Lithuania has climbed to the top of the International Blind Sport Association (IBSA) Goalball Men’s World Ranking list ©IBSA

Lithuania has climbed to the top of the International Blind Sport Association (IBSA) Goalball men’s world ranking list for only the second time since the ranking system began.

In other top ten news, Brazil and Czech Republic have dropped out of the first and second spots to fifth and seventh respectively.

Slovenia have also climbed into the top ten for the first time, with their highest ever position of eighth.

The top ten teams in the men’s category are Lithuania, Iran, China, Turkey, Brazil, Finland, Czech Republic, Slovenia, USA and Ukraine in that order.

In the women's game, the top ten teams remain relatively the same except for a few positional changes.

The top ten women’s teams are China, Brazil, Japan, USA, Turkey, Australia, Canada, Russia, Guatemala and Israel.

Brazil are the current world champions after they won the 2014 men's world title in Finland ©Epsoo2014
Brazil are the current world champions after they won the 2014 men's world title in Finland ©Epsoo2014

This news comes after Malmö has been confirmed as the host of the 2018 Goalball World Championships.

The Swedish city has been approved for the event in two years time by IBSA, which governs the tournament.

Competition will take place between June 3 and June 9, with further details still to be confirmed.

The Worlds, for men and women, will be of particular importance in 2018 as they will serve as the first of three qualification tournaments for the 2020 Paralympic Games in Japanese capital Tokyo.

Held every four years, the World Championships were last held in 2014 in Finnish city Espoo.