IFAF Flag football World championship in Israel is just around the corner

Can the USA become a back to back champion, or is the Denmark side finally ready to make an upset in the man division? Those two national teams are the flag football powerhouses. 

Who is claiming the throne in the woman division? Is the USA too good for Mexico, or is Panama finally getting their golden team? 

Flag football as a sport is getting more and more attention. With NFL superstar Russell Wilson in the realm of NFL Flag is growing and pursuing the sport to become an Olympic sport in Los Angeles 2028. With the addition, Flag Football became a sport introduced in World Games in 2022, Birmingham, Alabama. The best eight teams in the Flag football world championship will get the ticket to participate at the most significant international American football stage ever! 

This world championship of the non-contact version of American football could be even more interesting if the few national teams didn't change their plans during the COVID situation. Canada, Slovenia and UK (such a shame) are respectable flag football countries that will wait until the next World Championship. That leaves at least one spot at the top 8 opened. 

How many groups and which teams are drawn into them, we will show you in the minute. Just continue to read. But first, we would like to say that the Flag football community is growing every day. There are more than 3000 flag football teams around the Globe, and we believe in the next World Championship, we will see some countries from the third world, such as Ghana, UAE, Papua New Guinea. Hopefully, the "Flag football train" will jump players from Australia, New Zealand, maybe even Martinique. Give us some love at our Instagram account so you can find everything about flag football and the nations which are putting in some effort so the sport can grow! 

Here you can find all the information you need about Group A. We made our power rankings with the help of Joe Cotterill, Julian Holburn White, Lev Petukhov and Aljoša Kous. 

Group A Male

Chile France Spain* Sweden USA (Slovenia Canada out, Spain comes in)

1st place the United States of America

The USA is bringing the best flag football players from their American flag football league, and the biggest star is Darrell Doucette. The Americans are stacked at the QB position with Eric Holliday, Brian Alfieri and Doucette. Greg Meek and Terrance Fox were USA national team members in 2018 when they won the gold medal. Frankie Solomon and Brandel Webb are going to be the pain in the ass for many WR's. So we (Joe Cotterill, Julian Holburn White, Lev Petukhov and Aljoša Kous) think that the USA is easily a team for the first place. 

2nd place France

France is heading to the World championship without their best QB Anthony Riquin who broke his ankle at the Championship bowl month ago. Scott Harrison leads to the WC with a chip on a shoulder because he can be the playmaker France needs him to get second place, the ticket to the World games in Alabama in 2022. Adrian Darmana is one of the best defenders in France, and he knows how to play against "big boys" with all the experience he has from the biggest tournaments. All eyes will be on Damien Sabatini, the backup QB who plays for Grenoble Centaurs. Jeremy Pot will be in "the pot" to make some plays too. A shifty athlete known for ankle-breaking skills will be a player to make the french side even more potent. 

3rd place Spain

We talked a lot about doing some injustice to the Spaniards, but we still think France has a slightly better chance against the Spaniards. But maybe we are wrong, and the Spaniards will prove to the flag football community that they deserve a spot at the World games! 

Oscar de Luna will be a floor general of the Spaniard offence. Jesus Batista, an Atlantic Devils star, has the last chance to prove his worth and have a shot at the medal. Jesus Clemente and Roque Alarcon are to go guys for de Luna playing together at the Valencia Firebats. On the defence side, many eyes will be on Alvaro Juan Casinos, a player from LG Oled Rozas Black Demons and Luis Baeza from San Juan Dolphins. Spaniards played some friendly matches in Austria, so they are match ready. Defensive coordinator Devin Adkins knows all the teams and understands their play style, so that's maybe a way to clinch 2nd place in the group. 

4th place Sweden 

Sweden is coming to the Mundial without maybe one of the best two players. QB1 of the national team and Uppsala 86ers Phillip Smith got injured in the championship bowl where 86ers started strong with 4-0. And Erik Lagersrtom, who is not in the mix in the national team. All eyes will be on the probably best player Sweden ever had in flag football Sundiata Owens. An athlete who can cover and fill the void on both sides of the playing field. In offence, there will be a lot to expect from his 86ers teammate Matas Menkis, a WR. The void at the QB position will be probably filled by Tore Malmström from Stockholm Mean Machines who never played on a bigger stage. We hardly know who will play on the defence side, but we bet the rushers duo Max Akesson from Marvels and Robert Almstrand, Ale Brewers will have to put a lot of effort into becoming the QB's biggest nightmare. Almstrand has the potential to be one of the biggest surprises at the tournament. The question is can the defence hold and if Hugo Petersson, Lukas Ollson, Pontus Andersson and Simon Hornestedt can hold the fort against much better WR's who play on a bigger level than Sweden. On paper Swedens looks like a B-team and they are in the most challenging group for them, so we expect the fourth place will be a battle of Vikings and the Mapuche warriors. 

5th place Chile

Mapuche warriors are going to start their first effort on the flag football scene in Israel. American football as a sport there is growing, especially with the Chilean native Tight End for the Washington Football club Sammis Reyes. 

So We know a little about the Chilean national team. But we know if they have at least something similar to Sammis Reyes of the players, they can make some noise at the IFAF world championship. The Chile federation posted the players' names, but we didn't get any information from their side, so we could write a lot about them. They publish many videos and photos, but we just cannot gain any information we could give to you, such as who is their QB and who is their best player on the offence and defence. So we will have to wait and to see how they are going to perform.