Germany and Italy advanced to the medal round of the 2026/27 IFAF U19 European Tackle Football Championships on Saturday, while Hungary won for the first time ever in international youth competition.
Reigning U19 champions Austria aim to complete the three team round robin group that will play for gold in a series of games next year by beating Czechia in Vienna on Sunday, though the Czechs and Spain can still qualify.
A dominant Germany cruised past Finland with a 93-0 home victory in Langenfeld to top Group C having led by 20-0 after the first quarter and by 51 points at halftime. Running back Valentino Cardenas Gonzalez scored three touchdowns on the ground and his Düsseldorf Panther teammate quarterback Thoma Lennart threw three scoring passes to Yannis Kainer, Maximilian Musiol and Tyler Gloss, while rushing for a touchdown himself.
Paul Herrmann rushed for two touchdowns along with Glen Knospe, Argen Kiessig and Uli Stecher who also scored on the ground. Kicker Sascha Bordasch made a 25-yard field goal and 11 extra points and there was a special teams touchdown as Oskar Koppisch recovered a blocked punt to score.
Italy advanced to the medals group despite a 50-21 away defeat to Sweden in Solna. The Swedish win forced a three-way tie with Italy and Israel, but because Sweden forfeited their game against Israel, they were eliminated from a head-to-head tiebreaker. That was won by Italy, who beat Israel back in April.
Italy opened the scoring and at one point led 21-13 before two Sweden touchdowns earned the hosts a seven-point lead at halftime. Sweden dominated the second half with three unanswered scoring passes by quarterback Fabian Optiz, who finished the game with 445 yards and 7 touchdowns.
Zachary Stolpe reeled in a hat trick of touchdown catches as he put up 252 receiving yards, Justin Boney caught two and Ceasar Nguesseu and Simon Turzik caught one each. Italy quarterback Sergio Marzullo threw for 269 yards and two touchdowns to Simone Cavallo and Pietro Vicenzi. Riccardo Matthew Brancale scored the game’s only rushing touchdown.
Hungary 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 over Poland in in Székesfehérvár as the lead changed hands five times.
Hungary immediately bounced back from conceding a rushing touchdown to Poland quarterback Kacper Berbeć to lead 12-6. A 60-yard connection between Bence Botond Gyürüsi and Almos Könyves, who broke tackles and raced down the left sideline from midfield, was followed by a one-yard scoring run by Botond Várfalvi.
Poland edged ahead by one point as Wiktor Wróblewski recovered a punt blocked by Tomasz Bromboszcz in the end zone then surged into a 34-12 lead through two rushing touchdowns by Bromboszcz and a Tymon Bychawski to Jakub Sema 20-yard connection. Hungary then staged a comeback and reduced the deficit to ten points by halftime as Szabolcs Kovács scored on a 73-yard touchdown on the ground, and Lóránt Emhő connected with Mark Matkovics and Kovács through the air.
Emhő’s quarterback keeper pulled Hungary to within three points after the break then his 23-yard touchdown run opened a 38-34 home lead. Igor Jaworski took a screen pass 34 yards for a Poland touchdown to lead 41-38 but Hungary persisted and with barely any time on the clock, having had a touchdown called back for an infringement, Emhő rushed for the decisive touchdown.
The results mean that Sunday’s second place finisher in Group A will join Israel and Finland to play for fourth place in 2027, while the third-place team will face Sweden, Hungary and Poland in the battle for seventh place overall.
2026/27 IFAF U19 European Tackle Football Championships
Standings & Results
Group A
Austria 1-0
Spain 1-1
Czechia 0-1
April 4: Spain 7 Austria 17
May 10: Czechia 14 Spain 43
September 20: Austria vs Czechia
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 A1
Group 4-6: A2 vs Finland
Group 7-10: SF1 / SF2
May 8/9
Group 1-3: Italy vs Germany
Group 4-6: Israel vs A2
September 18/19
Group 1-3: A1 vs Italy
Group 4-6: Finland vs Israel
Group 7-10: 7th-8th Place / 9th-10th Place
Photo: AFVD
