Team Canada unblemished on opening day of IFAF Flag Football World Championships

Photo courtesy: Football Canada

Canada’s senior national teams had a banner opening day at the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) Flag Football World Championships, as both the men’s and women’s programs remain undefeated in Germany.

The Canadian women entered the tournament as the fourth-ranked team in the world, and kicked things off with a 27-14 victory over No. 12 Panama. While full statistics were not immediately available, social media posts from the team indicated that Caroline Moquin Joubert led the way with two touchdown catches. Later in the day, the team backed up their success with a 36-6 win over No. 15 Brazil.

The men’s team only played one game on Thursday, but secured a major upset over second-seeded Austria. Francois Rocheleau caught three touchdown passes as the tenth-ranked team prevailed 26-6.

“I think we were pretty confident in the abilities of the players we had. We had a lot of respect for Austria, what they’ve done before, but we just felt that we match up very well with everybody in this tournament,” head coach Paul LaPolice told IFAF Media after the game.

“We can make the gold medal (game) and win the gold medal. We feel we’re as talented as anybody else. There’s a lot of talented countries, but we feel we should be in consideration, and we’ve got to step up and do it.”

Group stage action is slated to conclude on Friday, with the men facing No. 7 Japan at 2:00 a.m. EDT. Their third opponent, No. 32 Nigeria, was unable to make it to Dusseldorf due to visa issues and has automatically forfeited. The women’s team is also facing Japan at 4:30 a.m. EDT, marking their toughest test to date against the fifth-ranked nation.

The results of those games will determine seeding for the knockout round, which will begin on Saturday. The medal games are slated to be played on Sunday, August 16.

The top two finishers, excluding the United States, in both the men’s and women’s tournaments will qualify for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Information on how to watch games can be found by clicking here.