Culture & Sports
2018.12.09 19:55 GMT+8

Latest FIBA World Ranking puts China 30th overall, 3rd in Asia

Li Xiang

The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) released the latest men's world rankings on Tuesday after FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Qualifiers Window 5. The U.S. remained No.1 while China fell one slot to the 30th place.

China sent the first ever combined national team of Team Red and Team Blue for Window 5 and claimed two easy wins against Syria and Lebanon. However, the performance did not stop the country from being surpassed by Montenegro.

Team Japan's players in the game against Team Kazakhstan during the 2019 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers in Asia /VCG Photo

In Asia, China remained third behind Australia and Iran, with The Philippines one spot behind in both the global and Asian rankings. Thanks to the country's remarkable performance in the World Cup qualifiers, Japan rose from 50th to 47th and are now seventh in Asia, behind S. Korea and New Zealand as well as the aforementioned countries higher in the list.

World's top seven remained unchanged. Though the U.S. has not sent any NBA player to any event since the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, they're still No.1 both in the world and in Americas. Team USA now ranks the second in Group E with eight wins and two losses. They shall make it to the 2019 World Cup if everything goes smoothly in Window 6.

Players of Team USA celebrate after beating Uruguay at the 2019 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers in Americas. /VCG Photo

Greece and Croatia were the only two countries in the top 10 that saw their rankings change. With a winning streak of nine games during the qualifiers, Greece climbed up to the eighth in the world ranking, surpassing Croatia.

By contrast, Brazil lost a key game to Canada in the qualifiers and not only had to watch Canada enter the 2019 World Cup ahead of them, but also exchanged their rankings with Russia, from 11th to 12th.

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