IFAF is counting down to 2026 by highlighting some of the memorable moments in international American football from the past twelve months.
2025 was a record-breaking year for IFAF across men’s, women’s and youth tackle and flag football events on five continents.
IFAF delivered a record four Flag Football Continental Championships with 101 total teams participating at IFAF Africa Flag in Cairo, Egypt; IFAF Euro Flag in Paris, France; the IFAF Americas in Penonome, Panama; and Asia-Oceania Flag in Ningbo, China. Each tournament welcomed a record number of teams.
There was a 48% increase in nations holding IFAF Flag Football World Rankings since 2022, reflecting rapid global expansion since flag was confirmed on the programme of the LA28 Olympic Games. Major changes across the global competitive landscape, included Mexico’s women rising to world #1 for the first time, Australia’s men jumping 8 places to World No. 8 and China’s women becoming the highest ranked newcomers at World #18.
Away from the field of competition, IFAF members approved a series of landmark reforms at the XXVII Congress in Lausanne, Switzerland, reinforcing its place in the Olympic Movement.
More than 25 years after IFAF’s establishment in Paris, France, Congress approved the relocation of the federation’s headquarters to the Maison du Sport International in Lausanne, Switzerland, placing IFAF at the heart of global sport administration and deepening its integration within the Olympic Movement.
Members also backed the inclusion of new gender-equality initiatives in IFAF Statutes, including the creation of a Female Vice President position on the IFAF Executive Board; a second athlete position on the IFAF Executive Board, enabling equal representation of men’s and women’s athletes and further strengthening the athlete voice in governance; and a new Women’s Leadership Programme for all IFAF member federations, working towards a target of one-third female board representation
In addition, Congress approved immediate changes to membership criteria, removing a requirement for full members of IFAF to operate both tackle and flag football programmes. The move reflects the explosive global popularity of flag football – the more accessible, Olympic discipline – and is expected to support continued growth in emerging nations.
Africa Flag 2025 reinforced the acceleration of flag football’s growth across the continent. Since 2023 participation in flag football has surged with Egypt and Nigeria seeing increases of 149% and 85%, respectively. In Nigeria, the national federation’s outreach program has already engaged more than 13,000 young people, highlighting the sport’s expanding reach and appeal.
A total of 43 teams (19 female, 24 male) from 25 nations competed at Euro Flag 2025 as for the first time, IFAF partnered with Playground, a sporting events specialist, to offer an immersive experience to athletes and spectators. Alongside local authorities and Parisian sports stakeholders, the event offered a high-level tournament, an entertainment village and a reinforced dynamic around the development of flag football in France and Europe. China welcomed a record number of 27 teams from 15 nations to IFAF Asia-Oceania Flag at the Fenghua Sports Center in Ningbo.
The championships featured 11 nations gracing the IFAF flag football international stage for the first time: American Samoa, China, Colombia, El Salvador, Hong Kong, Hungary, Jamaica, Jordan, Norway, Portugal and Türkiye, while some nations such as Argentina and the Netherlands fielded women’s teams for the first time.
The top women’s finishers at the 2024 IFAF Flag Football World Championships had qualified to participate at The World Games in Chengdu where Mexico successfully defended its title with a thrilling win over the United States as time expired.
China made its international debut alongside Austria, Canada Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, and Mexico. Canada claimed the bronze medal with a win over Austria.
Flag football featured for the first time at the Juegos Centroamericanos Guatemala 2025 – the 2025 Central American Games – played in Panama.
Teams representing five IFAF member federations competed in the games organized by ORDECA, the Organización Deportiva Centroamericana, at the Emilio Royo Stadium in Panama City. In both competitions, Panama’s men and women topped the round robin group stages with four wins having beaten Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Honduras and went on to win gold.
Austria welcomed 31 teams from 12 nations and more than 350 youth athletes to the Sportanlage Wiesengasse in the Tyrolean capital for the 2025 IFAF European Youth Flag Football Championships in September.
First held in 2016, the tournament showcases the progress of youth flag football across the continent as European nations develop talented athletes on the road to participation at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. The mixed competition for teams featuring athletes of both genders reflects flag football’s highly inclusive nature and is in line with trends for greater integration of male and female athletes in international sport.
At the Africa Flag 2025 tournament, which was delivered in partnership with the NFL, among a series of wraparound activities in Cairo was a continental NFL Flag youth championship played between U12 boys’ and girls’ teams from across Africa.
The IFAF Asia-Oceania Flag Football continental championships featured a U17 boys tournament played over a round robin format in Ningbo between China, Hong Kong, Korea and Kuwait.
The 2025 IFAF Americas Flag Football Continental Championships in Panama included a look at some of the sport’s stars of tomorrow as teams representing Guatemala, Mexico and Panama competed in three youth categories in Penomone.
In tackle football, Austria defended its European titles at both the U19 and adult levels, while the women’s IFAF European Championships saw defending champion Spain, Finland, Germany and Great Britain kick off the 2025/26 competition.
Honduras won the IFAF Central Americas Championships with an 8-0 victory over Guatemala, while host nation El Salvador won for the first time to claim the bronze medal in triple overtime.
Honduras topped the group stages, which were played in Tegucigalpa in April and El Salvador in July, with the competition’s only perfect record, winning all three games. Gold medal game opponent Guatemala had seen off the challenge of Nicaragua to qualify for the final.
There were a series of international friendly tackle football games played among IFAF members in 2025. Australia defeated New Zealand 20-14 in an Oceania Exhibition in July. Canada traveled to Europe on three occasions, beating Italy twice and Germany once then lost as they closed out the year with an overtime defeat in Mexico.
