The most recent FIBA World ranking has presented a big change at the top, as Team USA has been removed from first place for the first time in two decades. Even though they dominated the competition in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the US national team couldn’t keep the top spot in the ranking.
Instead, European giants Spain took over, barely surpassing Team USA to win first place in this ranking. This can be easily explained by saying that Spain won the most recent edition of FIBA EuroBasket, beating France in a hard-fought match for the gold medal.
A tournament that had three NBA superstars like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic saw Spain take over, beat rivals round after round, and ultimately take down France in the final game.
Team USA Stripped Of No. 1 Spot In FIBA World Rankings
This win has earned the European national team the top spot on this list, with the USA losing the same for the first time in 20 years. This shows the domination of USA Basketball over the rest of the world during these years (although they had a rough period between 2002 and 2007).
The top 10 teams on the latest update ranking are:
🚨 𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚:
Spain seize the #1 spot for the first time in FIBA Men’s World Ranking history! 👑 🇪🇸
📊 See the full rankings here, presented by @Nike:https://t.co/iPTz2JGlZ8 pic.twitter.com/yea77qbAgV
— FIBA Basketball (@FIBA) November 18, 2022
1. Spain – 758.6 Points
2. USA – 757.5 Points
3. Australia – 740.3 Points
4. France – 715 Points
5. Argentina – 734.3 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
This decision is controversial, to say the least. The Olympic Games present the most difficult tournament for national teams, as only a handful of them can make it to the big event. Team USA beat teams from around the world to win the gold medal, looking incredible in the process.
On the other hand, Spain went against top national teams in Europe, beating huge rivals like Germany, France and others. This is an interesting conversation to have, and we’re pretty sure plenty of fans will discuss why the USA or Spain deserves that top spot.
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