USA tops September Global Cup ranking, ahead of Japan, France
September was the biggest sporting month in the year so far, in terms of number of tournaments and especially points awarded in the Global Cup. When the stakes are high, the big boys get stuck in, and none more so than the USA, which topped the monthly ranking of the world’s best sporting nations in September with an extraordinary tally of 1,031 points, ahead of Japan and France.
It’s not a record for the year, since France scored 1,235 points in July, but 1,000 of those came courtesy of its Football World Cup triumph. In the month of September, the USA instead scored points in 14 different sports!
To put the USA’s amazing performance in perspective, before September, only 12 nations had scored more than 1,000 points in the Global Cup, but in the course of eight months, not a single one. And there were teams in the top 10 who had scored points in ‘only’ 15 sports (the Netherlands, Norway) or 16 sports (Sweden), again during the entire January-August period.
In more detail, the USA scored
- 350 points (34.4% of its monthly tally) by winning the Women’s Basketball World Championships
- 144 points (14.0%) by finishing 3rd in the Volleyball Men’s World Championships
- 100 points (9.7%) at the Shooting World Championships
- 93 points (9.0%) at the US Open Tennis Championships
- plus points at the World Equestrian Games and in Golf, Triathlon, Rowing, Road Cycling, Rhythmic Gymnastics, MTB, Climbing, Canoe Kayak and Archery.
Behind the USA, Japan had a super month, winning two big tournaments, the Judo World Championships with 426 points, and the Climbing World Championships with 217, while France finished 5th in the Women’s Basketball World Championships and was second in the Judo World Championships.
Below are the top finishers in the month’s biggest tournaments, and the full monthly ranking, with 71 countries sharing the 10,844 points on offer.
Finally, a mention for Croatia: it was 25th in the month with 107 points but, crucially, with nine top-8 placements, which means it is now well and truly in the race for the Per Capita Cup, the ranking of the world’s sportiest nations.
|
Place
|
Country
|
Points
|
Points %
|
|
1
|
United States
|
1,031
|
9.5%
|
|
2
|
Japan
|
798
|
7.4%
|
|
3
|
France
|
670
|
6.2%
|
|
4
|
Germany
|
537
|
4.9%
|
|
5
|
Australia
|
519
|
4.8%
|
|
6
|
Russia
|
438
|
4.0%
|
|
7
|
Spain
|
434
|
4.0%
|
|
8
|
South Korea
|
423
|
3.9%
|
|
9
|
Poland
|
422
|
3.9%
|
|
10
|
Great Britain
|
420
|
3.9%
|
|
11
|
Italy
|
360
|
3.3%
|
|
12
|
Netherlands
|
357
|
3.3%
|
|
13
|
China
|
333
|
3.1%
|
|
14
|
Brazil
|
301
|
2.8%
|
|
15
|
Switzerland
|
242
|
2.2%
|
|
16
|
Belgium
|
236
|
2.2%
|
|
17
|
Serbia
|
218
|
2.0%
|
|
18
|
Canada
|
198
|
1.8%
|
|
19
|
Ukraine
|
191
|
1.8%
|
|
20
|
Czech Republic
|
179
|
1.6%
|
|
21
|
Austria
|
174
|
1.6%
|
|
22
|
Slovenia
|
154
|
1.4%
|
|
23
|
India
|
118
|
1.1%
|
|
24
|
Kenya
|
117
|
1.1%
|
|
25
|
Croatia
|
107
|
1.0%
|
|
26
|
Slovakia
|
100
|
0.9%
|
|
27
|
Denmark
|
98
|
0.9%
|
|
28
|
Turkey
|
97
|
0.9%
|
|
29
|
Sweden
|
93
|
0.9%
|
|
30
|
Norway
|
91
|
0.8%
|
|
31
|
Mongolia
|
86
|
0.8%
|
|
32
|
Iran
|
81
|
0.7%
|
|
33
|
Azerbaijan
|
79
|
0.7%
|
|
34
|
Georgia
|
77
|
0.7%
|
|
35
|
Ireland
|
71
|
0.7%
|
|
36
|
Hungary
|
67
|
0.6%
|
|
37
|
Argentina
|
65
|
0.6%
|
|
38
|
Cuba
|
63
|
0.6%
|
|
39
|
New Zealand
|
63
|
0.6%
|
|
40
|
Colombia
|
63
|
0.6%
|
|
41
|
Belarus
|
54
|
0.5%
|
|
42
|
Kazakhstan
|
51
|
0.5%
|
|
43
|
Ethiopia
|
51
|
0.5%
|
|
44
|
Bulgaria
|
44
|
0.4%
|
|
45
|
Israel
|
41
|
0.4%
|
|
46
|
Finland
|
40
|
0.4%
|
|
47
|
Taiwan
|
36
|
0.3%
|
|
48
|
Nigeria
|
35
|
0.3%
|
|
49
|
Romania
|
32
|
0.3%
|
|
50
|
Portugal
|
30
|
0.3%
|
|
51
|
Greece
|
28
|
0.3%
|
|
52
|
Latvia
|
28
|
0.3%
|
|
53
|
Mexico
|
26
|
0.2%
|
|
54
|
Eritrea
|
18
|
0.2%
|
|
55
|
South Africa
|
17
|
0.2%
|
|
56
|
Bosnia and Herzegovina
|
17
|
0.2%
|
|
57
|
Kuwait
|
16
|
0.1%
|
|
58
|
Lithuania
|
16
|
0.1%
|
|
59
|
Egypt
|
15
|
0.1%
|
|
60
|
Morocco
|
11
|
0.1%
|
|
61
|
Uzbekistan
|
11
|
0.1%
|
|
62
|
Puerto Rico
|
11
|
0.1%
|
|
63
|
Cyprus
|
10
|
0.1%
|
|
64
|
Singapore
|
10
|
0.1%
|
|
65
|
Tajikistan
|
9
|
0.1%
|
|
66
|
Guatemala
|
6
|
0.1%
|
|
67
|
North Korea
|
5
|
0.0%
|
|
68
|
Kosovo
|
5
|
0.0%
|
|
69
|
Vietnam
|
4
|
0.0%
|
|
70
|
Qatar
|
4
|
0.0%
|
|
71
|
Pakistan
|
4
|
0.0%
|
|
Grand Total
|
10,844
|
100.0%
|
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