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NETBALL might not receive a lot of coverage in Zimbabwe’s mainstream media but it is the sport that has the best world ranking for the country when all sporting disciplines are taken into account.

And it’s the same in Zambia, Botswana and Malawi, three countries that are also obsessed with football but where the sport is not ranked in the world as high as netball.

Did you know Lithuania is the third best country in the world at basketball?

Taipei is third-best at baseball, a sport at which Japan is ranked first, and Malawi is sixth best in the world at netball.

Bulgaria is the seventh best team at volleyball, while Iran is eighth.

South Korea is in the top 30 for rugby union, volleyball, baseball, basketball, ice hockey, field Hockey and handball.

These were the stats that most surprised us as we made a world map of each country’s best sport.

We surveyed the world rankings of the most popular team sports to come up with the map: football, rugby Union, test cricket, volleyball, baseball, basketball, ice hockey, field hockey, handball, netball, and rugby league.

Here’s the full list of every country’s best sport:

Afghanistan (Baseball) 64, Albania (Football) 45,

Algeria (Handball) 21 , American Samoa (Rugby Union) 102, Andorra (Rugby Union) 62, Angola (Basketball) 15 ,

Anguilla (Volleyball) 103, Antigua and Barbuda (Football) 85 , Argentina (Football) 1, Armenia (Football) 110, Aruba (Baseball) 32, Australia (Test Cricket) 1, Austria (Football) 11 , Azerbaijan (Field Hockey) 26

Bahamas (Volleyball) 59, Bahrain (Volleyball) 47, Bangladesh (Test Cricket) 9 , Barbados (Netball) 11, Belarus (Ice Hockey) 9, Belgium (Football) 2, Belize (Football) 114, Benin (Football) 73, Bermuda (Netball) 31, Bhutan (Football) 186, Bolivia (Baseball) 61, Bosnia and Herzegovina (Football) 20, Botswana (Netball) 20 ,

Brazil (Volleyball) 1, British Virgin Islands (Volleyball) 103, Brunei Darussalam (Football) 195, Bulgaria, (Volleyball) 7, Burkina Faso (Football) 75, Burundi (Volleyball) 103, Cambodia (Football) 183, Cameroon (Volleyball) 26 , Canada (Ice Hockey) 1, Cape Verde, (Football) 47 , Cayman Islands (Rugby Union) 61

Central African Republic (Basketball) 57, Chad (Basketball) 89, Chile (Football) 3, China (Basketball) 14

Colombia (Football) 4 , Comoros (Football) 159, Congo (Football) 59 , Congo DR (Football) 51 , Cook Islands (Rugby League) 22 , Costa Rica (Football) 25

Côte d’Ivoire (Football) 34, Croatia (Handball) 10 , Cuba (Baseball) 5 , Curaçao (Baseball) 66, Cyprus (Volleyball) 57, Czech Republic (Ice Hockey) 6 , Denmark (Handball) 3

Djibouti (Football) 204, Dominica (Test Cricket) 7, Dominican Republic (Baseball) 12, Ecuador (Football) 12

Egypt (Handball) 15, El Salvador (Volleyball) 17, England (Rugby League) 3, Equatorial Guinea (Football) 83, Eritrea (Volleyball) 144, Estonia (Ice Hockey) 29, Ethiopia (Football) 123, Faroe Islands (Football) 90, Fiji (Rugby League) 7, Finland (Ice Hockey) 4, France (Basketball) 5

French Guiana (Volleyball) 144 , French Polynesia (Rugby Union) 94, Gabon (Basketball) 76, Gambia (Football) 168, Georgia (Rugby Union) 12, Germany (Handball) 1

Ghana (Football) 38, Gibraltar (Field Hockey) 62

Greece (Basketball) 10 , Greenland (Handball) 40

Grenada (Netball) 30, Guam (Rugby Union) 74

Guatemala (Baseball) 41, Guinea (Football) 58

Guinea-Bissau (Football) 102, Guyana (Rugby Union) 55

Haiti (Volleyball) 67, Honduras (Baseball) 27

Hong Kong (Rugby Union) 23, Hungary (Handball) 8

Iceland (Handball) 12, India (Test Cricket) 2, Indonesia (Baseball) 42 , Iran (Volleyball) 8 , Iraq (Baseball) 68, Ireland (Rugby Union) 7, Israel (Ice Hockey) 33, Italy (Volleyball) 4, Jamaica (Netball) 4, Japan (Baseball) 1

