IFAF World Flag Championship 2026
Sixteen men's and sixteen women's national teams meet in Düsseldorf for two world titles and the first direct tickets to the 2028 Olympics. Here is everything you need to know: when it is, what is at stake, who is competing, the schedule, and how to follow and watch.
The first Olympic tickets are on the line
Flag football makes its Olympic debut at Los Angeles 2028 with six teams per gender. Düsseldorf is the first direct qualifier on the road there. The two men's finalists and the two women's finalists earn automatic LA28 berths, decided on the final day. The remaining places will be settled later through the IFAF continental championships in 2027 and a final qualifying event. The United States, as host nation, already holds Olympic berths, which raises the stakes for every other contender chasing the limited spots that remain.
Olympic berths
The top two men's teams and top two women's teams qualify directly for the LA28 Olympic tournament.
World titles
Men's and women's world champions are crowned on August 16, the tournament's final day.
The team to beat
The United States won both titles at the 2024 Worlds and enters Düsseldorf as the defending champion on each side.
The field and the group draw
Nineteen nations across five continents send 32 squads. Each gender is split into four groups of four, seeded by the IFAF World Rankings in a serpentine order, with the United States topping both draws. Group play feeds a knockout bracket that culminates in the medal games.
Group A
- 1United States
- 2Australia
- 3Israel
- 4American Samoa
Group B
- 1Austria
- 2Japan
- 3Canada
- 4Nigeria
Group C
- 1Mexico
- 2Switzerland
- 3Germany
- 4Brazil
Group D
- 1Italy
- 2France
- 3Great Britain
- 4Panama
Group A
- 1Mexico
- 2Italy
- 3Germany
- 4Slovenia
Group B
- 1United States
- 2Spain
- 3Australia
- 4Nigeria
Group C
- 1Great Britain
- 2Austria
- 3France
- 4China
Group D
- 1Canada
- 2Japan
- 3Panama
- 4Brazil
Three nations field men's teams only (Israel, Switzerland, American Samoa) and three field women's teams only (Spain, Slovenia, China). Seeds reflect the serpentine draw order, not final standings.
Four days, two champions
The tournament runs Thursday through Sunday. Group play opens the event, the bracket narrows the field across the middle days, and the medal games and Olympic qualification are settled on Sunday. Exact kickoff times and the full match grid are published on the official event site.
Opening day. Group stage begins for both the men's and women's tournaments.
Group play continues as seeding for the knockout rounds takes shape.
Group stage concludes and the knockout bracket gets underway.
Semifinals, medal games, and the two Olympic qualifying spots per gender are decided.
The full match-by-match grid is below. Schedule per IFAF (released May 2026), subject to change. Official source: worldflag26.com.
Every game, by day
The full grid as released by IFAF. Group games are set; from the knockout rounds on, teams are decided by results. Switch between the men's and women's tournaments, pick a day, and flip the clock between Düsseldorf local time and US Eastern.
Times are kickoff times. CEST is six hours ahead of US Eastern. Fields: the New England Patriots Field and the Sebastian Vollmer Field. Knockout participants depend on group results.
Where to catch every game
Watch on DAZN Confirmed
DAZN holds the global broadcast rights and will carry both the men's and women's championships free to view in more than 200 markets worldwide. The full broadcast schedule and match times are still to be published.
Open DAZNAttend in person On sale
Tickets are on sale through the official event site, including seats for both World Championship finals at the Garath flag football complex in Düsseldorf.
Tickets & infoFollow the federation
IFAF posts results, brackets, and roster news in real time across its channels. Standings update live throughout the four days.
IFAF officialMatch-by-match times Pending
The full fixture grid with kickoff times and broadcast windows had not been finalized at publication. We will update this page as IFAF releases it.
Check FlagsOnlyA purpose-built home for the sport
All matches are played at the flag football complex in Düsseldorf-Garath, the first dedicated facility of its kind in Germany. The City of Düsseldorf opened the complex with the NFL's New England Patriots in April 2025. It holds two competition fields, the New England Patriots Flag Football Field and the Sebastian Vollmer Flag Football Field, named for the German-born two-time Super Bowl champion.