The road leading to the 2026 Flag Football World Championshipsis drawn. The International Federation of American Football (IFAF) has unveiled a new qualification formatfor the competition in order to "increase competitiveness"of the process. The host country and the four continental championswill automatically qualify. The number of places awarded to each continent then varies according to performance achieved at the 2024 World Championships. In the men's category, Europe is the best placed with five additional tickets, compared to three for the American continent and one for Asia or Oceania. Two final places are distributed on the basis of merit: one for Asia or Oceania due to Japan's 11th place at the 2024 Worlds, and the other for the Americas thanks to Panama's 13th place last year. The women's tournament will award four additional spots to Europe, three to the Americas, and two to Asia and Oceania. The merit rule will award the last two tickets to Europe and the Americas. In total, sixteen teams will be in the running in each tournament, male and female. "By adopting this system, IFAF is creating universal qualification places, whilerewarding the competitiveness of the continents, rejoices Fabio Tortosa, IFAF competitions director.This qualification format allows nations to gain more places for their continent by demonstrating their global competitiveness." It is up to everyone to shine in 2026 to obtain better representation in the next edition.
