Japan, Chinese Taipei and USA maintain podium in latest WBSC Men's Baseball World Ranking update
The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) published an update to the WBSC Men's Baseball World Ranking following Continental Championships in various age brackets - excluding the WBSC Americas qualification tournaments for the WBSC U-15 Baseball World Cup and the WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup since the final standings for both tournaments are still pending.
Japan, winner of the BFA Asian Baseball Championship in September, remains in first place in the ranking with 6,676 points, followed by Chinese Taipei (5,112 points) in second place and USA (4,283 points) in third, representing no podium position changes since the previous update on 19 September. In fact the top 16 places remain unchanged. Korea (4,192) are in fourth place with Venezuela (3,612) and Mexico (3,605) in fifth and sixth respectively.
The Netherlands (2,690), at No. 10, and Italy (1,729) in No. 14 are confirmed as the top European programmes after the Dutch beat Italy in the European Baseball Championship final.
Australia (2591) are in 11th place and the Dominican Republic remain in 12th (2254 points).
The top 12 programmes in the WBSC Men's Baseball World Ranking at the end of 2025 will earn a direct ticket to the Premier12 2027, while programmes ranked 13th to 18th, along with two Wild Cards, will contest the Premier12 Qualifiers for the final four spots.
China (1,136), the only baseball programme to improve its ranking position in the top 20, has moved into Premier12 Qualifier contention, rising to No. 17, replacing Great Britain (975) who dropped to No. 19. Germany are in 18th spot on 996 points.
Meanwhile, South Africa (415) climbed three places to 23rd place after beating Zimbabwe in the WBSC Africa U-23 Baseball World Cup Qualifier.
The biggest climbers are Zimbabwe, up 23 places to 54th, and Lithuania, up 13 places to 41st.
The WBSC Men's Baseball World Ranking includes 82 programmes across the five Olympic Continents.
Click here for the WBSC World Ranking Guidelines and the WBSC World Ranking Methodology.