Many of the 700,000 spectators who lined the streets at the annual Rosenmontag Parade in Düsseldorf were introduced the 2026 IFAF World Flag this week.

Members of the Düsseldorf Firecats youth team marched as a foot group, promoting this summer’s flag football world championships by distributing event branded shirts, flags, and sweets along the route. The Firecats marched beside a National Football League themed float designed by renowned float builder Jacques Tilly, participating among the 11,000 parade members that included foot groups, and marching bands.

At IFAF World Flag 2026, the world’s elite men’s and women’s flag football national teams will compete in Düsseldorf for the world championship crown. Teams representing 18 nations from five continents will converge on the Düsseldorf Flag Football Complex from August 13-16 at the most significant global flag football event before the LA28 Olympics.

The Rosenmontag (Rose Monday) Parade activation was produced by IFAF delivery partner and 2026 World Flag local organizing committee D.SPORTS, which focuses on producing major sporting events that attract large audiences and have high public visibility. D.SPORTS aims to shape the image of Düsseldorf as a sports city among its residents, in the region, throughout Germany, and abroad.

The parade is the highlight of the carnival in and one of the largest in Germany with a tradition of more 200 years and attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. Multi-hour live broadcasts on public broadcasters, including ARD and WDR, reached approximately a million viewers.

Through collaborations with D.SPORTS and an innovative, long-term partnership between IFAF and the NFL that makes flag football the cornerstone of a shared international growth strategy, ticket sales and global engagement records expected to be broken at IFAF World Flag 2026.

There is a huge appetite and excitement for flag football in Germany with Düsseldorf an ideal host for these championships. American Football is at the heart of city's sports investment strategy and played host to Europe’s first American football festival and convention in 2025. Düsseldorf is the headquarters of NFL Germany in a nation that has a soaring NFL fandom of more than 20 million and has hosted five regular season NFL Games since 2022, with up to one million ticket requests each time.

Germany ranks highly in the official IFAF World Rankings (Men’s - 4th / Women’s – 8th) and two of their star quarterbacks Mona Stevens and Ben Klever are part of the Global Flag Football Ambassador program – an all-star team of men and women, including current flag football and NFL players, legends, coaches and officials from across the American football eco-system. They work to further raise the global profile and promote the unique values of one of the world’s fastest-growing sports.