Team USA retakes top spot in FIBA men's world rankings
Despite an underwhelming Team USA performance at the World Cup, the Americans overtook Spain for the top spot in the FIBA men's world rankings Friday.
USA Basketball sits on top with 786.6 points, followed by Spain with 778.2. Germany, the newly-crowned World Cup champions, round out the top three after jumping up eight spots with 759.7 points.
The new rankings take the results of the World Cup into account. Team USA finished fourth at the tournament, while Spain recorded its worst finish since 1994 by placing ninth. The Spaniards had jumped the Americans for No. 1 in the world in November 2022.
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β FIBA (@FIBA) September 15, 2023
πΊπΈ USA reclaim #1 spot in FIBA Menβs World Ranking!
π See the full rankings here, presented by @Nike: https://t.co/GeTyrrEHDF pic.twitter.com/oDljE0NUAR
Australia and Serbia round out the rest of the top five, with the Serbs jumping up a spot thanks to a silver-medal finish in the Philippines.
The big risers in the updated rankings were Canada and Latvia. Canada increased nine spots to reach sixth place after winning the bronze medal over the United States. The Latvians finished fifth in their World Cup debut and jumped 22 slots in the rankings to reach No. 8.
France, the host nation of the 2024 Olympics, dropped four spots to ninth place after finishing 18th at the World Cup. The tournament's results qualified the United States, Germany, Australia, Serbia, Canada, South Sudan, and Japan for next summer's Games - with four spots left up for grabs.