When the third and final IFAF Flag Football Continental Championship of 2023 concluded in Malaysia in October, an unprecedented total of 65 teams from 37 nations had competed in the biggest ever international cycle of competition in the sport’s history.
The success of the continental tournaments was boosted by the news that the flag football format will be part of the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028.
In the Americas men’s tournament in Charlotte, NC, only four points separated the fianlists as USA claimed the gold medal with a 40-36 win over Mexico, while bronze went to Panama, who beat Canada to take third place. A month later in Ireland, the tournament’s only two unbeaten teams went toe to toe with a series of spectacular touchdown passes as Germany edged Austria 36-28 in front of a boisterous crowd at the University of Limerick. Third place in Europe and the bronze medal went to high-scoring Israel. Finally in Malaysia, Thailand came from behind to edge New Zealand 31-25 to be crowned IFAF Asia-Oceania Flag Football champions in a thrilling and rain-soaked meeting at the EV Arena Shah Alam. Japan had proved unbeatable until the semifinals and saw off the challenge of Australia to claim the bronze medal.
“This year continues to be a fantastic celebration of flag football around the world as our sport’s community embraces international competition,” said IFAF President Pierre Trochet.
In the Americas final the lead changed hands ten times and ultimately the most spectacular play of the game settled the contest as Laderrick Smith threw a bullet pass almost the length of the field to find Laval Davis deep in the end zone for the hosts to triumph.
“It’s what we expected from Mexico,” said USA quarterback Darrell ‘Housh’ Doucette. “We knew they could score a lot of points and we felt like our defense should be able to at least stop them a few times. The captain of the defensive team just said try to score more points than them. They stopped them at the end of the game and we were able to nail it out and we got a gold medal.”
Quarterbacks Benjamin Klever of Germany and Austria’s Daniel Gaiger traded one highlight reel pass after another in the battle for the European crown. When it came to a difference-maker, Germany had wide receiver Fabian Achenbach whose four-touchdown MVP performance proved the difference between two closely matched teams.
“I can’t really describe this,” said winning German quarterback Klever. “We’ve been waiting for this for a long time. I’ve been playing for the national team for 16 years and we’ve been close and we’ve had good years, and this year it was our time. I knew if we played as well as we can we could beat Austria. Obviously, they’re a good team, especially on defense and we just balled out on both sides of the ball and won.”
Trailing 13-6 at halftime in the Asia-Oceania finale, Thailand pulled level with the Kiwis at 13-13 and 19-19 then saw their own slim lead wiped out as New Zealand equalized at 25-25 with two minutes remaining.
Two incomplete passes were excusable given how difficult the conditions had become, but Phithaya Saranloet hit Wuttikorn Harnwongphaiboon with a pass deep into New Zealand territory. Then on third down, four yards from the end zone on the last play of the game, the pair connected again for the winning touchdown to spark wild celebrations and finally defeat the dogged New Zealanders.
The next challenge for flag football’s elite men’s players is the 2024 IFAF Flag Football World Championships to be played in Lahti, Finland.
Photo: @IanHumes
