Photo: IFAF/Kenny Beele.
Two years before its Olympic debut, flag football is ready to show what it's made of. The best players in the world will meet in Düsseldorf from August 13 to 16 for the World Championships. A total of 19 countries from all five continents will field one team, or even two, as the event includes both men's and women's tournaments. Riding the momentum of its 2025 continental championships, flag football aims to solidify its position by bringing together the very best.
An "exceptional" host in a country that lives and breathes American football
Coming to Germany makes perfect sense for flag football. It was the second European country, after the UK, to host an NFL game. The Seahawks and Buccaneers battled it out in Munich in 2022, and since then, Germany has become a must-play destination: two games in Frankfurt in 2023, one in Munich in 2024, one in Berlin in 2025, another in Munich in November, and so on. Germany is even the largest European market with approximately 20 million NFL fans.
« Düsseldorf's strong connection to American football and its fans makes it an exceptional host “This is a real opportunity,” emphasized Pierre Trochet, the IFAF president, at the time of the award. Düsseldorf boasts a dedicated flag football complex, and the NFL's New England Patriots even inaugurated a field there in April. Temporary stands have been erected to accommodate up to 5.000 spectators. Admission is free for the first three days of competition, provided a pass is reserved online on the event website. Tickets for Sunday's games, starting at €5, have been sold out for weeks. Selling tickets for flag football was something Pierre Trochet wouldn't have dared imagine a few years ago.
« We already have a dozen bids for the 2027 continental championships and we had three bids for the world championships.the leader pointed out a few months agoComparing it to 10 years ago is virtually impossible. This momentum is evident in the number of organizations, but also in the number of players and the number of federations forming to join the IFAF. I hope we'll be around 80 by the end of 2026. This translates into ticket sales, sponsorships, participation, and federations. It's truly a golden age for American football. The IFAF has just officially announced a multi-year partnership with Nike, a further sign of flag football's potential, according to its president. This partnership will take effect at these World Championships, where the top two women's and men's teams (excluding the USA) will qualify for the 2028 Olympic Games.
