Two-time defending World Champions Cuba finished 2024 in No. 1 position in the WBSC/KONAMI Baseball5 World Ranking with 4,327 points having earned 1,920 in 2024. The WBSC Baseball5 World Cup 2024 triumph in October was worth 1,380 points.
Cuba has dominated international Baseball5 so far, winning also the inaugural editions of the WBSC Baseball5 World Cup and the WBSC Youth Baseball5 World Cup in 2022 and 2023 respectively.
* Graphic reflects changes since the last update on 16 October
Chinese Taipei (4,113 points, 1,330 earned in 2024) is second while World Cup bronze medallists France (3,829 points) moved up one spot to third, displacing Japan (3,424 points), who are fourth but earned the second most points (1,777) in 2024, including 1,102 with a World Cup silver medal, to rank second in the year after Cuba.
The 2024 WBSC/KONAMI Baseball5 World Ranking further confirms the inclusivity of the WBSC's five-on-five and coed version of baseball/softball. The top 10 features two European and two African programmes: No. 4 France, the No. 1 programme as of December 31, 2023; No. 10 Lithuania; No. 5 Tunisia; and No. 7 South Africa.
The top climbers in 2024 are Australia, who finished 12th at the WBSC Baseball5 World Cup 2024, and Thailand, who came fifth in the second Asia Cup, moving up nine places to No. 33 and No. 28 respectively.
World Cup fourth place getters Venezuela and Hong Kong, China moved up eight positions to No. 9 and No. 14 respectively while Lithuania was the biggest mover in the top 10 since the previous update in October from No.10 to No. 7 after winning the Youth Baseball5 European Championship 2024.
The WBSC/KONAMI Baseball5 World Ranking includes 53 programmes with 36 of them gaining points in 2024. Poland is the latest programme to join the ranking after participating in the Youth Baseball5 European Championship 2024.
The WBSC announced a new World Ranking Methodology on December 19. The new methodology will be used to calculate the first update in 2025.
