United States

France, Great Britian and the USA took the top places in the MTB World Championship – pict. StockSnap for Pixabay

USA, France, Ethiopia top sports nations in September

After the epic sportfest that were the Paris Olympic Games, the sporting world slowed down a little in September, a slightly leaner month in terms of major tournaments compared...

image by Mollyroselee from Pixabay

USA wins Paris Olympics ahead of France, China

 The USA won the Paris Olympic Games in the ranking compiled by Greatest Sporting Nation, with a comf...

The USA won the 2024 Freestyle Skiing World Cup – pic. by ric7 for Pixabay

USA retains Global Cup lead ahead of Italy, China

The USA and Norway battled head to head in...

Best Sports

2025

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Top Positions Points % Chg
1 Freestyle Skiing 113 16.5
2 Figure Skating 98 14.3
3 Tennis 69 10.1 -2
4 Speedskating 66 9.6
5 Bandy 55 8.0
6 Snowboarding 47 6.9
7 Biathlon 42 6.1 -5
8 Bobsleigh 41 6.0
9 Cross Country Skiing 40 5.8
10 Alpine Skiing 34 5.0

2024

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Top Positions Points % Chg
1 Swimming 1442 20.9
2 Basketball 840 12.2 2
3 Athletics 728 10.6 -1
4 Football 440 6.4 13
5 Golf 319 4.6 -2
6 Volleyball 258 3.7 1
7 Tennis 244 3.5 -1
8 Artistic Gymnastics 237 3.4 -3
9 Shooting 138 2.0 4
10 Ice Hockey 128 1.9

2023

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Top Positions Points % Chg
1 Swimming 1144 19.0
2 Athletics 631 10.5
3 Golf 454 7.5
4 Basketball 407 6.8
5 Artistic Gymnastics 339 5.6 1
6 Tennis 260 4.3 2
7 Volleyball 219 3.6 6
8 Wrestling Free 216 3.6 -3
9 Lacrosse 160 2.7
10 Ice Hockey 160 2.7 -3

2022

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Top Positions Points % Chg
1 Swimming 1290 21.0
2 Athletics 718 11.7 1
3 Golf 399 6.5 1
4 Basketball 386 6.3 -2
5 Wrestling Free 276 4.5 2
6 Artistic Gymnastics 275 4.5 -1
7 Ice Hockey 268 4.4 5
8 Tennis 248 4.0 3
9 Lacrosse 160 2.6
10 Football 160 2.6 -4

2021

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Top Positions Points % Chg
1 Swimming 963 13.1
2 Basketball 840 11.5
3 Athletics 587 8.0
4 Golf 486 6.6 -3
5 Artistic Gymnastics 393 5.4
6 Football 392 5.3
7 Wrestling Free 385 5.3
8 Volleyball 336 4.6
9 Boxing (Amateur) 208 2.8
10 Marathon 186 2.5 -2

United States Positions

2025

Global Cup Positions
Category Position
Overall 2
Gender:Men 3
Gender:Women 3
Continent:Americas 1
Per Capita Cup Positions
Category Position
Overall 20
Gender:Men 19
Gender:Women 19
Continent:Americas 2

2024

Global Cup Positions
Category Position
Overall 1
Gender:Men 1
Gender:Women 1
Continent:Americas 1
Per Capita Cup Positions
Category Position
Overall 40
Gender:Men 43
Gender:Women 35
Continent:Americas 4

2023

Global Cup Positions
Category Position
Overall 1
Gender:Men 1
Gender:Women 1
Continent:Americas 1
Per Capita Cup Positions
Category Position
Overall 46
Gender:Men 47
Gender:Women 37
Continent:Americas 4

2022

Global Cup Positions
Category Position
Overall 1
Gender:Men 1
Gender:Women 1
Continent:Americas 1
Per Capita Cup Positions
Category Position
Overall 40
Gender:Men 45
Gender:Women 30
Continent:Americas 4

2021

Global Cup Positions
Category Position
Overall 1
Gender:Men 1
Gender:Women 1
Continent:Americas 1
Per Capita Cup Positions
Category Position
Overall 46
Gender:Men 46
Gender:Women 38
Continent:Americas 4
The USA won the 2022 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships - pic. by David Mark for Pixabay

USA wins 2022 Global Cup title

And the 2022 Global Cup winner is … the USA!

The USA won the Artistic Gymn. World Ch’ship ahead of China - image by Fabien from Pixabay

USA still tops Global Cup, China, France battle for second place

Reigning champion the USA narrowly topped the Global Cup’s October ranking (please see the full...

The USA won the 2024 World Swimming Championships - pict. by Moondance for Pixabay

USA tops Global Cup table in February

The USA jumped straight to the top of the year-to-date leaderboard in the Global Cup, the ranking of the w...

The USA won the 2023 Basketball 3x3 World Cup – pic. by ADMo media from Pixabay

USA snatches Global Cup lead as Croatia best nation in June

At the end of June, reigning champions the USA claimed the lead – for the first time this year...

The USA won the 2023 Global Cup, with Swimming its best sport – pict. by Pixabay

USA wins Global Cup 2023, France, China share podium

The USA is (once again) the best sporting nation on earth!

The USA was the top Basketball nation in 2021 - pict. by K. Johnson, Pixabay

USA wins Global Cup, Japan grabs historic second place

The USA is officially the world’s best sporting nation of 2021, winning the Global Cup title for...

The USA won its 7th consecutive women’s Basketball gold in Tokyo - pict.: Kareem Elgazzar USA TODAY Sports

USA wins Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games

The USA has won the (postponed) Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, taking top spot on the podium for the fourth con...

