Japan remains No. 1 in the latest edition of the World Baseball Rankings, published on July 23 by the World Baseball Softball Confederation, the sport’s international governing body.
Having finished second at the 2024 WBSC Premier12, Japan had a total of 6,832 ranking points, ahead of No. 2 Chinese Taipei, who upset Japan at the Tokyo Dome in the Premier12 championship game last November, and had 5,147 points.
Among teams ranked in the top 20, the United States rose two spots to No. 3, as did South Korea, which rose to the fourth spot, and Puerto Rico, ranked No. 7. Further down the list, China rose two spots to No. 18 and Canada also rose two spots to No. 20.
Venezuela dropped three spots from No. 3 to No. 6, Cuba fell two spots to No. 12, and Germany fell two spots to No. 19.
The biggest riser over all was Palau, which won the Mini Pacific Games last month and rose 15 spots to No. 53. Poland rose 14 spots to No. 51, and Laos rose 11 spots to No. 44. India rose 10 places to No. 59.
Slovakia and Bulgaria each fell 15 spots to Nos. 57 and 77 respectively, while Lithuania fell 11 spots to No. 54.
Iran, ranked No. 59, entered the WBR for the first time, as did No. 71 Micronesia and No. 77 Zimbabwe.
Photo: The complete World Baseball Rankings for July 23, 2025. (Courtesy of the WBSC)
