20220 width=20160 width=20100

U-23 Baseball World Cup

align=left bgcolor=#efefefFinal rank width=201 width=202 width=203 width=204 width=205 width=206 width=207 width=208 width=209 width=2010 width=2011 width=2012
align=left bgcolor=#efefefPoints width=20690 width=20551 width=20502 width=20453 width=20404 width=20355 width=20306 width=20257 width=20208 width=20159 width=20110 width=2061

U-18 Baseball World Cup

align=left bgcolor=#efefefFinal rank width=201 width=202 width=203 width=204 width=205 width=206 width=207 width=208 width=209 width=2010 width=2011 width=2012
align=left bgcolor=#efefefPoints width=20575 width=20459 width=20418 width=20377 width=20336 width=20295 width=20254 width=20213 width=20172 width=20131 width=2090 width=2049

U-15 Baseball World Cup

align=left bgcolor=#efefefFinal rank width=201 width=202 width=203 width=204 width=205 width=206 width=207 width=208 width=209 width=2010 width=2011 width=2012
align=left bgcolor=#efefefPoints width=20460 width=20367 width=20334 width=20301 width=20268 width=20235 width=20202 width=20169 width=20136 width=20103 width=2070 width=2037

U-12 Baseball World Cup

align=left bgcolor=#efefefFinal rank width=201 width=202 width=203 width=204 width=205 width=206 width=207 width=208 width=209 width=2010 width=2011 width=2012
align=left bgcolor=#efefefPoints width=20345 width=20275 width=20250 width=20225 width=20200 width=20175 width=20150 width=20125 width=20100 width=2075 width=2050 width=2025

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: WBSC launches first-ever Baseball5 World Rankings . 2023-01-15 . World Baseball Softball Confederation . en.
  2. News: WBSC launches first-ever Softball World Rankings: Japan Women's No. 1, New Zealand Men's No. 1. 29 March 2016. Mister Baseball. March 22, 2016.
  3. Web site: Record 86 nations featured in March 2020 WBSC Baseball World Rankings . wbsc.org . 18 March 2020.
  4. Web site: WBSC Rankings – Women's softball . . 20 January 2022.
  5. Web site: ABOUT THE WORLD BASEBALL SOFTBALL CONFEDERATION. World Baseball Softball Confederation. 6 November 2015.
  6. Web site: IBAF Releases First-Ever Women's World Rankings . 13 August 2009 . 13 August 2009 . International Baseball Federation . https://www.webcitation.org/5sBX8m4lp?url=http://www.ibaf.org/en/article-detail.aspx?id=7cdb8cdb-525d-4501-8f40-2d59622392e6 . 23 August 2010 . live . dmy-all .
  7. Web site: WBSC Rankings - Baseball Men's . rankings.wbsc.org . WBSC . 22 August 2019.