Japan's victory in the World Baseball Classic earlier this year helped them retain world number one spot in the WBSC rankings ©Getty Images

Japan are still number one in men's baseball after the release of the latest rankings by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WSBC).

The updated standings include points accrued during the WBSC Under-12 Baseball World Cup in Taiwan and also include other men's baseball ranking tournaments dating back four years.

The United States defeated Chinese Taipei to retain their title last month but Japan accrued sufficient points for their fourth place finish to take their total in the standings to  5,274 in the rankings which unusually incorporate different age range competitions.

The United States received 345 points for their Under-12 World Cup victory.

Japan lead the WBSC world rankings but the United States have narrowed the gap ©WBSC
Japan lead the WBSC world rankings but the United States have narrowed the gap ©WBSC

They now stand second in the rankings with 4,654 points and have closed the gap on Japan to only 620 points.

Mexico stand in third place with 4,226 points.

The WBSC rankings now take into account performances of 80 countries.

New Zealand made the greatest improvement in the top 50, going up by 11 places to 34 after finishing 12th in the U-12 World Cup.