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

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

Reigning champion the USA narrowly topped the Global Cup’s October ranking (please see the full monthly table below), but the October tournaments’ results gave a fresh twist to the race for second place in the 2023 Global Cup, the ranking of the world’s best sporting nations.

The USA is virtually out of sight at the top of the year-to-date table, but the runner-up spot, previously occupied by Germany, has now been taken by China, with a mere 128-point margin over third-placed France. Great Britain and Japan are poised behind France and within 200 points of China, so competition in the last two months of the sporting year will be fierce.
 
The three main tournaments (points-wise) tracked by GSN in October were:
- the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships, won by the USA ahead of China and Japan, with Brazil surprisingly finishing fourth
 
- the men’s Rugby Union World Cup, in which South Africa took the title for the second edition in a row, defeating New Zealand in the final, while England took third place (representing Great Britain), beating Argentina in the bronze medal game
 
- the Karate World Championships, won by Egypt – a major upset – ahead of Japan and Turkey. It was the first time since GSN records began in 2008 that Japan did not win the Karate World Championships!
 
In the October monthly ranking, the USA was followed by Japan, which as a result climbed two places into fifth in the year-to-date table, and South Africa, as shown in the table below.
There remain only two months of sporting competition to settle the 2023 Global Cup. The key tournaments points-wise in November and December will be the Cricket World Cup, the women’s Handball World Championship and the Davis Cup in Tennis, among others, so watch this space to see how your favourite country is doing!
 
GLOBAL CUP – OCTOBER MONTHLY RANKING
Place
Country
Points
Points %
1
United States
469
7.5%
2
Japan
449
7.2%
3
South Africa
400
6.4%
4
Great Britain
341
5.5%
5
New Zealand
320
5.1%
6
France
296
4.7%
7
China
294
4.7%
8
Egypt
266
4.3%
9
Italy
236
3.8%
10
Argentina
200
3.2%
11
Turkey
194
3.1%
12
Brazil
193
3.1%
13
Kazakhstan
187
3.0%
14
Spain
184
2.9%
15
Netherlands
174
2.8%
16
Ukraine
147
2.4%
17
Ireland
130
2.1%
18
Germany
118
1.9%
19
Kenya
108
1.7%
20
Fiji
100
1.6%
21
Jordan
94
1.5%
22
Iran
80
1.3%
23
Taiwan
73
1.2%
24
Azerbaijan
66
1.1%
25
Belgium
66
1.1%
26
Greece
64
1.0%
27
Croatia
60
1.0%
28
Czech Republic
60
1.0%
29
Hungary
55
0.9%
30
Switzerland
52
0.8%
31
Ethiopia
51
0.8%
32
Venezuela
50
0.8%
33
Canada
47
0.8%
34
Armenia
45
0.7%
35
Hong Kong
38
0.6%
36
Bulgaria
35
0.6%
37
Montenegro
32
0.5%
38
Suriname
32
0.5%
39
Israel
30
0.5%
40
Tunisia
28
0.4%
41
Indonesia
28
0.4%
42
Algeria
27
0.4%
43
Slovakia
26
0.4%
44
South Korea
24
0.4%
45
Portugal
22
0.4%
46
Kosovo
22
0.4%
47
Saudi Arabia
22
0.4%
48
Serbia
22
0.4%
49
Bosnia and Herzegovina
20
0.3%
50
Vietnam
20
0.3%
51
Poland
18
0.3%
52
Australia
16
0.3%
53
Sweden
16
0.3%
54
Philippines
15
0.2%
55
Mexico
15
0.2%
56
Romania
15
0.2%
57
Uzbekistan
14
0.2%
58
Kuwait
14
0.2%
59
Morocco
14
0.2%
60
Austria
9
0.1%
61
Curacao
6
0.1%
62
Norway
5
0.1%
 
Grand Total
6,254
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.