Hungary best in September, Great Britain, Germany climb year-to-date table

Hungary won the 2021 Canoe-Kayak Sprint World Championships – pict.: Orlando Turner, Pixabay

Hungary was the best sporting nation in a busy month of September, which saw Great Britain and Germany put up strong performances

and overtake China in the Global Cup’s year-to-date table, grabbing fourth and fifth place respectively in the ranking of the world’s best sporting nations.

While the podium places in the year-to-date table remain unchanged after September, with the USA, France and Japan all adding to their tallies to consolidate their positions – third-placed Japan now has a 682-point cushion over Great Britain – Hungary took top spot in the September monthly ranking (please see below) by winning the Canoe/Kayak Sprint World Championships. The tournament awarded 46.2% of all points up for grabs in the month, and Hungary won it over Belarus and Poland by a comfortable margin, with a 16.7% share of the points (Belarus came second with 11.0%). Hungary now sits in 16th place overall in the Global Cup year-to-date table, the highest it has ever been.
 
Germany, second in the monthly table thanks to a rounded performance that saw it finish in the top-six in all three of the month’s main tournaments (the Road Cycling, Climbing and Canoe/Kayak Sprint World Championships), as well as score valuable points in Tennis and the Rugby Sevens World Series, climbed two places in the Global Cup year-to-date ranking, the best improvement among top-10 nations.
 
Likewise Great Britain, with victory in the women’s US Tennis Open and second place in the Rugby Sevens World Series, plus useful points in the month’s other tournaments, enjoyed a positive month and leapfrogged China to reach fourth place in the Global Cup year-to-date ranking.
 
GLOBAL CUP – SEPTEMBER MONTHLY RANKING
Place
Country
Points
Points %
1
Hungary
347
8.0%
2
Germany
321
7.3%
3
Great Britain
254
5.8%
4
Poland
249
5.7%
5
Belarus
249
5.7%
6
Ukraine
222
5.1%
7
Spain
205
4.7%
8
Italy
195
4.5%
9
Canada
183
4.2%
10
Czech Republic
176
4.0%
11
Ethiopia
147
3.4%
12
United States
137
3.1%
13
France
136
3.1%
14
Kenya
123
2.8%
15
Denmark
118
2.7%
16
Netherlands
99
2.3%
17
South Africa
95
2.2%
18
Portugal
82
1.9%
19
Serbia
80
1.8%
20
Austria
79
1.8%
21
Slovenia
76
1.7%
22
Sweden
73
1.7%
23
Slovakia
73
1.7%
24
Switzerland
73
1.7%
25
Japan
56
1.3%
26
Belgium
56
1.3%
27
Cuba
54
1.2%
28
Russia
50
1.1%
29
Chile
44
1.0%
30
Ireland
40
0.9%
31
Moldova
35
0.8%
32
New Zealand
34
0.8%
33
Australia
28
0.6%
34
Greece
28
0.6%
35
Lithuania
24
0.6%
36
South Korea
20
0.5%
37
Iran
18
0.4%
38
Norway
16
0.4%
39
Kazakhstan
14
0.3%
40
Latvia
14
0.3%
41
Hong Kong
8
0.2%
42
Israel
8
0.2%
43
Ecuador
8
0.2%
44
Eritrea
6
0.1%
45
Colombia
6
0.1%
46
Brazil
4
0.1%
47
Taiwan
4
0.1%
Grand Total
4,362
100.0%
 
The positions between fourth and ninth in the Global Cup year-to-date table are extremely close: there are as little as 65 points between Great Britain in fourth and Italy in seventh, and only 405 points between Great Britain and Canada in ninth, so any of these six nations could swap places between now and the end of the year.
 
Among the key tournaments to watch out for in the next three months are the Karate World Championships - which could cement Japan’s and France’s podium places, and in which Italy was third in 2018 – the Weightlifting World Championships, won by China in 2018 and 2019, the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships, usually Russia’s preserve but with Italy third in 2018 and 2019, and the Track Cycling World Championships, in which both Great Britain and Germany (as well as last year’s winner the Netherlands) have a very strong record.
 
Follow GSN also on Facebook and Twitter and keep up with the latest in the quest for the world’s best sporting nation!
 
Greatest Sporting Nation is a ranking of countries based on their performance in top-level international tournaments in sports in which there is genuine global competition. Countries (national teams and/or individual athletes) score Qualifying Points by finishing in the top eight places in Qualifying Events.
These Qualifying Points are then weighted to produce GSN Points, based on a formula that takes into account individual vs team sports, the sport’s participation (number of countries) and the frequency (annual/biennial/quadrennial) of the tournaments.
The Country scoring the most Points in a calendar year wins the Global Cup for that year. The country that scores the most points relative to its population wins the Per Capita Cup. For a more detailed explanation, please refer to the ‘How It Works’ section on the site.