How the netball world rankings work
World Netball ranks national teams. Each team has a rating: the average number of rating points it has earned per match. The ranking is the order of those ratings.
After every international match:
- the winner earns the loser's rating plus 50;
- the loser earns the winner's rating minus 50.
So winning always raises your rating and losing always lowers it; beating a strong side is worth more than beating a weak one. The score margin does not matter.
The rankings are updated four times a year: 1 March, 1 June, 1 September and 1 December.
Rating and ranking
Rating = total rating points ÷ matches played. To have a rating, a team must be a Full Member of World Netball and have played at least one international with World Netball-appointed umpires in the rating period. To be ranked, it must also have played a minimum number of matches, at least two of them against ranked teams. Teams below the minimum keep a rating and appear in an unranked list below the rankings.
Which matches count
All test matches count, including the Netball World Cup and the Commonwealth Games.
How long results last
A rating period is three to four years. At the annual update (1 March) the oldest year is dropped. Matches in the first two years of the period count at 50%; more recent ones count at 100%.
The 40-point cap
If the two teams' ratings are more than 40 apart, each team's points are worked out as if the opponent were exactly 40 away.
World Netball's own example: Team A (rating 150) plays Team B (90).
- Team A is scored as if playing a 110 team; Team B as if playing a 130 team.
- If Team A wins: A gets 110 + 50 = 160, B gets 130 − 50 = 80.
- If Team B wins: A gets 110 − 50 = 60, B gets 130 + 50 = 180.
So an upset brings a big reward, and losing to a much stronger team costs little.
World Netball's worked example
Team A has 960 points from 8 matches (rating 120). Team B has 1,000 from 10 (rating 100).
- Team A wins: it gets 100 + 50 = 150. New total 1,110 from 9 matches: rating 123.
- Team B loses: it gets 120 − 50 = 70. New total 1,070 from 11 matches: rating 97.
Not playing
A team that does not play keeps its rating until the next annual update, when its oldest results drop out. Its ranking can still change as other teams play. If it stays out long enough, it falls below the minimum number of matches and loses its ranking.
Updates
Members must send results by midnight GMT on the 1st of the update month; World Netball releases the rankings within a week. A series is included only when the scoresheets for every match in it have been sent.
Variations
| Ranking | Covered here |
|---|---|
| Senior women's international netball | Yes |
| Fast5, youth, men's netball | No |