Spain best sporting nation in July
Spain topped the July monthly table in the Global Cup, the ranking of the world’s best sporting nations, by winning the men’s 2024 European Football championship and scoring useful points in Tennis (courtesy of Carlos Alcaraz’s Wimbledon triumph) and Road Cycling, among other sports.
Thanks to victory over England in the Euro 2024 final, Spain jumped eight positions in the year-to-date Global Cup table, which is still comfortably topped by the USA, though Italy and France in second and third place respectively, have inched closer to the leaders after July.
Football was the chief point-scoring sport in July, accounting for over half of the GSN points awarded in the month, through the men’s Copa America (won by Argentina in the final against Colombia) as well as the European championship. It was another relatively quiet month sports-wise, as many athletes put the final touches to their preparations for the Olympics, now in full swing.
The other big point-scoring sport besides Football and Tennis in July was Orienteering, awarding 18% of total monthly points. The world championship was won by Sweden, ahead of Switzerland and Norway, a result that contributed to Switzerland’s third-place finish in the monthly ranking (the full monthly table is below), alongside a creditable joint-fifth finish at the men’s European championship, where it reached the quarter-finals.
GLOBAL CUP – JULY MONTHLY TABLE
|
Place
|
Country
|
Points
|
Points %
|
|
1
|
Spain
|
230
|
10.6%
|
|
2
|
Great Britain
|
182
|
8.4%
|
|
3
|
Switzerland
|
155
|
7.2%
|
|
4
|
Netherlands
|
139
|
6.4%
|
|
5
|
France
|
131
|
6.0%
|
|
6
|
United States
|
127
|
5.8%
|
|
7
|
Sweden
|
120
|
5.5%
|
|
8
|
Italy
|
92
|
4.2%
|
|
9
|
Argentina
|
80
|
3.7%
|
|
10
|
Japan
|
80
|
3.7%
|
|
11
|
Canada
|
76
|
3.5%
|
|
12
|
Colombia
|
64
|
3.0%
|
|
13
|
Portugal
|
55
|
2.5%
|
|
14
|
Germany
|
53
|
2.4%
|
|
15
|
Australia
|
49
|
2.3%
|
|
16
|
Uruguay
|
48
|
2.2%
|
|
17
|
Turkey
|
45
|
2.1%
|
|
18
|
Czech Republic
|
40
|
1.8%
|
|
19
|
Norway
|
32
|
1.5%
|
|
20
|
Belgium
|
28
|
1.3%
|
|
21
|
Denmark
|
26
|
1.2%
|
|
22
|
Serbia
|
24
|
1.1%
|
|
23
|
Finland
|
24
|
1.1%
|
|
24
|
Puerto Rico
|
24
|
1.1%
|
|
25
|
Slovenia
|
20
|
0.9%
|
|
26
|
Venezuela
|
20
|
0.9%
|
|
27
|
Ecuador
|
20
|
0.9%
|
|
28
|
Panama
|
20
|
0.9%
|
|
29
|
Brazil
|
20
|
0.9%
|
|
30
|
China
|
18
|
0.8%
|
|
31
|
Thailand
|
18
|
0.8%
|
|
32
|
Croatia
|
17
|
0.8%
|
|
33
|
Kazakhstan
|
17
|
0.8%
|
|
34
|
South Korea
|
12
|
0.6%
|
|
35
|
New Zealand
|
10
|
0.5%
|
|
36
|
South Africa
|
10
|
0.5%
|
|
37
|
Poland
|
10
|
0.5%
|
|
38
|
Ukraine
|
8
|
0.3%
|
|
39
|
Latvia
|
8
|
0.3%
|
|
40
|
Hungary
|
6
|
0.3%
|
|
41
|
Ireland
|
6
|
0.3%
|
|
42
|
Estonia
|
2
|
0.1%
|
|
43
|
Austria
|
2
|
0.1%
|
|
44
|
Taiwan
|
2
|
0.1%
|
|
Grand Total
|
2,168
|
100.0%
|
Follow GSN also on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) and keep up with the latest in the quest for the world’s best sporting nation!
Greatest Sporting Nation is a ranking of countries based on their performance in top-level international tournaments in sports in which there is genuine global competition. Countries (national teams and/or individual athletes) score Qualifying Points by finishing in the top eight places in Qualifying Events.
These Qualifying Points are then weighted to produce GSN Points, based on a formula that takes into account individual vs team sports, the sport’s participation (number of countries) and the frequency (annual/biennial/quadrennial) of the tournaments.
The Country scoring the most Points in a calendar year wins the Global Cup for that year. The country that scores the most points relative to its population wins the Per Capita Cup. For a more detailed explanation, please refer to the ‘How It Works’ section on the site
