FIBA Basketball Rankings: Despite not winning a medal at the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup, the United States continues to be the team to beat.
The men’s basketball world rankings were updated by FIBA a week after the competition. Following Spain at the beginning of the competition, Germany, which took home the gold medal in the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup, passed the United States to move up eight spots into third place.
After placing fourth in a competition that also included defeats by Canada, Germany, and Lithuania, the United States actually improved one spot.
Latest FIBA Basketball rankings
| World Rank | Country | Move |
| 1. | USA | +1 |
| 2. | Spain | -1 |
| 3. | Germany | +8 |
| 4. | Australia | -1 |
| 5. | Serbia | +1 |
| 6. | Canada | +9 |
| 7. | Argentina | -3 |
| 8. | Latvia | +22 |
| 9. | France | -4 |
| 10. | Lithuania | -2 |
| 11. | Slovenia | -4 |
| 12. | Brazil | +1 |
| 13. | Italy | -3 |
| 14. | Greece | -5 |
| 15. | Poland | -1 |
| 16. | Puerto Rico | +5 |
| 17. | Montenegro | +2 |
| 18. | Dominican Republic | +6 |
| 19. | Czech Republic | -7 |
| 20. | Finland | +5 |
| 21. | New Zealand | +6 |
| 22. | Venezuela | -4 |
| 23. | Georgia | +10 |
| 24. | Turkey | -8 |
| 25. | Mexico | +7 |
| 26. | Japan | +11 |
| 27. | Iran | -4 |
| 28. | Lebanon | +16 |
| 29. | China | -1 |
| 30. | Croatia | -4 |
How are the FIBA Basketball rankings determined?
“All games played by 164 national teams in top official FIBA competitions and their Qualifiers over an 8-year period” is the basis for FIBA’s rankings. The entire rating procedure, which involves several factors, may be found here.
In essence, FIBA assigns “rating points” to each side for each game. The ranking is then determined using “weighted average rating points of each team, overall games in the previous 8-year period.”
For instance, if a team wins by 20 points or more, they are awarded 800 basis points. They earn 700 basis points if they prevail by a small margin. In addition, points are given for home-field advantage and the calibre of the opposition.
The formula used by FIBA to determine each team’s rating points is as follows:
- Basis points + home or away points + opposition ranking points = rating points
A “penalised weighted average of rating points” from prior contests is also used by FIBA because the rankings are based on an eight-year span. The ranking is more heavily influenced by more recent games as well as the region of competition, teams, stage, and round.
The formula used by FIBA to determine each team’s final game rating is as follows:
- Time decay + competition and region weight + competition stage weight + round weight = final game rating
After a terrible World Cup, why is Team USA ranked first?
After placing fourth in the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup, many people did not anticipate Team USA to advance. The Americans, who have won four consecutive Olympic gold medals, benefit from the eight-year span FIBA utilises for the rankings.
Additionally, the USA (4) finished ahead of Spain (9), which came into the competition as the top-ranked nation in the world, in the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup standings.
It should come as no surprise that the World Cup and Olympics have the biggest weights in FIBA’s standings.
You might also be interested in reading this: The Reasons Why Team USA Failed FIBA World Cup 2023
The following is what FIBA said regarding Team USA’s finish:
Due to their consistency at significant contests over the previous three summers, USA reclaimed the lead with 786.6 points. Following their triumphs in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and the FIBA AmeriCup 2022, where they took home the bronze, they advanced to the semifinals of the FIBA Basketball World Cup, where they defeated the previous top-ranked Spain and finished in fourth place.
