Upcoming season or competition: TBA | |
| Sport | American football |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1999 |
| No. of teams | 12 (tournament) 71 (eligible national teams) |
| Most recent champion |  United States (3rd title) |
| Most titles | United States (3 titles) |
| Official website | Official website |
TheIFAF World Championship of American Football (also known as theIFAF World Cup) is an internationalgridiron competition held every four years[1] and contested by teams representing member nations. The competition is run by theInternational Federation of American Football (IFAF), the international governing body for the sport. Seventy-one nations have a national American football team. The most recent tournament, in 2015, featured seven teams.
The defending champions are theUnited States, who won the2015 championship after winning both the2007 and2011 editions. The U.S. team did not compete in the World Cup until 2007 and have won every tournament since. Prior to the American entrance,Japan won the1999 and2003 championships.
The championship was held inItaly in 1999, in Germany in 2003, inKawasaki, Japan in 2007, and inAustria in 2011. The2015 IFAF World Championship was originally going to be held inStockholm, Sweden, but local organizers had to cancel the event due to lack of sponsorship.[2] The 2015 tournament was played inCanton, Ohio, United States.[3]
The 2025 edition was a twice postponed event. First scheduled then cancelled in Australia in 2019, it was moved to Germany in for 2023 then postponed, then rescheduled for 2025. No announcements have been made about the 2025 event, leading many to speculate it has been cancelled by IFAF.
At the 2011 championship, the championship tournament consisted of eight teams divided into two groups of four (there were six teams in 1999 and 2007, four in 2003, and seven in 2015). The opening round featured around-robin tournament within the groups, with each team playing each other once, but as opposed to a tournament bracket after the games were completed, the teams with the best record from each group met in the gold medal game, with the second-place teams in each group playing for the bronze medal, the third-place teams playing in the 5th-place game, and the fourth-place teams playing in the 7th-place game, thus guaranteeing each team four games.
Automatic berths included the host nation and the defending champions. Both finalists from theEuropean Championship of American football tournament received berths. Two teams from thePan American Federation of American Football received berths, as did one member each from theAsian Federation of American Football and from theOceania Federation of American Football.
For the 2019 championship (postponed to 2023, then 2025), the tournament will expand to 12 teams.[4] Teams will be divided into four groups, each consisting of three teams. Teams will play the other two teams in their group once each, for a total of two group-stage games. Teams will then advance to the second round, and from there to the placement and medal games.[5]
Because American football is far more dominant in the United States than anywhere else in the world, the United States did not field a team in the tournament for its first two editions. The United States has fielded a squad for the last three iterations, but with extremely restrictive criteria that make most American football players ineligible for the team. Despite the restrictions, the United States has won all three world championships in which they have competed. Similarly, Canada (whereCanadian football, a related sport, has widespread popularity) did not participate until the 2011 competition, when the Canadian team finished second to the United States.
| Year | Host | Final | Third-place match | Number of teams | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champions | Score | Runners-up | 3rd place | Score | 4th place | |||
| 1999 |  Italy |  Japan | 6–0 (OT) |  Mexico |  Sweden | 38–13 | Italy | 6 |
| 2003 |  Germany |  Japan[6] | 34–14 | Mexico | Germany | 36–7 |  France | 4 |
| 2007 | Japan | United States | 23–20 (OT) | Japan | Germany | 7–0 | Sweden | 6 |
| 2011 |  Austria | United States | 50–7 |  Canada | Japan | 17–14 | Mexico | 8 |
| 2015 | United States | United States | 59–12 | Japan | Mexico | 20–7 | France | 7 |
| Team | 1999 (6) | 2003 (4) | 2007 (6) | 2011 (8) | 2015 (7) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Australia | 5th | – | – | 8th | 5th |
| Austria | – | – | – | 7th | – |
 Brazil | – | – | – | – | 7th |
| Canada | – | – | – | 2nd | – |
 Finland | 6th | – | – | – | – |
 France | – | 4th | 6th | 6th | 4th |
| Germany | – | 3rd | 3rd | 5th | – |
| Italy | 4th | – | – | – | – |
| Japan | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 2nd |
| Mexico | 2nd | 2nd | – | 4th | 3rd |
 South Korea | – | – | 5th | – | 6th |
| Sweden | 3rd | – | 4th | – | – |
| United States | – | – | 1st | 1st | 1st |
| Pos. | Team | Champions | Runners-up | Third | Fourth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | United States | 3 (2007,2011,2015) | – | – | – |
| 2nd | Japan | 2 (1999,2003) | 2 (2007,2015) | 1 (2011) | – |
| 3rd | Mexico | – | 2 (1999,2003) | 1 (2015) | 1 (2011) |
| 4th | Canada | – | 1 (2011) | – | – |
| 5th | Germany | – | – | 2 (2003,2007) | – |
| 6th | Sweden | – | – | 1 (1999) | 1 (2007) |
| 7th | France | – | – | – | 2 (2003,2015) |
| 8th | Italy | – | – | – | 1 (1999) |
The IFAF Senior World Championship is held every four years having first been contested in 1999.
The 2015 IFAF World Championship will be contested in Canton, Ohio between the 8th and 19th of July with all games staged at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.
Sweden will host the 2015 International Federation of American Football Senior World Championship when the national teams of 12 countries from four continents converge on the capital city of Stockholm.
At the 2015 tournament the 12 teams will be split into four groups of three for a round robin stage leading to the second round and then placement and medal games that will take place during 10 playing days with rest days in between.
InternationalAmerican football (flag football) | ||
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| Africa |  | |
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| Americas | ||
| Europe | ||
| Oceania | ||