FIBA Press Release – March 7: The last World Cup Qualifiers Window delivers stable Top 20 FIBA World Ranking Men, presented by Nike
MIES (Switzerland) – The completion of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Qualifiers brings with it very little change in the top 20 of the latest FIBA World Ranking Men, presented by Nike, as the globe looks forward to this summer’s showcase event.
Spain remained atop the ranking – defending their first place obtained in November 2022. The only move in a stable top 20 was Puerto Rico going up one spot to number 20 thanks to booking their ticket to the World Cup from the Americas Qualifiers.
Fellow Americas side Dominican Republic jumped two spots to 23 as they also locked up a spot in the World Cup with two decisive wins in window 6. World Cup co-hosts Japan went up one ranking to 36th while Cote d’Ivoire swapped spots with Lebanon at No. 42.
Two other African teams who will be debuting this summer in the World Cup and moved up the rankings are South Sudan, who rose one spot to 62nd; and Cape Verde, who jumped two slots to 64 as the smallest nation to reach the World Cup in terms of population.
The FIBA EuroBasket 2025 Pre-Qualifiers also impacted the ranking with North Macedonia going up one slot after reaching the EuroBasket Qualifiers while Bulgaria moved up a spot to 47th.
Thanks to their participation in the Second Round of the FIBA World Cup 2023 African Qualifiers, the biggest mover in the top 100 was Guinea who jumped 10 points to 75th.
The Draw of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 will be held in Manila, the Philippines, on April 29. The draw principles will be based on this ranking and on geographical principles.
For more information about the method used in the calculation of the FIBA World Ranking Men, please refer to the “How It Works” section.
Click here to view the full FIBA World Ranking Men, presented by Nike.
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