If there is a debate about which teams might have landed in the ‘group of death’ in the women’s competition at the 2024 IFAF Flag Football World Championships, Group A is as good a place as any to start that discussion.

The serpentine system used to determine the groups ensured that reigning champions and world number one the United States avoided fellow continental champions and familiar foes such as Mexico.

But a relative newcomer on the international scene, Australia, brings to Group A the talents that earned a silver medal from a debut campaign at the Asia-Oceania championships last summer. Led by veteran coach Paul Manera, the Aussies’ introduction in Malaysia in 2023 was a memorable one.

Australia beat all-comers in the opening games of the group stage, then on the second day of action in Kuala Lumpur put on an offensive masterclass in a 53-6 rout of Korea before being brought back down to earth in a 33-0 loss to Japan.

The Philippines were brushed aside in the quarterfinals and hosts Malaysia similarly in the semis, setting up a rematch with Japan for the gold medal. In the championship game Japan held a 27-point lead at the two-minute warning and although Australia mounted a late comeback with two touchdowns and a safety, the competition’s sole unbeaten team had the final say with a seventh touchdown. Silver was still a fine reward for the flag football rookies.

Add France to the mix in Group A and the competition becomes even more fierce. Their only loss in the 2021 IFAF World Championships group stages came against the United States, after a draw with then European champion Spain and wins over Team Neutral and Finland.

A loss to Brazil in the quarterfinals denied France at shot at the medals and then they came up against a Panama side that had expected to advance further, losing again before beating Italy into seventh place.

World champions in 2006 and bronze medalists in 2012, France seems to have a habit of being drawn against the United States, who also beat them at The World Games in 2022. A fourth-place continental finish in Europe last year included a narrow group stages defeat to eventual champion Great Britain, so France certainly has the pedigree and the potential to be a dangerous opponent in Finland.

Two other European teams, including one of the most successful nations in the competition’s history, will look to force their way into one of the group’s top three spots to secure a place in the Round of 16 knockout stages.

Sweden won the inaugural IFAF Flag Football World Championships back in 2002, beating group opponents France and claimed bronze two years later, again with a victory over their European rivals. Sweden aims to bounce back from a continental campaign that featured just two wins against Denmark and Ukraine last summer.

Sitting just one place behind in the tournament rankings, Ireland was one of the feelgood stories of the 2023 European continental tournament as the hosts ventured onto the flag football field for the first time in Limerick. A win proved elusive from a tough schedule that put them up against medalists Spain and Germany, but the introduction to the European stage will have prepared them for the challenge ahead when taking on the world.