Men’s Basketball: Spain dethroned USA in FIBA World Rankings
Spain National basketball team made history as they overtake USA basketball for the first time in 12 years in the men’s basketball world rankings.
The Federation International Basketball or also known as FIBA, a basketball’s governing body updated its rankings and it saw that Spain outclassed and stole the top spot from the USA. The four-time Olympic Champion and the five-time FIBA World Champion moved into the number one spot of the world rankings after winning the 2010 FIBA World Championship title in Turkey and had been there ever since. You may also follow us for upcoming olympic basketball content here!
According to the 2019 FIBA World Champion and Eurobasket 2022 Champion Sergio Scariolo that “it’s not exactly a new title and it probably can’t be maintained for too long, but it’s something so unique, prestigious and historic that I feel tremendously proud of everyone who… have contributed to it.”
To explain, the FIBA rankings are calculated using all resulting games played by 164 national teams in official FIBA competitions and qualifiers over an eight-year period. The weight of points is given to more recent games, strength of opponents, and the competition. That’s why many teams in Europe and America who have never played in the World Cup have higher rankings than Asian and African countries who always qualify for the prestigious world stage and in the Olympics.
While the United States dominantly won the fourth consecutive gold medal in Tokyo, it also suffered a huge blow in the recent FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 in China during the quarterfinals against France, and finishing just seventh after beating Poland. The champion of that edition is Spain. USA also just finished third place during the Americup last September. Spain just edged the American from the thrones in just inpoints, 758.6 – 757.5. Argentina was the last country that ever did top the FIBA World Rankings way back in 2010.
In the recent update of rankings, the Philippines rose just one spot from 41 to 40 after the two games at the fifth window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers as they beat Jordan (37) and Saudi Arabia (71). The southeast asian counterpart, Thailand, was the biggest riser in this edition as they moved 10 spots ahead to 92nd in the world.
Gilas Pilipinas will host the final window of the Asian Qualifiers next year, February, at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan to face Lebanon and Jordan. This last window will serve as the test game for the 2023 FIBA World Cup. The Philippine Arena will host the final stage of the tournament. Last July 2018, during the final window of the first round of the 2019 FIBA World Cup qualifiers, Philippine Arena hosted the Australia and Philippines match, the match that led to an infamous brawl that shocked the basketball world.
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