posted Jul 11th, 2026 - The NSL Power Rankings in the run-up to world championships and world cups are based on information provided by coaches, teams and competitors. That information serves as the foundation for the "speculative predictions" of the expected leaderboard positions, as Arizona Airspeed team captain Joey Marshall described them during NSL Live Talk.

Power rankings have long been a familiar journalistic feature in many other sports, predating the NSL News and its coverage of formation skydiving by decades. They were added to the traditional NSL News event coverage approximately ten years ago and have since become a popular element of the build-up to world championships and world cups.

Official information becomes available only when participating teams or competitors confirm that their entries have been submitted. However, they are not responsible for the actual registration process. Only a country's National Air Sport Control (NAC) has the authority to register teams and competitors for events sanctioned by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI): "For First Category events, the entry applications shall be made only through the NAC (National Air Sport Control) of which the applicant holds a Sporting Licence or, in the case of a FAI applicant, through the FAI." The International Skydiving Commission (ISC) is then responsible for organizing and managing the event, together with the event host, including the official registration process.

FAI Outdoor World Championship 2012			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		5,12,E		6,D,B,K		O,8,7		N,13,18		10,21,M		19,H,11		C,G,1,A		20,9,15		16,F,P,Q		2,J,4		Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	US	27		34		27	-1	22		23		23	-2	32		25		40		26		279	27.9
2	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	BE	25	-1	34	-2	27	-1	21	-1	23		24	-1	32	-1	27		40		25	-1	278	27.8
3	Aerodyne Aerokart	FR	26		30	-2	27		21		23		25		29	-1	23	-2	37		24		265	26.5
4	Evolution	CA	22		31		24		17	-1	19	-1	21		28		22		30	-2	22		236	23.6
5	Sky Panthers Barkli	RU	19	-2	29	-1	22	-1	21		21		18	-2	28		20	-2	35		20	-1	233	23.3
6	Satori	UK	18		26		21		17		15	-3	18	-1	23		17		27		18		200	20.0
7	eX3MO	IT	17	-1	24	-2	20		14		17		19		22		18	-1	28	-1	-		179	19.9
8	Paratec-Saar	DE	18		26		21		13		14	-2	16	-1	21	-3	18		30	-1	-		177	19.7
9	Rotor Out	AU	14	-2	25	-1	18	-1	15		17		18		22	-1	17		28		-		174	19.3
10	Bardagi	SE	17		26		20		14		16		15	-2	23		17	-2	24	-2	-		172	19.1
11	Voodoo	ZA	16		24		19		13		15		16		23		17		-		-		143	17.9
12	Ravens	AT	18		23		17		15		17		13		22		16		-		-		141	17.6
13	Qatar Tigers	QA	15		21		19		14		15		17		19		16		-		-		136	17.0
14	VIVA 4	CH	14		21		19		11		17		14		20		14		-		-		130	16.3
15	CTR Optimum	BR	17		19		16		13		15		14		19		16		-		-		129	16.1
16	Dubai Asaar Red	AE	16		20		16		12		15		16		18		13		-		-		126	15.8
17	China	CN	7		21		15		14		14		15		21		16		-		-		123	15.4
18	Spain	ES	16		21		16		13		9		13		21		10		-		-		119	14.9
18	Lize	CZ	13		21		17		12		17		11		17		11		-		-		119	14.9
20	Bodyflight Voluntas	DK	15		21		17		10		13		11		18		12		-		-		117	14.6
21	Rebootizer Aerial	MC	15		14		16		11		16		13		17		13		-		-		115	14.4
22	Silver Knights	FI	13		18		16		10		13		14		18		12		-		-		114	14.3
23	Magic 4	LT	14		17		15		11		14		14		14		13		-		-		112	14.0
24	Whooops	NL	10		18		17		10		13		14		16		11		-		-		109	13.6
25	Singapore	SG	14		21		16		12		13		9		14		9		-		-		108	13.5
26	Fast Air	IE	11		17		12		8		12		11		14		12		-		-		97	12.1
27	Ukraine	UA	11		15		11		10		11		10		14		10		-		-		92	11.5
27	Atmosfera G4	PT	12		15		12		10		8		10		13		12		-		-		92	11.5
29	Lupus	EE	10		14		12		9		11		10		14		11		-		-		91	11.4
30	Sky Dragons	SI	12		11		13		9		11		10		12		10		-		-		88	11.0
31	Kazakhstan	KZ	10		11		11		9		6		9		8		8		-		-		72	9.0
32	Argentina	AR	8		13		7		7		8		7		10		9		-		-		69	8.6
33	Cyprus	CY	7		6		10		7		6		7		10		7		-		-		60	7.5
34	Colombia	CO	6		9		9		5		8		6		8		6		-		-		57	7.1
35	Oman	OM	5		8		10		8		6		5		6		6		-		-		54	6.8
36	Turkey	TR	0		6		8		4		6		6		5		7		-		-		42	5.3
37	Thailand	TH	3		7		7		4		5		0		6		2		-		-		34	4.3
38	Ecuador	EC	0		0		2		2		2		3		3		3		-		-		15	1.9

USPA (United States Parachute Association) sanctions the U.S. national teams for FAI events after the national outdoor championships, where the qualification process determines the country's representatives. Other nations may establish their own qualification procedures and selection criteria. At FAI Formation Skydiving World Championships, each country may enter only one national team in each event, while World Cups allow up to four teams per country in each discipline. Teams and competitors are free to discuss and promote their participation publicly once they have secured qualification by winning the relevant selection event or after they have been nominated by their national federation. The NSL News uses this publicly available information as the basis for its popular event previews and NSL Power Rankings.

