The WBSC World Rankings is a ranking system for
national teams in
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
,
softball
Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...
, and
baseball5
Baseball5 (B5 or BB5) is a simplified variation of baseball and softball which is governed at the international level alongside those sports by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC).
The game revolves around two teams of five player ...
. The teams of the member nations of the
World Baseball Softball Confederation
The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) is the international Sports governing body, governing body for the sports of baseball, softball, Baseball5 and Blind baseball. It was established in 2013 by the merger of the International Baseba ...
(WBSC), the world governing body for both sports, 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 (co-ed).
History
In January 2009, the
International Baseball Federation
The International Baseball Federation (IBAF) is the former international governing body of baseball. It has since been superseded by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), and continues to exist as the WBSC's baseball division. Betwee ...
(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.
Beginning in 2015, the rankings also determine which 12 teams participate in the
WBSC Premier12
The WBSC Premier12 is the international baseball tournament organized by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), featuring the 12 highest-ranked national baseball teams in the world. The first tournament was held by Taiwan and Japan ...
tournament.
In 2025, the WBSC will start a new ranking methodology. Only the most recent edition of any event will be included in the rankings, and teams will keep the ranking points from any event for four years.
Men's
Baseball
Men's ranking leaders
WBSC World Men's Ranking Leaders
The November 2023 rankings included 80. This increased to 84 at the end of 2024.
Best Movers
Softball
Women's
Softball
Women's ranking leaders
WBSC World Women's Ranking Leaders
The WBSC ranked 65 countries in softball in 2024.
Best Movers
Baseball
In the wake of the
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...
's decision to cut baseball from the
2012 Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
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
Map of member states., 400px, right
The International Softball Federation (ISF) is the former international governing body for the sport of softball with its world headquarters and training centre at Plant City, Florida. The ISF is a non-profit ...
in 2013 to create the WBSC.
The initial women's baseball rankings were based upon results from past
Women's Baseball World Cup
The Women's Baseball World Cup is an international tournament in which national women's baseball teams from around the world compete. Through its 2012 edition, it was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation; following the 2013 merger ...
s. 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.
Coed
Baseball5
Baseball5
Baseball5 (B5 or BB5) is a simplified variation of baseball and softball which is governed at the international level alongside those sports by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC).
The game revolves around two teams of five player ...
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
The World Baseball Classic (WBC), also referred to as the Classic, is an international baseball tournament sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), the sport's global governing body, and organized in World Baseball Clas ...
,
U-23 Baseball World Cup
The U-23 Baseball World Cup is a biennial, professional-level, National Team, baseball world championship of the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), replacing Baseball World Cup.
The inaugural tournament was held in November 2014, in ...
,
U-18 Baseball World Cup
The U-18 Baseball World Cup is the 18-and-under baseball world championship sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and its successor, the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), and was first held in 1981 in the United S ...
,
U-15 Baseball World Cup
The U-15 Baseball World Cup is the 15-and-under baseball world championship that features national teams as authorized ("sanctioned") by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC). It began in 1989 as the World Youth Baseball Championship. ...
and
U-12 Baseball World Cup
The U-12 Baseball World Cup is the under-12 baseball world championship sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) and its predecessor the International Baseball Federation (IBAF), and is the most elite and highest level of c ...
as follows.
Premier 12
World Baseball Classic
U-23 Baseball World Cup
U-18 Baseball World Cup
U-15 Baseball World Cup
U-12 Baseball World Cup
Controversies
Criticism of the WBSC World Ranking focus on how the rankings are calculated and how each countries' strengths are often misrepresented.
The current system strongly favors the winners of the
WBSC Premier12
The WBSC Premier12 is the international baseball tournament organized by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), featuring the 12 highest-ranked national baseball teams in the world. The first tournament was held by Taiwan and Japan ...
, awarding 1380 points. This is greater than that of winning the
World Baseball Classic
The World Baseball Classic (WBC), also referred to as the Classic, is an international baseball tournament sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), the sport's global governing body, and organized in World Baseball Clas ...
, which awards just 1150 points. This practice has led to some controversies, as players on the active roster for the
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
, arguably world's best players, do not participate in the former competition. This in turn causes the WBSC ranking to be disproportionately unfavorable to countries with more players in the MLB, such as the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
or the
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...
. The Dominican Republic, despite winning the
2013 WBC
The 2013 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball competition, held from March 2 to 19, 2013. This was the third iteration of the WBC, following the two previous tournaments, held in 2006 and 2009.
Unlike the tw ...
, have never been in the top 5 rankings, despite having the second most active players in the MLB, just behind the U.S.
Additionally, the current rankings system take junior competitions, such as the
U-12 Baseball World Cup
The U-12 Baseball World Cup is the under-12 baseball world championship sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) and its predecessor the International Baseball Federation (IBAF), and is the most elite and highest level of c ...
and the likes of them, into account under the same ranking hierarchy.
Critics argue that this practice alters the rankings to misrepresent how well the senior men's team perform by including irrelevant competitions within the ranking.
See also
*
Notes and references
External links
''WBSC rankings''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wbsc World Rankings
World Rankings
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...