Reigning champion Austria joined Germany and Italy for the right to contest the medal round of the 2026/27 IFAF U19 European Tackle Football Championships next year with a convincing 41-6 win over Czechia in Vienna.
Austria tops group A having beaten Spain 17-7 back in May and will now play a round robin format of games against traditional rival Germany and Italy when tournament resumes in March, May and September 2027.
A dominant Germany cruised past Finland with a 93-0 home victory in Langenfeld on Saturday to top Group C while Italy advanced to the medals group despite a 50-21 away defeat to Sweden in Solna.
The weekend’s results mean that second place finisher in Group A Spain will join Israel and Finland to play for fourth place in 2027, while Czechia, Sweden, Hungary and Poland will battle for seventh place overall.
Hungary recorded an historic first every win in IFAF international youth competition as they recovered from a 22-point deficit at home to Poland and scored the winning touchdown with only 17 seconds remaining to complete a stunning 45-41 victory.
Unbeaten against European opposition since 2011, six-time champion Austria capitalized on a first quarter interception by Jakob Walch with a Julian Hennerbichler to Maximilian Fellner touchdown pass for a 7-0 lead.
Austria extended the lead to 10 points through a Leo Wurzinger field goal before Ondřej Vít connected with Denis Kadrle for a Czechia touchdown to pull them back into the contest. Austria moved ahead to hold a 24-6 halftime lead as Dean Opara and Hennerbichler scored rushing touchdowns.
Austria put the result beyond doubt in the fourth quarter as Hennerbichler threw his second scoring pass of the day to Lukas Kowar then Opara scored for the second time on the ground. A Wurzinger field goal completed the win.
2026/27 IFAF U19 European Tackle Football Championships
Standings & Results
Group A
Austria 2-0
Spain 1-1
Czechia 0-2
April 4: Spain 7 Austria 17
May 10: Czechia 14 Spain 43
September 20: Austria 41 Czechia 6
Group B
Italy 1-1
Israel 1-1
Sweden 1-1
April 4: Israel 1 Sweden 0 (Sweden forfeit)
May 10: Italy 32 Israel 28
September 19: Sweden 51 Italy 20
Group C
Germany 2-0
Finland 1-1
Hungary 1-1
Poland 0-2
April 4: Finland 16 Poland 13
April 4: Germany 79 Hungary 7 (hosted by Hungary)
September 19: Germany 93 Finland 0
September 19: Hungary 45 Poland 41
2026/27 IFAF U19 European Tackle Football Championships Schedule
March 27/28/29
Group 1-3: Germany vs Austria
Group 4-6: Spain vs Finland
Group 7-10: SF1 / SF2
May 8/9
Group 1-3: Italy vs Germany
Group 4-6: Israel vs Spain
September 18/19
Group 1-3: Austria vs Italy
Group 4-6: Finland vs Israel
Group 7-10: 7th-8th Place / 9th-10th Place
Photo: AFBÖ/David Bitzan