FAI and ISC have established additional rules and regulations governing the registration of teams and competitors, including mandatory registration deadlines. There is a clear distinction between a team's intention or expectation to compete as a national representative—which is naturally a matter of public discussion—and its official eligibility to do so. Eligibility begins only after the team's registration has been submitted by the country's National Air Sport Control (NAC) or other authorized federation in accordance with the FAI regulations. The registration procedures are identical for indoor and outdoor championships, even though different organizations sanction indoor competition in some countries, including the United States and Great Britain.

The NSL News is the journalistic branch of the international NSL 4-way Network, and the NSL Power Rankings are nothing more or less than a journalistic feature for the entire formation skydiving community, including coaches, teams and competitors, whether they are participating in the upcoming event or not. The preview stories and their leaderboards are based on "speculative predictions" and can therefore be published at any time, regardless of registration deadlines.

FAI World Meet 2018			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		21,L,B,G		22,18,17		19,7,O		J,16,12		10,A,D,15		Q,M,F,C,N		H,20,P,13		6,14,11		E,2,5		4,1,3		Total	Avg
1	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	BE	32		21		27	-2	24		22	-3	62	-2	22	-2	20	-1	27	-1	22		279	27.9
2	Arizona Airspeed	US	26	-5	21		27	-1	24		24	-1	60	-1	26		22		27		20		277	27.7
3	Aerodyne Realfly	FR	29	-1	19		24	-2	23		24		52	-3	20	-3	17	-3	24		19		251	25.1
4	Qatar Tigers	QA	24	-2	14	-1	24	-1	21		22		53	-4	21	-1	18		20		17		234	23.4
5	Echochamber	SE	25	-1	16		21	-1	17	-2	20	-1	48	-4	14	-3	18		21	-1	15	-1	215	21.5
6	Amnesya	IT	24	-2	14		20	-1	18		18	-1	48	-5	18		14	-2	21	-1	15		210	21.0
7	Satori XL	UK	21		14	-1	21		19		19		37	-3	19		17		18	-1	16	-1	201	20.1
7	Airheads	CH	22	-3	14	-2	19	-2	17	-1	18		44		16		16	-2	18	-1	17		201	20.1
9	Evolution	CA	21	-1	13	-2	22		18	-1	15	-3	43	-2	15	-5	15	-2	19		15		196	19.6
10	Airbus FSZ Saar	DE	21	-1	14	-1	17	-5	17		16	-1	45	-1	15	-3	14	-1	18	-1	15		192	19.2
11	Tanay Wolves	RU	22		14		18	-1	17		16	-2	35	-3	17	-3	14	-1	18	-1	14		185	18.5
12	Rotor Out	AU	21	-1	13	-1	18	-2	14	-1	16	-1	32	-3	13	-7	13	-1	18		14		172	17.2
13	CTR Optimum	BR	19		10		17	-1	15		13	-1	31		14		14		18		13		164	16.4
14	Papea Masculino	ES	17	-1	13		18		13	-1	13		28	-3	14	-1	14	-1	13	-2	12		155	15.5
15	Out of the Blue	NL	16	-1	11	-1	13	-3	14		15	-1	28	-2	15	-1	15		14	-2	12	-1	153	15.3
16	Meraki	ZA	14	-3	11		14		14		13		28	-1	12	-1	12		14		12		144	14.4
17	New Zealand	NZ	10	-4	9		12		11		10		21		7	-3	11		10	-1	11		112	11.2
18	Paraguay	PY	10	-1	8		10	-1	7	-2	9		17		7	-4	8	-1	10		8	-1	94	9.4
19	Cyprus	CY	13	-1	8		9	-2	8		7	-2	19	-1	7		8		9		5	-2	93	9.3

Organizing and managing a major FAI event is an enormous logistical challenge, even for the world's most experienced skydiving centers. Early information about expected participation is therefore essential for the host to prepare aircraft schedules, judging operations, accommodations and all other event logistics. The task becomes even more demanding when the championship is conducted at a venue that is not a permanent professional skydiving center, as was the case at Crystal Coast 2024 and Dubai 2012, or even at a location that is not an airport, as in Australia 2018.

The first registration deadline has now passed. The deadline for "Provisional Entries" provides the FAI/ISC and the event organizer with an initial overview of the expected participation, this year for the FAI Outdoor World Championship 2026 at Skydive Arizona. National Air Sport Controls (NACs) are encouraged to submit their provisional entries as early as possible, and July 9th was the deadline for that first registration step. The first "Official Information Bulletin #1" includes the event information and the complete registration schedule. The next deadline is August 11th for the payment of entry fees. The official list of participating teams will then become public with the publication of "Official Information Bulletin #2" on September 18th.

However, neither the July 9th deadline for "Provisional Entries," the August 11th payment deadline, nor the publication of "Official Information Bulletin #2" on September 18th completely closes the registration process. The regulations still provide one final opportunity for additional participants: "Late Registration will be accepted with a 20% increase in the event fee. Late entries are possible only until October 8, 2026." Round 1 of the world championship is scheduled for October 19th.