Belgium tops France for No. 5 in ranking; Korea, Nigeria and Bosnia and Herzegovina also move up

MIES (Switzerland) – The latest FIBA World Ranking Women, presented by Nike, has several teams rewarded after solid results at the recent FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2022 Qualifying Tournaments in Osaka (Japan), Belgrade (Serbia), and Washington D.C. (USA).

While the top four teams remain unchanged, with the USA still having the No. 1 spot, followed by Spain, Australia and Canada, Belgium have leapfrogged France into the No. 5 position on the strength of resounding victories over Puerto Rico and Russia in the World Cup Qualifying Tournament in Washington. In the current system of ranking, all games matter.

The French dropped a place to No. 6 after suffering defeats in two of their games at the World Cup Qualifying Tournament in Belgrade.

Nigeria, who opened their tournament in Belgrade with a loss to China, bounced back from a 20-point deficit with the surprise victory over France, and had a thrilling triumph over Mali in a rematch of last year’s FIBA Women’s AfroBasket Final.

On the strength of these two victories, the Nigerians moved up a spot on the ranking to No. 14, with the team that had occupied that place, Korea, moving up to No. 13.

Korea, meanwhile, won against Brazil, a victory that clinched them a place in the upcoming World Cup, which tips off in Sydney, Australia, on September 22 and concludes on October 1. China hold their spot at No. 7 with three solid wins in Belgrade.   

Bosnia and Herzegovina also moved up a place to No. 26 after some hard-fought games against top 10 opponents in the Qualifying Tournament in Osaka. Despite falling to Canada, Bosnia and Herzegovina surprised No. 8 hosts Japan, 87-82 with the win.