On Sunday, three key players from nations entering the men’s competition at the 2024 IFAF Flag Football World Championships chatted about their hopes for the tournament in Finland on IFAF.TV. A replay of the live show can be watched here.
Bruce Mapp, wide receiver with the reigning champions the United States, Germany’s veteran quarterback Benjamin Klever and New Zealand playmaker Jack Preston all shared their thoughts on the competition ahead.
When asked about the pressure of expectation on the United States, Mapp – who has never lost a game in national team colors – admitted there is only one goal for his team.
“I think our expectation is always the same as every other country, to win gold obviously,” he said. “We’re the defending champs so you know we have a target on our back. We have to make sure our team is getting better because everybody else is getting better too.”
Klever has been playing flag football for 22 years, and participated at the 2007, 2011, 2015, 2017, and 2023 European championships and the worlds in 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2021. He led Germany to the European title last summer.
“Having played in Europe a couple of times already it’s special to play the teams from the other side of the big ocean,” he said. “You learn a lot, it’s always fun, it’s always good memories.
“As a country we’ve developed in the last two or three years, but now it's time to prove it and obviously the US is the team to beat. You want to meet any team from over there as late as possible (in the tournament) and we were unfortunate enough to meet the Americans in the quarterfinals in Israel and that was the end of our run to the playoffs. The expectation is to win gold.
Despite his nation’s thrilling upset win over Japan in the 2023 IFAF Asia-Oceania games, Preston sees New Zealand as building a foundation and considers USA to be the team to beat.
“It’s called American football, right?” he said. “Going up against those guys is the dream and for a small country like New Zealand, a lot of our us guys haven’t had an opportunity to go against some of the European teams and some of the American teams. We’re excited for that opportunity but right we’re now focused on our growth and particularly game one against Korea.”
When asked which teams might pose a threat to the US crown, Mapp identified Italy, Panama, Germany and of course perennial continental rival Mexico. Klever believes a European team could make its way into contention.
“The quality in Europe is rising as we speak,” he explained. “I’ve been doing this for quite a long time, since 2007, and the quality has got like it’s crazy now. Every game is really close, everyone can beat everyone on a good day, and I think the first top eight teams in Europe are quite on an equal level. I’m looking forward to playing potentially teams from Asia.”
The trio was asked about their group opponents they will come up against at the Pajulahti Olympic Centre.
“We play against known opponents,” said Klever, whose Germany team is in all-European Group C with Great Britain, Sweden and Georgia. “We play players from Great Britain in club tournaments all around Europe multiple times a year, so there are no really unfamiliar faces. I would say so Great Britain in my eyes will definitely the toughest game.
“Sweden, we had last year and they’re a young talented team with a new quarterback who is now coming from tackle football. It will be interesting to see how they developed from last year last year. Basically, we can’t find anything about Georgia, so they’re unknown to us.”
Reviewing Group A, where the United States come up against Spain, Brazil and Serbia, Mapp said: “Everybody’s going to try to upset and I’ve played against Brazil and Spain before, but I don't know too much about Serbia. We do know we’ll get everybody’s best game, so we have to make sure we bring our A-game every time we come out there on the field.”
New Zealand came agonizingly close to winning the Asia-Oceania tournament last year, having to settle for the silver medal. Other than a match up with Korea, who they twelve months ago, their Group F opponents are new to the Kiwis.
“We haven’t come across Panama yet,” Preston said. “They’ve got a great team and we’re looking forward to going up against them and Czechia. Last year in Malaysia, Korea were a couple of dropped passes away from being a real contender in the group game, so it is one of those groups where anyone can beat anyone, so you can’t take it lightly. Yeah, we’re excited.”
USA opens the defense of its title at 9.15am on Tuesday, August 27 on Field 1, Germany goes up against Sweden at 10.30am on Field 5, and New Zealand debuts against Korea at 11.45am on Field 5. All games will be streamed live at IFAF.TV.
