The Asia-Oceania region will crown a new men’s champion after Japan outlasted 2023 continental winner Thailand 37-34 at the semifinals stage to advance to the Asia tournament final.
In a close game, Thailand found themselves down by eight points and having scored a touchdown trailed 30-28 after a failed two-point attempt. Takehito Taniguchi found Riki Matsui for Japan’s crucial touchdown then the extra point established an unassailable lead despite Thailand’s late comeback attempt.
Japan will face host China who beat Indonesia 26-14 at the Fenghua Sports Center in Ningbo to reach the final on their IFAF tournament debut.
The winners will claim a place in the Gold Medal Game against Australia at 6pm and will be guaranteed Asia’s berth at the 2026 IFAF Flag Football World Championships in Germany next year.
Australia won the Oceania competition with a convincing 4-0 record to top the region’s group by twice beating American Samoa and New Zealand. The win earned qualification for the 2026 IFAF Flag Football World Championships as Oceania’s representative.
“Qualification was the number one goal, but we still think we have a lot to prove based on being ranked 16th in the world before this event,” said Australia defensive back Cody Donlan. “A gold medal would be quite nice to have, with the Australian colors behind it.”
The losing finalist from the Japan-China match up will face American Samoa for the final spot at the IFAF world championships in a third-place game at 3.30pm on Sunday. Playing in international competition for the first time, American Samoa posted a 2-2 group stages record, twice beating silver medalists from two years ago New Zealand.
“For us to qualify would mean the world to all of us and our country back home and everybody in American Samoa,” said quarterback Tai Tiedemann. “We're going to look at a few teams that are a little bit higher in the rankings and just scheme and see how they play on the on the Asian side. It's a little bit different than how we play so we're going to see what we could work on.”
Sunday, October 26 9.15am: Asia tournament Third Place Game: Thailand vs Indonesia 10.30am: Asia tournament final: Japan vs China 3.30pm: Asia-Oceania Bronze Medal Game: Loser of Japan/China vs America Samoa (Winner qualifies for 2026 IFAF Flag Football World Championships) 6pm: Asia-Oceania Gold Medal Game: Winner of Japan/China vs Australia
Semifinals Japan 37 Thailand 34 China 36 Indonesia 14
Quarterfinals Japan 41 Kuwait 13 China 41 Philippines 29 Indonesia 41 Singapore 12 Thailand 41 Korea 7 Placement Games 9th to 11th Place Hong Kong, China 39 Jordan 8 Group A Results Japan 45 Philippines 25 Japan 47 Hong Kong, China 20 Philippines 39 Hong Kong, China 19 Standings Japan 2-0 Philippines 1-1 Hong Kong 0-2 Group B Results Kuwait 31 India 12 China 33 Kuwait 12 China 43 India 6 Standings China 2-0 Kuwait 1-1 India 0-2Group C Results Indonesia 20 Korea 13 Indonesia 48 Korea 7
Standings Indonesia 2-0 Korea 0-2 Group D Results Thailand 33 Singapore 0 Singapore 44 Jordan 33 Thailand 50 Jordan 0 Standings Thailand 2-0 Singapore 1-1 Jordan 0-2 Group E Results Australia 40 New Zealand 25 American Samoa 39 New Zealand 32 Australia 24 American Samoa 18 American Samoa 40 New Zealand 35 Australia 41 American Samoa 12 Australia 57 New Zealand 25 Standings Australia 4-0 American Samoa 2-2 New Zealand 0-4 Photo: Ernesto Campuzano
