How to use "come second" ?

chance22 said:

We can say that "Saudi Arabia’s reserves are second only to those of Kuwait". Then I wonder if I can express in this way: "Saudi Arabia’s reserves come second following those of Kuwait", since I often see the use of "somebody comes second" in the ranking list. Could you help explain it?

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We usually use "come second" in the situation of an actual race where there is competition to come first. I assume the piece is talking about oil reserves. The oil reserves have no idea that they are in a competition, they are inanimate so they themselves do not "come second".

Saudi Arabia comes second in the list of countries with reserves, behind Kuwait.

emsr2d2 said:

We usually use "come second" in the situation of an actual race where there is competition to come first.
Saudi Arabia comes second in the list of countries with reserves, behind Kuwait.

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Thank you very much! The explanation and the sample setence make me clear about the use of the expression.