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2026 IFAF Women's Flag Football World Championship

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2026 IFAF Women's Flag Football World Championship
Tournament information
SportFlag football
LocationDüsseldorf
Dates13 August–16 August
HostGermany
Venue1
Teams16
Final positions
Champions Canada (3rd title)
Runner-up United States
3rd place Mexico
← 2024
2028 →

The 2026 IFAF Women's Flag Football World Championship was the 12th World Championships in women's flag football. The tournament took place in Düsseldorf, Germany, from 13 to 16 August 2026.

The United States were the defending champions coming into the tournament, having beaten Mexico 31-18 in the 2024 World Championship.[1]

The top two teams (except the host nation United States) qualified to compete at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.[2] Gold medalists Canada, and bronze medalists Mexico were the teams that qualified.[3][4]

Venues

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The championship will take place at Düsseldorf's flag football complex in Garath. The complex was inaugurated by the City of Düsseldorf and the New England Patriots in April 2025.[5] Two fields are within the complex, which are the New England Patriots Flag Football Field and the Sebastian Vollmer Flag Football Field.[6]

Teams

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Qualifiers

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The International Federation of American Football introduced a new qualifying format for the Flag Football World Championships.[7]

  • 16 teams for each division (men's and women's)
  • Host nation automatically qualifies
  • Qualification via IFAF Continental Championships, in which the quotas are,
    • Europe: 6 berths
    • Americas: 4 berths
    • Asia-Oceania: 2 berths (one for each continent)
    • Africa: 1 berth
  • Additional merit-based allocations for two continents based on past performances
  • A maximum of six teams per continent (not including hosts)
Qualified teams
Continent Qualifying tournament Team World ranking
Europe Host nation  Germany 9
2025 IFAF Women's European Flag Football Championship  Italy 8
 Austria 6
 France 11
 Great Britain 3
 Spain 7
 Slovenia 33
Americas 2025 IFAF Women's Americas Flag Football Championship  Mexico 1
 United States 2
 Canada 4
 Panama 12
 Brazil 15
Asia 2025 IFAF Women's Asia-Oceania Flag Football Championship  China 18
 Japan 5
Oceania  Australia 10
Africa 2025 IFAF Women's Africa Flag Football Championship  Nigeria 29
  2025 continental champions

Groups

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The 16 teams are sorted into four groups of four based on the IFAF World Rankings in serpentine order.[8]

Group A Group B Group C Group D
 Mexico (1)  United States (2)  Great Britain (3)  Canada (4)
 Italy (8)  Spain (7)  Austria (6)  Japan (5)
 Germany (hosts) (9)  Australia (10)  France (11)  Panama (12)
 Slovenia (33)  Nigeria (29)  China (18)  Brazil (15)

On 10 August 2026, the Nigerian Federation of American Football informed the International Federation of American Football of their withdrawal due to the inability of the traveling delegation to secure the necessary visas in time for the tournament.[9] As there was no time to replace Nigeria, all their matches were forfeited with a score of 1-0.

Results

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Preliminary round

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Group A

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Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Qualification
1  Mexico 3 3 0 105 50 +55 Quarter-finals — 38–14 14–12 53–24
2  Germany 3 2 1 101 93 +8 14–38 — 53–22 34–33
3  Italy 3 1 2 61 93 −32 12–14 22–53 — 27–26
4  Slovenia 3 0 3 83 114 −31 24–53 33–34 26–27 —
Updated to match(es) played on 14th August 2026. Source: IFAF World Flag 2026

Group B

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Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Qualification
1  United States 3 3 0 99 45 +54 Quarter-finals — 52–31 46–14 1–0
2  Spain 3 2 1 71 77 −6 31–52 — 39–25 1–0
3  Australia 3 1 2 40 85 −45 14–46 25–39 — 1–0
4  Nigeria 3 0 3 0 3 −3 0–1 0–1 0–1 —
Updated to match(es) played on 14th August 2026. Source: IFAF World Flag 2026

Group C

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Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Qualification
1  Great Britain 3 3 0 106 65 +41 Quarter-finals — 47–26 26–25 33–14
2  Austria 3 2 1 84 93 −9 26–47 — 35–27 23–19
3  China 3 1 2 78 81 −3 25–26 27–35 — 26–20
4  France 3 0 3 53 82 −29 14–33 19–23 20–26 —
Updated to match(es) played on 14th August 2026. Source: IFAF World Flag 2026

