Euro Flag Finals Men - International Federation of American Football

IFAF Europe

Euro Flag Finals Men

27 September 2025

Italy was crowned the men’s champion at IFAF Euro Flag 2025, beating Austria 27-19 to win gold having previously been the continent’s runners up four times dating back as far as 2005.

Austria had to settle for silver just as they had two years ago, losing to Germany in the 2023 final, and in Finland last summer when they were defeated by the United States at the IFAF world championships.

Vincent Papale caught three first half touchdowns from quarterback Luke Zahradka for a 21-6 halftime lead. The son of former Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Vince Papale, whose story inspired the move Invincible, scored either side of a scoring grab of Austria’s Simon Knoll before giving Italy a commanding lead at the break.

“It’s just unbelievable,” said Papale of the win. “I’m just so happy to be here and be part of this team and wear Italy across my chest. I think our offense and defense came through when we needed them. We firmly believe we’re the best offense not only in Europe but also in the world and we’ll put that to the test In Germany next year.”

Six nations –Italy, Austria, France, Great Britain, Israel and Switzerland - qualified for the 2026 IFAF Flag Football World Championships to be played in Dusseldorf next summer, joining host Germany.

Italy’s defense dominated the second half as Simone Alinovi and Paolo Lazzaretto came up with interceptions. Receiver Jordan Bouah ensured the Italian lead remained in double digits with a scoring grab after Knoll’s touchdown had pulled Austria to within nine points.

Austria put Luis Effenberger in at quarterback, and he connected with Valentin Ehrenfried inside the final two minutes following an interception to move to within eight points of tying the game, but time ran out on the comeback attempt.

“Not the end result we wanted but we will get better for the world championships and congratulations to Italy,” said Austria defensive back Sebastian Wolf. “What we can do better is get faster and I think we’re on a really good track. We have a lot of good young players coming through and the future is bright.”

France won the bronze medal in a close 34-20 win over Great Britain. A key defensive stop late in the game preserved France’s seven-point advantage after the teams had traded touchdowns. France receiver Tanguy Lominet reeled in all France’s touchdowns and caught his fifth score from quarterback Anthony Riquin to put the result beyond doubt.

“It's wonderful, we are really happy to finish with a medal,” said France defensive back Vincent Lemione. “Defense was the key today. The connection was clicking the communication was clicking everything was set so I feel like we saw the plays in slow motion and that's really what makes everything work.”

Great Britain defensive captain Oliver Dyer said: “It's difficult when you play two games in a day and lose twice and obviously that's really disappointing but overall, I think we can hold our heads high with how we've done this year. It's a new regime, a lot of new players a lot of new faces although we wanted more. This is GB's best finish on the men's side ever and it says we're going in the right direction.”

Gold Medal Game Itay 27 Austria 19

Bronze Medal Game France 34 Great Britain 20

Semifinals Austria 43 France 35 Italy 28 Great Britain 22

5^th Place Israel 35 Switzerland 26

7^th Place Slovenia 1 Denmark 0 (Denmark forfeited due to a player injury)

9^th Place Germany 34 Spain 20

11^th Place Ireland 21 Czechia 12

13^th Place Ukraine 31 Finland 19

15^th Place Hungary 33 Netherlands 25

17^th Place Sweden 46 Croatia 12

19^th Place Portugal 25 Poland 7

21^st Place Slovakia 41 Norway 34