Japan tops monthly Global Cup table in June
The world of sport is gearing up for the Paris Summer Olympics, set to kick off on July 26th The anticipation was reflected in two relatively quiet sporting months – May and June – in which fewer top tournaments were staged than usual.
Halfway through the year, the Global Cup, the ranking of the world’s best sporting nations, has in fact awarded 19,212 points, down 8% from the 20,922 points awarded in January-June 2023.
June was characterised by major tournaments in Volleyball, with the Nations League for women and men, plus the Rugby Sevens World Series (men), and plenty of Golf and Tennis.
Japan topped the monthly ranking in June, finishing second in both the men’s and women’s Volleyball Nations League, behind France and Italy respectively. The rest of Japan’s monthly points came from Golf, notably thanks to the win at the women’s US Open.
France was second behind Japan in the monthly ranking (please see the full table below), bolstered by its Rugby Sevens title, and Italy came third, its Volleyball success augmented by useful points in Tennis.
In the year-to-date Global Cup table, the USA retain the top spot, despite losing nearly one percentage point to Italy, which is comfortably holding on to second place. France has made a decisive leap forward, overtaking China and four other countries to grab third place, while Japan has entered the top-10 and is now eighth.
Italy also remains the top-ranked European nation in the table, with China taking the honour for Asia, and Kenya, 18th and just ahead of ahead of South Africa, for Africa.
GLOBAL CUP – JUNE MONTHLY RANKING
|
Place
|
Country
|
Points
|
Points %
|
|
1
|
Japan
|
329
|
10.8%
|
|
2
|
France
|
303
|
10.0%
|
|
3
|
Italy
|
263
|
8.6%
|
|
4
|
Poland
|
242
|
8.0%
|
|
5
|
United States
|
173
|
5.7%
|
|
6
|
New Zealand
|
144
|
4.7%
|
|
7
|
Brazil
|
111
|
3.7%
|
|
8
|
Fiji
|
100
|
3.3%
|
|
9
|
South Korea
|
96
|
3.1%
|
|
10
|
Slovenia
|
90
|
3.0%
|
|
11
|
Australia
|
88
|
2.9%
|
|
12
|
Argentina
|
84
|
2.8%
|
|
13
|
South Africa
|
80
|
2.6%
|
|
14
|
China
|
79
|
2.6%
|
|
15
|
Canada
|
74
|
2.4%
|
|
16
|
Great Britain
|
74
|
2.4%
|
|
17
|
India
|
70
|
2.3%
|
|
18
|
Vanuatu
|
64
|
2.1%
|
|
19
|
Hungary
|
53
|
1.7%
|
|
20
|
Turkey
|
50
|
1.6%
|
|
21
|
Ireland
|
48
|
1.6%
|
|
22
|
French Polynesia
|
44
|
1.4%
|
|
23
|
Afghanistan
|
39
|
1.3%
|
|
24
|
Egypt
|
31
|
1.0%
|
|
25
|
Thailand
|
31
|
1.0%
|
|
26
|
Spain
|
30
|
1.0%
|
|
27
|
Papua New Guinea
|
28
|
0.9%
|
|
28
|
Solomon Islands
|
28
|
0.9%
|
|
29
|
West Indies
|
25
|
0.8%
|
|
30
|
Germany
|
24
|
0.8%
|
|
31
|
Czech Republic
|
19
|
0.6%
|
|
32
|
Norway
|
17
|
0.5%
|
|
33
|
Kazakhstan
|
13
|
0.4%
|
|
34
|
Samoa
|
12
|
0.4%
|
|
35
|
Ukraine
|
11
|
0.4%
|
|
36
|
Bangladesh
|
11
|
0.3%
|
|
37
|
Mexico
|
10
|
0.3%
|
|
38
|
Lithuania
|
9
|
0.3%
|
|
39
|
France
|
8
|
0.3%
|
|
40
|
Tunisia
|
8
|
0.2%
|
|
41
|
Bulgaria
|
8
|
0.2%
|
|
42
|
Serbia
|
8
|
0.2%
|
|
43
|
Greece
|
8
|
0.2%
|
|
44
|
Guatemala
|
6
|
0.2%
|
|
45
|
Sweden
|
2
|
0.1%
|
|
46
|
Uzbekistan
|
2
|
0.1%
|
|
Grand Total
|
3,040
|
100.0%
|
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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
