The success stories of the 2024 IFAF Flag Football World Championships played in Lahti, Finland, in August are reflected in the latest annual men’s and women’s IFAF Flag Football World Rankings.

IFAF calculates rankings using a variation of a formula known as the Elo Rating System, adaptations of which are used by many sporting organizations and events around the world.

The men’s 2024 rankings see surprise bronze medalists at the world championships Switzerland leap up seven places from 14th to seventh spot. Silver medalists Austria, who were also runners up at the European continental tournament in 2023, move into second place overall ahead of previously number two-ranked Mexico and behind number one the United States.

France moves up five places to fifth overall having finished fifth in Lahti, while Finland moves into the top 20, up four places to 18th overall.

In the women’s rankings, the top three remains the same and mirrors the order of the 2024 IFAF Flag Football World Championships finish with USA first, Mexico second and Japan third.

Austria moves up to fourth, swapping places with European champions Great Britain, while Canada climbs three spots to sixth. Ireland and Korea, who rise six and nine places respectively to the cusp of the top 20, are the highest climbers having recorded their first wins in international competition in Finland.

In 2025, all nations have an opportunity to improve their ranking when participating in continental competitions. In women’s flag football, eight nations – the United States, Mexico Japan, Austria, Canada, Spain, Great Britain and unranked host China - can gain points when competing at The World Games in Chengdu, China.

Ranking points are allocated annually from official IFAF tournaments - IFAF World Championships, The World Games, and IFAF Continental Championships – but not from friendly games. The World Games is included because qualifying is meritocratic, and other tournaments will only be considered if there is equal access for nations to earn berths.

The formula takes into consideration results from tournaments played in an annual cycle while also rewarding nations for success in the two previous competitions. Every year the value of points scored at the least recent event are deleted from overall totals and the value of points scored at the third-most recent event are halved.