OPINION: Newshub's panel of experts put their heads together to determine the best international team through 2019.
TORONTO RAPTORS
Americans have this annoying habit of regarding any team that win one of their over-hyped national leagues as 'world champions', blithely ignorant of the rest of the planet.
So it's especially nice when someone from beyond the 50 states occasionally captures one of those trophies and hauls it across the border.
Previously, the Raptors had a reputation for choking in the NBA playoffs. In 2018, they finished the regular season with their best-ever winning record and the Eastern Conference No.1 seeding, but were swept by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the conference semi-finals,
NBA Coach of the Year Dwayne Casey was fired and All-Star guard DeMar De Rozan was traded.
Onto the roster came superstar Kawhi Leonard, who had sat out most of the 2017/18 season for San Antonio Spurs with a lingering leg injury and proceeded to take 20 games off for the Raptors under a 'load management' strategy.
As galling as that plan was for fans (and fantasy league managers), it paid dividends, when Toronto finished with the second-best record in the east and emerged from the conference playoffs to beat defending NBA champions Golden State Warriors for the Larry O'Brien Trophy.
A well-rested Leonard provided the playoffs' defining moment - a buzzer-beating fadeaway three-pointer that bounced on the rim four times, before dropping to eliminate the Philadelphia 76ers.
He was subsequently named NBA Finals MVP, after winning the same award five years earlier with the Spurs.
Three months later, Raptors centre Marc Gasol became an ACTUAL world champion, helping Spain to victory at the FIBA World Cup in China.
Grant Chapman, Newshub online sports editor
MERCEDES
Kicking off 2019 with victory in the first eight races of the Formula One season, Mercedes - led by Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas - were poised to reign supreme again - which they did.
They went on to win 15 from 21 races, and claimed both the drivers and the constructors championships for the sixth straight season.
Hamilton is clearly the most recognisable name, but the entire team deserve credit for their unprecedented dominance in the sport.
Kristina Eddy, Newshub sports reporter/producer
US WOMEN'S FOOTBALL TEAM
The Americans produced an undefeated World Cup campaign to claim a second straight title, after beating the Netherlands 2-0 in the final.
The side - who almost made the same impact off the field, with the outspoken Megan Rapinoe - lost just one of their 24 matches in 2019.
Luke Robinson, Newshub sports online producer
TORONTO RAPTORS
Despite holding the second-best record in the NBA regular season, Toronto were barely favoured to escape the Eastern Conference playoffs, let alone win their first NBA crown.
But led by Kawhi Leonard, the Canadian franchise upset the Philadelphia 76ers and the Milwaukee Bucks to take their place in the finals.
A wounded Warriors couldn't halt Leonard or his supporting cast of unlikely heroes, and the Raptors cemented their place in NBA history.
Brad Lewis, Newshub sports online producer
LIVERPOOL
Pick the English cricket team or the Springboks would hurt too much, so let's go with 'The Reds'.
Without even watching football, there are enough Liverpool supporters in the Newshub Sport team to let you know that their team has had a tremendous 2019.
John Day, Newshub sports reporter
