USA tops Global Cup table in February
The USA jumped straight to the top of the year-to-date leaderboard in the Global Cup, the ranking of the world’s best sporting nations, at the end of a very busy sporting month of February.
With 10,067 GSN points awarded in the month, February 2024 set a new record and, surprisingly, only 1,911 of those points were awarded in Snow & Ice sports (see below for the Global Cup’s full monthly ranking).
Nearly half of the points awarded in February (4,863) came from the Swimming World Championships, which saw the USA finish narrowly ahead of Australia, with China, Italy and Great Britain in their wake. Adding the world championships in Open Water Swimming (won by France), Water Polo (won by Spain), Synchronised Swimming and Diving (both won by China), Aquatics disciplines totalled 6,635 GSN points in February, shared out between 54 countries.
Turning to more seasonal disciplines, the Biathlon World Championships were held in February, and were won by France, which upstaged Norway, the winner of the last four editions, and Germany. While the Netherlands won the Speedskating Single Distance World Championships, ahead of Canada and the USA.
February was also a big month for continental football tournaments: the Ivory Coast beat Nigeria in the final of the men’s African Cup of Nations, and Qatar beat surprising Jordan in the final of the men’s Asian Cup.
The Global Cup’s year-to-date table very much reflects the February one, but there will be plenty of Snow & Ice sports action in March, and the ranking is likely to change significantly.
GLOBAL CUP – February 2024 monthly ranking
|
Place
|
Country
|
Points
|
Points %
|
|
1
|
United States
|
837
|
8.3%
|
|
2
|
China
|
739
|
7.3%
|
|
3
|
Australia
|
681
|
6.8%
|
|
4
|
Italy
|
637
|
6.3%
|
|
5
|
Netherlands
|
563
|
5.6%
|
|
6
|
France
|
539
|
5.4%
|
|
7
|
Great Britain
|
438
|
4.4%
|
|
8
|
Canada
|
431
|
4.3%
|
|
9
|
Germany
|
412
|
4.1%
|
|
10
|
Norway
|
280
|
2.8%
|
|
11
|
South Korea
|
272
|
2.7%
|
|
12
|
Sweden
|
238
|
2.4%
|
|
13
|
Spain
|
230
|
2.3%
|
|
14
|
Japan
|
230
|
2.3%
|
|
15
|
South Africa
|
222
|
2.2%
|
|
16
|
Hungary
|
222
|
2.2%
|
|
17
|
Ivory Coast
|
210
|
2.1%
|
|
18
|
Greece
|
185
|
1.8%
|
|
19
|
Poland
|
169
|
1.7%
|
|
20
|
Nigeria
|
168
|
1.7%
|
|
21
|
New Zealand
|
165
|
1.6%
|
|
22
|
Qatar
|
160
|
1.6%
|
|
23
|
Jordan
|
128
|
1.3%
|
|
24
|
Brazil
|
119
|
1.2%
|
|
25
|
DR Congo
|
105
|
1.0%
|
|
26
|
Hong Kong
|
103
|
1.0%
|
|
27
|
Ireland
|
99
|
1.0%
|
|
28
|
Ukraine
|
93
|
0.9%
|
|
29
|
Mexico
|
89
|
0.9%
|
|
30
|
Portugal
|
88
|
0.9%
|
|
31
|
Iran
|
88
|
0.9%
|
|
32
|
Austria
|
87
|
0.9%
|
|
33
|
Lithuania
|
75
|
0.7%
|
|
34
|
Switzerland
|
67
|
0.7%
|
|
35
|
Czech Republic
|
58
|
0.6%
|
|
36
|
Belgium
|
53
|
0.5%
|
|
37
|
Mali
|
53
|
0.5%
|
|
38
|
Cape Verde
|
53
|
0.5%
|
|
39
|
Angola
|
53
|
0.5%
|
|
40
|
Guinea
|
53
|
0.5%
|
|
41
|
Israel
|
50
|
0.5%
|
|
42
|
Serbia
|
42
|
0.4%
|
|
43
|
Uzbekistan
|
40
|
0.4%
|
|
44
|
Tajikistan
|
40
|
0.4%
|
|
45
|
Latvia
|
36
|
0.4%
|
|
46
|
Denmark
|
34
|
0.3%
|
|
47
|
Taiwan
|
32
|
0.3%
|
|
48
|
Croatia
|
30
|
0.3%
|
|
49
|
Finland
|
29
|
0.3%
|
|
50
|
Egypt
|
25
|
0.2%
|
|
51
|
Estonia
|
24
|
0.2%
|
|
52
|
North Korea
|
24
|
0.2%
|
|
53
|
Colombia
|
23
|
0.2%
|
|
54
|
Kazakhstan
|
21
|
0.2%
|
|
55
|
Bosnia and Herzegovina
|
18
|
0.2%
|
|
56
|
Romania
|
17
|
0.2%
|
|
57
|
Argentina
|
15
|
0.1%
|
|
58
|
Bulgaria
|
12
|
0.1%
|
|
59
|
Trinidad and Tobago
|
12
|
0.1%
|
|
60
|
Slovenia
|
12
|
0.1%
|
|
61
|
Aruba
|
10
|
0.1%
|
|
62
|
Chile
|
8
|
0.1%
|
|
63
|
Thailand
|
5
|
0.0%
|
|
64
|
Slovakia
|
4
|
0.0%
|
|
65
|
San Marino
|
4
|
0.0%
|
|
66
|
Indonesia
|
3
|
0.0%
|
|
67
|
Montenegro
|
3
|
0.0%
|
|
68
|
Turkey
|
3
|
0.0%
|
|
69
|
Georgia
|
2
|
0.0%
|
|
|
Grand Total
|
10,067
|
100.0%
|
Follow GSN also on Facebook and X (formerly 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.