The US won the women’s Team Pursuit at the 2020 World Track Cycling Championships - Pict.: Casey B. Gibson

USA wins Global Cup 2020

The total number of GSN points awarded in the 2020 sporting year was 10,413, shared out among 62 countries.

The USA won the women's Football Gold Cup - Pic by leezathomas099 for Pixabay

USA extends Global Cup lead with Athletics Worlds win

July and August have been two extremely busy sporting months (with 14,416 GSN points awarded between them, 41.1% of the year’s total so far), and the

Image by Veronika Szappanos from Pixabay

USA wins Swimming World Championships in June

A huge gap opened up between the USA  and its nearest Global Cup competitor at the end of June, after...

Image by jmw02824 from Pixabay

USA takes back Global Cup top spot from Norway

It’s the time of the sporting year when the Winter Sports seasons finally draws to a close … and the...

The USA women’s Volleyball team won the 2021 Nations League

USA edges Norway to take Global Cup lead

 After a chase that began right at the beginning of this pandemic-depleted sporting year, the USA...

Will Zalatoris (USA) was runner-up at the 2021 Golf Masters – pict. C. Hawkins

USA closes in on leader Norway in Global Cup table

In one of the thinnest months on record points-wise (only 314 GSN points awarded), the USA posted the bigg...

The USA won the 2019 women’s Football World Cup

USA the world’s best sporting nation in 2019

The USA has won the Global Cup for the 12th consecutive time, topping GSN’s table of t...

Caleb Dressel (USA) won multiple golds at the 2019 Swimming World Championships

The Year’s Best – USA top nation in Aquatics, Ball Team Sports in 2019

One of the most distinctive features of GSN’s unique sport stats is the ability to aggregate the results of sibling sports, like Football, Futsal and Beach Soccer

Ajee Wilson (USA), the women’s 800m Diamond League champion in 2019 – pict.: G. Colombo

Profiling the world’s top sporting nations: the USA

Competitive sport has restarted in many countries, though the majority of international sporting tournaments are still on hold.

Sofia Kenin of the USA in action in the 2018 Tennis Federation Cup Final

The Year’s Best - USA top Racket Sports nation in 2018

Another exciting sporting year is drawing to a close, and it is time for us to reveal the final rankings in GSN’s unique sport groups,

Megan Rapinoe, captain of the USA's Women’s Football team - picture: Franck Fife

USA tops Global Cup halfway through sporting year
Halfway through the sporting year 2019, Global Cup champion the USA has finally put its nose in front...
Caeleb Dressel (USA) won a record 8 medals (6 golds) at the Swimming World Championships – Photo: LaPresse

USA top nation in July, ahead of Great Britain, Russia
The USA topped the July monthly ranking in the Global Cup by scoring a record total of 1,858 points,...
Marcel Hirscher (Austria) won slalom gold at the Alpine Skiing World Championships in Are, Sweden

USA leads Global Cup after February, Austria wins Alpine Skiing Worlds

February was a busy, hotly contested sporting month, featuring a spate of tournaments ranging from the men’s Football Asian Cup to

Japan won the Karate World Championships in November 2018

USA stretch Global Cup lead in November, late surge by Japan, China

The USA came third in...

burroughs-USA.jpg

USA best in October ahead of Russia, Japan

The USA won the month of October 2018 in the Global Cup, the ranking of the world’s top sporting...

The USA Ladies celebrate winning the Basketball World Cup 2018

USA wins Global Cup for 11th consecutive year

The USA is the 2018 Global Cup champion, winning the title of world’s best sporting nation for th...

The USA Ladies won the 2018 Basketball World Championships

USA tops September Global Cup ranking, ahead of Japan, France

September was the biggest sporting month in the year so far, in terms of number of tournaments and especially points awarded in the Global Cup.

The USA Men's Basketball team on the way to their Olympic gold medal

USA win Global Cup ahead of France, GBR pips Germany for third place

Another exciting sporting year is over, and the USA have triumphed in the Global Cup, the ranking of the world’s best...

Sweden beat Canada to the 2017 Men's Ice Hockey world title, the last tournament in the snow & ice season

USA clinch 2017 Snow & Ice sports title
It was a close-run affair, but in the end the USA have managed to clinch the snow and ice sports title.
The USA's Biles (gold) and Ross (silver) at the Art. Gymnastics Worlds 2013

USA and Slovenia are the top nations in sports 2013
The USA and Slovenia have topped the 2013 standings in GSN’s two main rankings, the Global C...
The USA ladies strike gold in Olympic Football

London 2012 Day 13: USA score winning goal with Ladies Football

Gold in Women’s Football was the highlight of Day 13 for Olympic ranking leaders USA, and it may prove to be the decisive leap for the...

Brian Lochte of the USA

Global Cup December 2011: it's the USA again!
FOR THE THIRD CONSECUTIVE YEAR THE USA have won the GSN Global Cup, topping the international ranking in our unique year-long competi...
Dawn Harper (USA) wins 100m hurdles at Beijing Olympics

The USA won the Beijing Games
The 2008 Beijing Olympics had one triumphant winner, says GSN: Team USA!
Team USA

“I’m so bored with the USA...”
…but they’re so good at sports! The simple reason for which America has run away with the Global Cup for the second consecutive year is their breadth of excellenc...
Andy Roddick of the USA

Lost boys of U.S. Tennis
Melbourne, Australia. Another Men’s Singles Grand Slam final.