It’s the most wonderful time of the year.
But this isn’t an Andy Williams song, or the onset of the festive season. It’s September, the month when no less than three compelling IFAF tournaments bring the gift of flag football at its finest to fans of the sport.
Hot on the heels of Mexico’s stunning defense of its crown at The World Games comes the Americas Flag continental championships in Panama. Europe’s finest head to Paris for Euro Flag 2025 and the aspiring future Olympic stars of tomorrow head to Austria and Panama to compete for titles at the U17 and U15 levels.
Thirty days hath September and for more than a third of those, more than 1,200 athletes from 107 national team squads representing 36 nations will play more than 300 games in Austria, Panama and France. The good news is that IFAF.TV will stream the best of the action live.
2025 IFAF European Youth Flag Football Championships presented by Raiffeisen Club Tirol
The action begins this Thursday when the American Football Zentrum Innsbruck and the Sportanlage Wiesengasse in the Tyrolean capital welcomes the continent’s top youth players at the from September 4 to 6. Group games will be played on Thursday and Friday with Saturday, September 6 featuring medal and placement games.
The young athletes will represent the youth national teams of Austria, Czechia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Israel, Italy, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland and Ukraine.
“The anticipation among the players and coaching staff is enormous, as this is a home European Championship and we get to play in front of our own fans and the players´ parents,” says Austria U17 Boys head coach Andreas Tesar. “It is always very important for the development of this sport to be able to play in such tournaments. The high standard of the European Championships also raises the general level of the game. The publicity generated for our sport also helps the development of flag football as well as American football as a whole.”
Six fields will host games simultaneously, beginning at 9am CET on September 4 with Germany vs Czechia and Great Britain vs Ukraine (both U15 Mixed), Switzerland vs Israel and Italy vs Spain (both U17 Boys) and Spain vs Germany (U17 Girls). The full schedule and scores will be available at https://www.flagyouthec.at/.
IFAF Americas Flag 2025 Continental Championship
The two top ranked women’s teams in the world – the United States and Mexico – headline a competitive field. Mexico quarterback Diana Flores and her USA counterpart Vanita Krouch are two iconic faces of international flag football and will resume a rivalry that has illuminated multiple tournaments, most recently The World Games in China, where Mexico clinched victory as time elapsed.
“We are honored to host the continent’s elite flag football adult players and some of the world superstars of our sport in Panama for what will be an exciting tournament,” said Luis Alfredo Navas, President of the American Football Federation of Panama (AFFP).
In the men’s competition, reigning champions the United States are set to renew a rivalry with Mexico, the nation they beat in the 2023 gold medal game. Panama’s men finished third at the 2023 continental championships, having won the bronze medal at the 2021 IFAF Flag Football World Championships in Israel.
Panama’s women were crowned world champions in 2016, won the silver medal when Panama hosted the IFAF World Championships in 2018 and took bronze at The World Games in 2022. They were edged out of a continental medal by Canada in 2023, who also claimed bronze last month at The World Games.
U15 and U17 boys’ and girls’ national teams will add to the festivities as teams representing Mexico, Panama and Guatemala compete for continental bragging rights.
EURO FLAG 2025
France will host the IFAF European Flag Football Championships from September 25 to 27 at the Val-de-Marne Interdepartmental Sports Park in Choisy-le-Roi, Val-de-Marne, in the southeast suburbs of Paris.
Great Britain’s women defend their title won in Limerick, Ireland, in 2023 and face competition from Austria, who finished fourth at the 2024 IFAF Flag Football World Championships and are ranked fourth in the world. The talented field includes last year’s beaten finalists and 2019 champions Spain, who are ranked seventh, Germany (8th), Italy (10th) and hosts France (11th).
France wide receiver and IFAF NFL Global Flag Football Ambassador Elisa de Santis said: “It is always an honor to represent your country and to win championships, but to become the European champion as the host nation would be very special.”
In the men’s competition, reigning champion Germany faces challenges from the likes of the second-ranked nation in the world Austria, world championship bronze medalists Switzerland and three other teams ranked inside the world Top 10: France (5th), Italy (6th), and Israel (9th).
Host France is the second-most successful nation in the history of the competition. The men were crowned champions in 2005 before both the men’s and women’s teams won gold in 2007.
Both adult competitions in Panama and France will also serve as qualifiers for the 2026 IFAF Flag Football World Championships to be held in Dusseldorf, Germany, from August 13 to 16 next year.
Photo: Ernesto Campuzano
