The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) has announced the latest update to the WBSC World Rankings, with Japan climbing to the No. 1 position in the Women’s Softball World Ranking following their historic victory at the WBSC U-15 Women’s Softball World Cup (pictured above left). In the Men’s Softball category, Japan has also claimed the top spot for the first time since 2021 with new world champions Venezuela (pictured above right) up to a record high of No. 2.
The Asian powerhouse is now No. 1 in the world ranking for men’s baseball, women’s baseball, women’s softball and men’s softball and No. 2 in Baseball5.
Women’s Softball: Japan Claims Top Ranking
Japan’s triumph in the WBSC U-15 Women’s Softball World Cup held in Italy from 27 June to 5 July has propelled them to the No. 1 position in the WBSC Women’s Softball World Ranking, overtaking USA, now ranked second. Puerto Rico remains steady in third place, while Canada rose two spots to No. 4. Chinese Taipei rounds out the top five.
Among other improvements in the top 10 include China (No. 10), Mexico (No. 7) and Australia (No. 8) by two positions each while Brazil (17th) and Colombia (19th) moved up 10 and 12 places respectively. Singapore (25th) and US Virgin Islands (47th) also improved by 14 and 11 places respectively.
The biggest mover is American Samoa who improved by 21 places up to 43rd place after finishing 10th at the WBSC U-15 Women’s Softball World Cup.
Men’s Softball: Japan Rises to the Top
In the Men’s Softball World Ranking, Japan has taken over as the new world No. 1 after their fourth-place finish at the WBSC Men’s Softball World 2025, followed by world champions Venezuela in second place, both moving up two and three places respectively.
Former world No. 1 Argentina fell to third and Australia to fourth while World Cup silver medallists New Zealand moved up three places to No. 5.
The biggest mover is Thailand, who improved by nine places to 27th.
Men’s Baseball: Japan stay top
Japan and Chinese Taipei remain as the top two men’s baseball programmes in the world while USA and South Korea moved up to third and fourth with Mexico and Venezuela dropping to fifth and sixth.
The major movers saw Palau up 17 places to 56th after winning the Mini Pacific Games and India up 12 places to 57th while Laos is up 11 places to 44th.
Women’s Baseball: Japan and USA remain in top spots
The top 10 teams in women’s baseball remain unchanged with Japan and USA in No 1 and No 2 spots respectively while India and Indonesia have moved up four and five places respectively into 11th place. The total number of programmes in the ranking have increased from 25 to 28.
Baseball5: Cuba remain No. 1
Cuba remain as world No. 1 in the WBSC Baseball5 World Ranking while Japan have moved up two places to No. 2 after winning the Asia Championship, swapping with Chinese Taipei, who dropped to fourth. France remain in third place.
The biggest movers include Saudi Arabia, up 17 places to 35th in the world, and Greece, up 10 places to 25th.
The WBSC Baseball5 World Ranking includes a record 65 programmes after the introduction of a new criteria (see below).
Updated Rankings Methodology Introduced
This rankings update is the first under the revised WBSC World Rankings Methodology and Guidelines, introduced in December 2024, with a small update. For Top-Level World Events and Age-Group World Cups, which take place every two years, such as the WBSC U-12, U-15, U-18, U-23 Baseball World Cups and the WBSC Baseball5 World Cups, which are held biennially, two editions will be included in the rankings. Points from the edition held four years earlier will be replaced by the most recent results upon completion.
As part of its commitment to global development, the WBSC awarded a Baseball5 National Activity Ranking Bonus to National Federations for their 2024 initiatives. Federations received between 100 and 500 WBSC Ranking Points based on their domestic Baseball5 activities, which included:
- Club and championship participation, including digital and social media engagement
- Promotional efforts and outreach programs
- Integration of Baseball5 into schools and community initiativeSubmitted documentation and