Jordan (Basketball) 29, Kazakhstan (Ice Hockey) 17

Kenya (Rugby Union) 27, Kuwait (Handball) 29, Kyrgyzstan (Football) 100, Laos (Football) 176, Latvia (Ice Hockey) 10 , Lebanon (Rugby League) 20, Lesotho (Volleyball) 103, Liberia (Football) 108

Libya (Basketball) 79, Liechtenstein (Football) 173, Lithuania (Basketball) 3, Luxembourg (Ice Hockey) 43, Macedonia (Handball) 28, Madagascar (Basketball) 82

Malawi (Netball) 6, Malaysia (Field Hockey) 13, Maldives (Volleyball) 79, Mali (Basketball) 57, Malta (Rugby League) 18, Mauritania (Football) 109, Mauritius (Volleyball) 67, Mexico (Baseball) 7, Moldova (Rugby Union) 33, Monaco (Rugby Union) 97, Mongolia (Ice Hockey) 50, Montenegro (Handball) 49, Montserrat (Volleyball) 121, Morocco (Volleyball) 33, Mozambique (Basketball) 61, Myanmar (Baseball) 68, Namibia (Rugby Union) 21, Nepal (Baseball) 70, Netherlands (Field Hockey) 2 , Netherlands Antilles (Volleyball) 144, New Caledonia (Football) 191, New Zealand (Rugby Union) 1

Nicaragua (Baseball) 15 , Niger (Volleyball) 73 ,Nigeria (Basketball) 25, North Korea (Ice Hockey) 42, Northern Ireland (Rugby Union) 7, Norway (Ice Hockey) 11, Oman (Field Hockey) 31, Pakistan (Test Cricket) 3, Palestine (Basketball) 75, Panama (Baseball) 17, Papua New Guinea (Rugby League) 14, Paraguay (Football) 39, Peru (Football) 46, Philippines (Baseball) 28, Poland (Volleyball) 2, Portugal (Football) 8, Puerto Rico (Baseball) 11, Qatar (Handball) 26, Romania (Handball) 9 ,Russia (Ice Hockey) 2 , Rwanda (Volleyball) 42, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (Volleyball) 79, Samoa (Rugby League) 4 , San Marino (Volleyball) 121, São Tomé e Príncipe (Football) 150, Saudi Arabia (Handball) 34 , Scotland (Rugby Union) 9, Senegal (Basketball) 31, Serbia (Basketball) 6 , Seychelles (Volleyball) 67, Sierra Leone (Football) 118 , Singapore (Netball) 16, Slovakia (Ice Hockey) 8, Slovenia (Basketball) 13, Solomon Islands (Rugby Union) 96 , Somalia (Football) 204, South Africa (Rugby Union) 3, South Korea (Baseball) 4, South Sudan (Football) 155, Spain (Basketball) 2, Sri Lanka (Test Cricket) 7, St. Kitts and Nevis (Football) 92, St. Lucia (Netball) 18 , Sudan (Football) 128, Suriname (Volleyball) 67, Swaziland (Netball) 29 ,Sweden (Handball) 2, Switzerland (Ice Hockey) 7, Syria (Basketball) 72 , Taipei (Baseball) 3, Tajikistan (Football) 164, Tanzania (Field Hockey) 74, Thailand (Netball) 34

Timor-Leste (Football) 175, Togo (Basketball) 91, Tonga (Rugby Union) 13, Trinidad and Tobago (Netball) 9, Tunisia (Volleyball) 16, Turkey (Basketball) 8, Turkmenistan (Football) 127, Turks and Caicos Islands (Volleyball) 103, Uganda (Volleyball) 42, Ukraine (Ice Hockey) 21, United Arab Emirates (Ice Hockey) 44, Uruguay (Football) 9, US Virgin Islands (Basketball) 59

USA (Basketball) 1, Uzbekistan (Football) 66, Vanuatu (Field Hockey) 82, Venezuela (Baseball) 6, Vietnam (Volleyball) 79, Wales (Rugby Union) 5, Yemen (Football) 177, Zambia (Netball) 17, ZIMBABWE (Netball) 21 – Sports Reporter/The Independent (UK)