The FIBA Women's World Ranking is the FIBA's rankings of national women's basketball teams. FIBA ranks women's national teams in both senior and junior competitions. It also publishes combined rankings for all competitions involving both sexes.
The ranking system compares teams based on the weighted average rating points they earn in games over the last eight years. Teams earn a certain amount of rating points for each game based on the margin of victory/defeat, site of game and strength of opponent. Each game's rating points are then weighted by factors including the time of game, competition/region, competition stage and round reached.
In its previous ranking system for women's national teams before 2019, FIBA used a competition-based system which awarded teams points based on the final standings of FIBA final tournaments (FIBA Women's World Cup, Olympic games and continental tournaments), with different tournaments weighted differently. The points were used to determine the rankings, and took into account all tournaments played within the last two Olympic cycles (eight years).[2]
The previous ranking system did not take into account the results of qualifiers, with no weighting was applied for the time tournaments were held.[3]
In November 2019, FIBA implemented a new ranking system for women's national teams which uses a game-based system similar to the ranking system implemented for men's teams implemented in November 2017.[4][5]
The ranking system compares the weighted average rating points teams earn across all games played in the last eight years, excluding friendlies. Teams earn a certain amount of rating points for each game, and each game's rating points are then weighted based on the time, competition/region, competition stage and the round of tournament that the game was played within.[3][6]
A team's final rating points for a particular game is the sum of basis, home/away, and opposition ranking points as follows.[6]
Each game in a ranking tournament is initially valued at 1,000 "basis points", divided between the two teams as follows:[6]
The basis points are adjusted based on the site of the game, with FIBA calling this adjustment "home or away" points. During the finals of ranking tournaments, only games played by a host team in its own country count as "home" games; all others are treated as neutral-site games. Adjustments are:[6]
The basis points are also adjusted to reflect the strength of the opponent. FIBA determines what it calls "opposition ranking points" by the following formula:[6]
The new calculations continue to account for the specific tournament and region, as in the former procedure, but no longer explicitly consider a team's final tournament placement.[6]
The rating points of each game (above) are weighted by the game's weight (W), which is the product of the time decay, competition/region, competition stage, and round weights, as follows.[6]
In a new feature, a "time decay" factor has been introduced into the calculations. More-recent games carry the greatest weight, steadily declining until falling out of the calculations after 8 years:[6]
Each game has a specific "competition and region weight", with continental competition and FIBA World Cup qualification games assigned the weight of the respective region. FIBA World Ranking weights for women's events:[6]
From 2017 forward, FIBA Asia and FIBA Oceania members compete for a single regional championship under the FIBA Asia banner.[7] Results from before 2017, during which FIBA Asia and FIBA Oceania held separate championships, will continue to figure into the rankings (until 2025 via "time decay").[6]
In a new feature, FIBA also weights game results by the "competition stage weight".[6]
Additionally, FIBA has added a "round weight" (R) to the system, giving each victory in a final tournament (World Cup, Olympics, or continental championship) a weighting based on the round in which it takes place, with later round wins weighted more greatly. Games in pre-qualifiers, qualifiers and results of the losing team in final tournaments all carry a round weight of R=1.[6]
While different tournaments have different formats, the semi-finals are usually round 3 or 4, while the final is usually round 4 or 5.[6]