Great Britain, Australia, Italy rising as USA dominates Global Cup
The month of July was one of the highest-scoring months in the history of the Global Cup, the ranking of the world’s best sporting nations. It awarded a total of 12,482 GSN points shared out among 73 countries, and it firmly established the USA at the top of the pecking order in world sports.
After winning the month by a huge margin, scoring an unprecedented 1,858 points, the USA have now carved a near-unassailable lead in the Global Cup, with 10.5% of the points awarded so far this year. The nearest competitor, a resurgent Russia, has a 6.2% share, and every other country in the table a share of less than 5%.
Besides providing a springboard for the USA’s leap ahead, July also enabled three other countries to climb significantly up the ranking: in the year-to-date’s current top 10, Great Britain posted the biggest improvement, gaining 8 positions in July and climbing to seventh overall, on the back of a fourth place in the Women’s Football World Cup, victory in the Cricket World Cup and a sixth place overall in the Swimming World Championships.
Australia finished second in the Swimming World Championships and third in the Cricket World Cup, climbing 7 positions in the table to ninth place. Italy finished fourth in the Swimming World Championships, was third in the Open Water Swimming World Championships, won the Water Polo World Cup and finished a respectable eighth in the Women’s Football World Cup: as a result, it is now third overall in the year-to-date Global Cup table, an unprecedented result for a nation whose best year-end Global Cup placement was fifth in 2017.
The USA seems once again out of sight of the competition, but the race behind them is very tight. Italy and France are among the countries which could shine in the Volleyball World Cup in October, Great Britain has the Rugby Union World Cup in September and the Athletics World Championships in October to look forward to, and of course the newly re-emerging Russia is a constant threat.
