« Spain in history “, FIBA headlines. The International Federation has updated its ranking of the best basketball nations in the world for men with a sensation at the top: the Spaniards have stolen from the Americans the first place they have held since 2010, the year this hierarchy was born.
The reigning European champions have collected the last few points needed to reach this first place. In the previous ranking update, at the end of September, Spain was only two small points behind the United States.
This first place rewards a nation that, in addition to this latest title on the European stage, won the 2019 World Cup and reached the quarter-finals at the Tokyo Olympics. Their qualifying campaigns since 2017 have also been very robust in helping earn more points, notes FIBA.
Meanwhile, the Americans won Olympic gold in Japan but were knocked out of the World Cup in the quarterfinals by France and finished third in the 2022 AmeriCup last September.
The rest of the Top 10 doesn’t budge, with Australia still on the podium ahead of Argentina, France and the major European nations. A little further on, Brazil overtook Poland in 13th place. Tunisia also dropped out of the top 20 in favor of Iran.
FIBA Top 20 ranking
1) Spain – 758.6 points (+1)
2) United States – 757.5 points (-1)
3) Australia — 740.3 points (=)
4) Argentinian — 734.3 points (=)
5) FRANCE — 715 points (=)
6) Serbia — 710.9 points (=)
7) Slovenia — 704.3 points (=)
8) Lithuania — 669.5 points (=)
9) Greece – 665.9 points (=)
10) Italy – 646.6 points (=)
11) Germany – 640.8 points (=)
12) Czech Republic – 594.5 points (=)
13) Brazil — 593.6 points (+1)
14) Poland — 591.3 points (-1)
15Canada – 575.5 points (=)
16) Turkey – 533.9 points (=)
17) Venezuela — 524.8 points (=)
18) Montenegro — 515.6 points (=)
19) Nigeria — 460.1 points (=)
20) Iran— 452.5 points (+1)
