WBSC/KONAMI Men's Softball World Ranking: Argentina close 2024 on top, Dominican Republic best climber of the year
Argentina closed the year as the top ranked men's softball programme in the world after the publication of the end-of-the-year WBSC/KONAMI Men's Softball World Ranking. The South Americans gained the most points in 2024 with 910 and finished the year 106 points ahead of Australia, ranked second.
* Graphic reflects changes since the last update on 25 September
For the second time in history, Argentina finished the year as the No. 1 nation in the men's softball chart. The white and blue had finished first in 2022, ending 2023 in the fourth place. Their 910 points in 2024 (the most among the 45 nations featured in the ranking), allowed them to climb from fourth to first in 2024, thanks to their first-place finishes at the Pan American Championship and the WBSC Men's Softball World Cup Group B.
Australia finished the year second, dropping one place in the last 12 months. The world champions finished second in Group A of the World Cup, earning 452 points in the year. The podium is closed by Japan (2818), which also dropped one place in 2024. Three different continents (America, Oceania and Asia) are featured in the top-three spots of the ranking.
Following Argentina, the second nation with more points in 2024 was the Dominican Republic, earning 535 in their winning run at Group A of the World Cup, and 291 with a bronze at the Pan American Championship, for a total of 826. The Dominican programme moved up from No. 20 to No. 11 in 2024, becoming the top climber of the year.
With 702 points, Venezuela was third in points earned in 2024, gaining two places in the year to finish as No. 5, their highest position ever. In three years, since 31 December 2021, Venezuela has moved from 11th to fifth in the World Ranking.
In 2024, Lesotho, which last appeared in the ranking in December 2022, returned to the WBSC/KONAMI Men's Softball World Ranking, becoming the 45th national team featured in the list.
The new World Ranking Methodology, announced on 19 December, will be used to calculate the next update of this ranking.