The Olympic champions now have 5,495 points at the top of the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) standings, with the Americans on 4,492.

It comes after Japan won the WBSC Under-18 Baseball World Cup for the first time in September, following victory over hosts Chinese Taipei in the final.

All age group competitions count towards the WBSC rankings - from under-12 through to senior matches.

The top eight of the rankings remains unchanged with Mexico third, South Korea fourth and Chinese Taipei fifth.

Venezuela are sixth, Netherlands are seventh and Cuba are eighth.

Dominican Republic have moved up one spot to ninth, leap-frogging Australia who slide down to 10th.

Puerto Rico have climbed two places from 13th to 11th, overtaking Panama, who slip to 12th, and Italy.

This is significant as the top 12 countries in the 2023 end of year ranking will qualify for the 2024 WBSC Premier12, the organisation's flagship tournament.

Switzerland made the biggest jump in the rankings, climbing up 16 places from 52nd to 36th after finishing 12th at the European Championships.

Greece, who were 13th at the continental event in the Czech Republic last month, have risen to 34th from 41st.