WBSC/KONAMI Men's Baseball World Ranking update: Chinese Taipei clear second; Venezuela top three for first time after Premier12
The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) published the latest update to the WBSC/KONAMI Men's Baseball World Ranking as a consequence of the results at the WBSC Premier12 2024 presented by RAXUS (among other international events), which finished this past weekend in Tokyo in spectacular fashion. World No. 2 Chinese Taipei moved clear in second place after previously being tied with Mexico on 4118 points and reduced the gap with No. 1 Japan, while No. 3 Venezuela and No. 8 Panama have reached their highest positions ever.
A total of 84 programmes are featured in the WBSC/KONAMI Men's Baseball World Ranking (the record number of programmes is 85 in 2021) with the addition of newcomers No. 57 Sint Maarten and No. 80 Cambodia and the return of No. 70 Indonesia and No. 77 Malaysia (back in the chart after 10 years). Indonesia, Malaysia and Cambodia finished fifth, sixth and seventh respectively in the East Asia Cup while Sint Maarten finished fourth in the VI Copa de Béisbol del Caribe 2024.
With a new format and increase in the number of teams announced for the IV WBSC Premier12 - featuring two qualifiers in 2026 and the top 20 teams in the world involved - the release of this ranking marks the starting point for the race to the next Global Baseball Battle. The top 12 teams in the WBSC/Konami Men's Baseball World Ranking at the end of 2025 will qualify directly for the 2027 Group Stage, while the teams ranked 13-18 and two Wild Cards will play the Premier12 Qualifiers to define the other four participants in the Group Stage.
Chinese Taipei defeated Japan in the final of the WBSC Premier12 and reduced the gap with No. 1 from 1,638 to 1,368. Chinese Taipei has tallied 2,135 points in 2024, second only to Japan which has added 2,449 points this year.
Venezuela's fourth-place campaign at the Premier12, their best ever result in the tournament, allowed them to move up two spots in the ranking, passing Mexico to become the third-ranked nation in the world, their best position ever. The South American nation has experienced a meteoric rise in the last few years, reaching the top three for the first time in history. Since June 2021, Venezuela has moved from 11th place to third, and in 2024 alone, they climbed from sixth to third in the world, with their historic fourth-place finish at the recently concluded Premier12 serving as the icing on the cake.
Panama has also improved their position in the ranking, reaching their highest position ever after their fifth-place finish on debut at the Premier12. The Panamanian squad passed No. 9 Puerto Rico and No. 10 Cuba to become the eighth nation in the world.
The fight to finish 2025 in the top 12 will intensify with automatic qualification for the Premier12 at stake. No. 11 Dominican Republic and No. 12 Australia have re-entered the top 12, climbing one and three positions respectively. No. 13 Colombia is just 35 points away from an automatic berth while No. 14 Italy trails Australia by 262 points and Czechia sits 446 points behind 12th place.
With five teams separated by just 78 points, the battle for 20th place will be highly competitive over the next 12 months, determining the final teams advancing to the two qualifiers in 2026. Currently, No. 20 China holds the last spot with 900 points, followed closely by No. 21 France (888), No. 22 Canada (856), No. 23 Brazil (830), and No. 24 Spain (822).
