Great Britain are the champions of Europe again.

The Lionesses defended the IFAF Euro Flag title won two years ago in Ireland with a dramatic 34-33 overtime win to defeat Austria at the Val-de-Marne Interdepartmental Sports Park in Choisy-le-Roi, Val-de-Marne, in the southeast suburbs of Paris.

Austria looked to have sealed gold having led until late in the game when Great Britain took the lead before Austria recovered to tie the game at 27-27 and force the extra period.

Marta Mathews, who had almost scored the game winner on the final play of regulation, was stopped a yard short in overtime then Emily Kemp made an impressive overtime touchdown grab in the end zone despite close coverage and Grace Conway added the point after.

A quick touchdown pass to Magdalena Helm produced an immediate reply then Austria went for broke, attempting a two-point pass for the win, but Mathews batted the ball away for a stunning one-point victory.

“I’m pretty speechless and very proud of the team,” said quarterback Jess Allen, who made her international debut at The World Games in August where GB finished fifth, a place behind Austria. “That was such a crazy game. We’ve worked so hard for this, we deserve this. We had a slow start, but our offense managed to pull it back and our defense got some really great stops.”

Great Britain’s Kemp reeled in three touchdowns and a two-point conversion and threw a touchdown to Kate Bruinvels and was named tournament MVP.

Austria center Katrin Mansbart said: “It was very close. We beat GB at The World Games, so we knew what to expect. We were very confident, and I think we played a really great game. It was really tight. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.”

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

Spain won the bronze medal, edging a shootout with France 41-40. The 2019 European champions finished third overall in a game that saw a touchdown scored on every possession expect the final drive when Spain’s Sabrina Marques Resende came up with an interception as time ran out to seal victory.

Spanish receiver Violeta Wiksten Oliver caught five touchdowns in the win as Spain trailed for most of the contest before taking a lead after denying France a point after, which proved the difference in the win.

“It was a tough game but now we are looking forward to the world championships next year,” said France center Lucie Vinot. “We are so grateful for the support that we had from the French people.”

In the semifinals, Austria had too much firepower for Spain in a 42-25 win, while Great Britain scored with less than a minute remaining to beat France 27-21. Grace Conway scored the winning touchdown and Emily Kemp tagged on a two-point conversion to decide a close game.

Gold Medal Game Great Britain 34 Austria 33

Bronze Medal Game Spain 41 France 40

Semifinals Austria 42 Spain 25 Great Britain 27 France 21

5^th Place Germany 48 Slovenia 12

7^th Place Italy 18 Ukraine 12

9^th Place Switzerland 42 Czechia 27

11^th Place Türkiye 46 Israel 14

13^th Place Finland 14 Sweden 12

15^th Place Denmark 32 Poland 28

17^th Place Ireland 41 Norway 0

Final Placement

1. Great Britain
2. Austria
3. Spain
4. France
5. Germany
6. Slovenia
7. Italy
8. Ukraine
9. Czechia
10. Switzerland
11. Türkiye
12. Israel
13. Finland
14. Sweden
15. Denmark
16. Poland
17. Ireland
18. Norway
19. Netherlands