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