The 2024 IFAF Flag Football World Championships get underway in Lahti, Finland today with confidence high among both GB Women and Men of an impressive showing at the tournament.
Live streaming will be at www.IFAF.TV with game scores available at the event website www.FlagWC24.com – which will also feature game stats.
A total of 32 men’s and 23 women’s national teams from six continents are battling for gold medal glory and also precious ranking points to put them on the road to Olympic qualification for the Los Angeles games in 2028.
For the men, over the course of the next four days the winners and runners up from eight groups will qualify for the knockout Round of 16. The women’s tournament will see the top three nations from five groups advance, along with the best fourth-place finisher.
GB Women – the reigning European Champions – are top seeds in Group D and start the tournament in fourth place in the world rankings. They will face Panama (ranked 7), Czechia (14) and Israel (17). Meanwhile GB Men, enter the tournament ranked 14 in the world and face European Champions and third ranked team in the world Germany, Sweden (19) and outsiders, Georgia, who hold a world ranking of 30.
The tournament is being played at the Pajulahti Olympic Training Centre in Lahti, 100 miles to the north of Finnish capital, Helsinki. If successful in qualifying for the knock out stage on Tuesday and Wednesday, our teams will complete in the last 16 on Thursday with the initial target of finishing among the seventh highest ranked teams in order to quality for the World Games – which will feature Flag Football in China next year.
The players view
“No matter who we play, we will be prepared and excited to showcase our talent on the world stage!”
“I think going in as a number one seed in Europe definitely puts a little bit of pressure on us. And that side of things. But my goal and my aspiration is to go, you know, climb that world ranking again.”
“Pajulahti and Lahti look like amazing places to go play flag football and I’m excited and honoured to be part of such a momentous event.”
“If our progression over the next few years allows us to compete at the Olympic Games, it would mean everything. This is a sport I’ve played for such a long time so to be able to play it on the highest sporting stage would just be absolutely unbelievable.”
“This is a fantastic opportunity for us to showcase the growth of the sport in GB. We’ve put in a lot of hard work to get to this point, and I’m excited to see it all come together on a global stage.”
“There are not any barriers [to playing Flag Football] and our path to the Olympics can be the stepping stone the game needs to get more people playing. And the Olympics is a great stepping stone to do that in so. In order to be successful on it, you have to be successful off the pitch as well.”
“Some good competitive football nations so looks for an exciting group. As a new member to the squad I’m excited to put British football on the map, and make the whole world take notice for 2028.”
Images and graphics courtesy of Andy Keith andykeith.photo
