World champions Argentina new world No. 1, pass Japan in WBSC Men’s Softball World Rankings

World champions Argentina new world No. 1, pass Japan in WBSC Men’s Softball World Rankings
02/06/2022
The WBSC Men’s Softball World Rankings continue to feature nations from the five Olympic continents in the top 12 positions, showing the sport’s global development.

The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) today released the latest WBSC Men’s Softball World Rankings, which measure a country’s National Team performance (in all age categories) in WBSC-sanctioned international competitions over a four-year period.

After being No.2 for more than two years, the reigning world champions Argentina reached the top of the WBSC Men’s Softball World Rankings, thanks to their Pan American Championship title winning performance on home soil in Parana in April. The Argentina Men’s National Softball Team currently holds the trophies for the WBSC World Cup, the Pan American Championship and the Pan Am Games.

Canada returns to the top-three in the rankings, moving from sixth to third after winning a silver medal at the Pan American Championship while world No. 9 Venezuela climbed two positions and returned to the top-10 after falling to 11th place in December 2021. Cuba also gained two positions and is now No. 12, their best ever position in the WBSC Men’s Softball World Rankings. 

The biggest winners were the Dominican Republic, who finished seventh at the Pan Am Championship, moving up 15 positions from No. 35 to No. 20 and Puerto Rico, who finished 10th, who return to the ranking with 45 points, sitting now in 33rd spot. 

The new rankings reflect the points awarded after the African Championships (both senior and U-23) and the Pan American Championship while the 2018 Asian Championship points expired, explaining the loss of points for a majority of the Asian nations. Asia will host the qualifiers for the senior and U-23 Men’s Softball World Cups in September.