Profiling the world’s top sporting nations: Brazil, Norway, Spain

Our starting point are the quadrennial Global Cup rankings, first analysed in this article published last December. Quadrennial periods (which we will call for brevity ‘quads’) provide a panoramic view of the world of sport, since many major international tournaments, the Olympic Games above all, are held every four years.

 

The table below shows the aggregate top-20 Global Cup ranking for the 2016-19 quad, the latest for which we have four-year data.

 

Brazil gained one position in this quad over the previous four-year period, slotting into 14^th place overall. It was far and away the top South and Central American nation in the ranking, the second being Argentina in 35^th place.Without exception, Brazil’s leading sport in each of the quad’s four years was Volleyball: its share of the country’s Global Cup points was as high as 44.5% in 2018, when Brazil came third in Volleyball’s final ranking – after actually topping it in 2017 and 2016.

 

Football was another strong contributor to Brazil’s Global Cup tally in the quad: it was the country’s second-best sport in 2016, with 21.9% of the points - when Brazil came second in the sport’s Global Cup ranking after winning Football gold at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics - and again in 2018, with a 20.1% share of Brazil’s total points.

 

In each of the quad’s individual years, Brazil scored points in 21 sports on average. The highest total, 26, was recorded in 2019, when the country’s top five sports, besides Volleyball, included Skateboarding, Swimming, Taekwondo and Athletics, in this order. Last year, Brazil won the Global Cup in Skateboarding, finished second in Bodyboarding, Surfing and Volleyball, and third in Fistball.

Brazil finished 18^th in the 2019 Global Cup and is yet to score any points in the 2020 Global Cup.

 

Norway was 13^th in the Global Cup table for the 2016-19 quad, notably the most improved country over the previous quad in the top 20, having climbed 4 places. For such a small country population-wise (5,277,000 inhabitants), Norway is undoubtedly the quad’s sportiest nation. In 2019, it won the Per Capita Cup for a record fifth time, and for the third year in succession, another record.

 

Unsurprisingly, Norway’s driving engine are Snow & Ice sports, as shown by the two consecutive wins in 2018 and 2019 in this sport group, on the back of the runner-up spot in 2017. Last year, Norway topped the Global Cup ranking in Biathlon, Cross Country Skiing and Nordic Combined, and was third in Ski Jumping. Cross Country Skiing was Norway’s highest-scoring sport in 2019, 2018 and 2017, and the third in 2016, when its top sport was Biathlon.

 

But Norway’s strength is that it scores points in many other sports: 18 in total in 2019, and as many as 21 in 2017. Notably, it won the Handball Global Cup ranking in 2019, having finished second two years before, and was second in Orienteering in 2019. In the same year, it scored 100-plus points in Football and Athletics too.

The sky’s the limit for this plucky Scandinavian country: in 2019, Norway won the Per Capita Cup and finished 11^th in the Global Cup, and it is currently leading both the Global Cup and Per Capita Cup.

 

In the 2016-19 aggregate Global Cup table, Spain gained one position compared to the previous quad, finishing in 12^th place. Its performance has been steadily improving in the last three years, from 18^th in the 2017 annual ranking, to 14^th in 2018 to 12^th in 2019, while it is currently 19^th in the 2020 Global Cup.

 

Basketball has been the main force behind this improvement: it was Spain’s highest-scoring sport in 2018 and 2019, respectively with 26.6% and 15.5% of the country’s total points, enough to enable Spain to win the Basketball ranking outright in 2019 and finish third in 2018.

Tennis was the second main contributor to Spain’s Global Cup performance: it was the country’s highest-scoring sport in 2017, and the second in 2018 and 2019, when Spain narrowly beat the USA to the sport’s annual title.

 

Spain has a broader sporting range compared to its immediate followers in the Global Cup’s quadrennial ranking. It consistently scored points in 26 or more sports in the four years between 2016 and 2019, with a maximum of 31 in 2016. In 2019, besides Basketball and Tennis, Spain won another three sports, a record, adding Canoe/Kayak Slalom, Triathlon and Water Polo to the collection. Spain was also runner-up in Handball and third in Body Boarding, reflecting its versatility in a wide variety of disciplines.

 

* position change vs previous quad

 

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.