31/12/2023 1 Minute Read

France finish 2023 on top of WBSC/KONAMI Baseball5 World Ranking

The WBSC published the first-ever Baseball5 World Rankings on 12 January. In less than one year, the top 10 went through radical change. Only No. 2 Chinese Taipei remained in the same position. Ghana improved dramatically, climbing 23 places to No. 10.

France became the first end-of-year leader of the WBSC/KONAMI Baseball5 World Ranking after finishing 2023 in pole position. With 3,037 points, including 1,387 points in 2023 for runner up results at the WBSC Youth Baseball5 World Cup and European Championship, France became the first European programme to hold the top position of a WBSC/KONAMI Baseball/Softball World Ranking on 16 November and held on to the position. Chinese Taipei (2,775) closed the year in second place, with Cuba (2,393) third.

The Baseball5 World Rankings had no variation from the update published on 16 November but recorded many changes from the first-ever release on 12 January.

Among the top 10 programmes, Chinese Taipei is the only one that remained stable through the year, debuting at No. 2 and remaining at No. 2.

Ghana had the most dramatic improvement, climbing 23 positions to No. 10.

Tunisia advanced four positions and is now ranked No. 4.

Mexico (No. 8) moved up three places to enter the top 10. Korea also gained three positions to reach No. 9.

No. 1 France and No. 5 Lithuania also climbed two positions.

Cuba debuted at No. 1 and fell to No. 3 during the year. No. 6 Japan also lost two positions, while No. 7 South Africa fell one step.

Venezuela, Kenya and Italy exited the top 10 with Kenya dropping five positions to No. 14 while Venezuela fell 12 steps to No. 17 and Italy lost one to No. 11.

France scored 1,387 points to lead all programmes in 2023. Chinese Taipei (1,096) finished second and China (1030) third. Ghana (1030) outscored Cuba (1013) to earn the year's fourth place. Tunisia (821) leads the programmes with a result below 1,000 points.

The points calculation includes results of international tournaments over a four year period.

On 18 December, the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) and Konami Digital Entertainment Inc. (KONAMI) extended their global partnership to incorporate the WBSC World Rankings naming rights.