Group D

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Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Qualification
1  Canada 3 3 0 97 40 +57 Quarter-finals — 27–14 34–20 36–6
2  Panama 3 2 1 63 46 +17 14–27 — 37–13 12–6
3  Japan 3 1 2 65 71 −6 20–34 13–37 — 32–0
4  Brazil 3 0 3 12 80 −68 6–36 6–12 0–32 —
Updated to match(es) played on 14th August 2026. Source: IFAF World Flag 2026

Championship round

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Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
15 August
 
 
 Mexico27
 
15 August
 
  Spain 26
 
  Mexico 6
 
15 August
 
 Canada20
 
 Canada40
 
16 August
 
  Austria 12
 
 Canada27
 
15 August
 
  United States 20
 
 United States35
 
15 August
 
  Germany 34
 
 United States27
 
15 August
 
  Great Britain 21 Bronze medal game
 
 Great Britain26
 
16 August
 
  Panama 20
 
 Mexico20
 
 
  Great Britain 19
 

Placement matches

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5th place bracket

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5th-8th place semi-finals5th place
 
      
 
15 August
 
 
  Spain 32
 
16 August
 
 Austria42
 
  Austria 6
 
15 August
 
 Germany34
 
 Germany33
 
 
  Panama 14
 
7th place
 
 
16 August
 
 
  Spain 27
 
 
 Panama38

9th place bracket

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First round9th-12th place semi-finals9th place
 
          
 
14 August
 
 
 Australia39
 
15 August
 
  Slovenia 26
 
  Australia 8
 
14 August
 
 China46
 
 China35
 
16 August
 
  Brazil 27
 
 China27
 
14 August
 
  Japan 14
 
 Italy 1
 
15 August
 
  Nigeria 0
 
  Italy 24
 
14 August
 
 Japan41 11th place
 
 Japan40
 
16 August
 
  France 21
 
  Australia 20
 
 
 Italy26
 

13th place bracket

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13th-16th place semi-finals13th place
 
      
 
15 August
 
 
  Nigeria 0
 
15 August
 
 France 1
 
 France34
 
15 August
 
  Slovenia 26
 
 Slovenia40
 
 
  Brazil 26
 
15th place
 
 
15 August
 
 
  Nigeria 0
 
 
 Brazil 1

Final ranking

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Rank Team
1st place, gold medalist(s) Canada
2nd place, silver medalist(s) United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Mexico
4 Great Britain
5 Germany
6 Austria
7 Panama
8 Spain
9 China
10 Japan
11 Italy
12 Australia
13 France
14 Slovenia
15 Brazil
16 Nigeria
Qualified for the 2028 Summer Olympics.

Television

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In May 2026, streaming network DAZN acquired global broadcasting rights to all IFAF events in a multi-year agreement, including the women's world championship.[10]

In Canada, all games are also broadcast on CBC Gem and the CBC Sports website.[11]

See also

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References

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  1. ↑ Vargas, Ramon Antonio (August 30, 2024). "Doucette helms US to fifth straight flag football world title as sport readies for Olympic debut". The Guardian. Retrieved July 23, 2026.
  2. ↑ "Flag Football LA 2028 Qualification System" (PDF). International Federation of American Football. 31 January 2026. Retrieved 25 February 2026.
  3. ↑ "Canada women clinch berth in LA 2028 with semifinal win at flag football world championships". CBC Sports. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). August 15, 2026. Retrieved August 15, 2026.
  4. ↑ Collins, Ben (16 August 2026). "GB women narrowly defeated in Olympic qualifier". BBC Sport. London, England. Retrieved 16 August 2026.
  5. ↑ CWA (2025-07-31). "Düsseldorf to host 2026 IFAF Flag Football World Championships". International Federation of American Football. Retrieved 2026-07-23.
  6. ↑ "Big Football Celebration in Düsseldorf: New England Patriots Open Their First Flag Football Field in Germany with Nearly 2,000 People". www.patriots.com. Retrieved 2026-07-23.
  7. ↑ Preston, Michael (2025-02-11). "FFWC Qualifying". International Federation of American Football. Retrieved 2026-07-23.
  8. ↑ Preston, Michael (2025-11-25). "Groups Announced For 2026 IFAF World Flag in Dusseldorf". International Federation of American Football. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
  9. ↑ "Joint Statement from the International Federation of American Football, the National Sports Commission of Nigeria and the Nigerian Federation of American Football". International Federation of American Football (IFAF). 10 August 2026. Archived from the original on 15 August 2026. Retrieved 15 August 2026.
  10. ↑ Cunningham, Euan (21 May 2026). "DAZN in global IFAF flag football rights touchdown". Sportcal. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  11. ↑ "Canadian teams go undefeated on Day 1 of flag football world championships". CBC News. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. August 13, 2026. Retrieved August 13, 2026.
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