United States flag football teams compete for Olympic quotas at the 2026 IFAF World Championships in Düsseldorf, Germany; Four LA28 spots on offer.

First quotas for LA28 on the line at 2026 IFAF Flag Football World Championships: Top teams, tournament format and how to watch the Olympic qualifier live

Four Olympic quotas are on offer at the flag football qualifier for LA28 where the sport will make its Olympic debut. Discover more about the tournament’s top contenders, format and schedule below.

The road to the inaugural Olympic flag football competition begins at the 2026 IFAF Flag Football World Championships where 16 men’s and 16 women’s teams will battle it out for world titles and four quota spots for the LA28 Olympic Games .

The tournament will be held at the Flag Football Complex of the Koblenzer Straße district sports facility in Düsseldorf, Germany , from 13 to 16 August .

The top two eligible teams of each gender will obtain Olympic quota places. The United States already has men’s and women’s quotas as the host nation, so if their teams place among the top two in either event, the bronze-medal-winning team will receive the quota instead.

Both U.S. teams arrive to the 12th edition of the biennial event as the reigning world champions. The USA men have won the last five tournaments while the women have claimed the last three. But this long-standing dominance could be shifting, at least on the women’s side, where Mexico have taken over as the top-ranked team after beating USA at The World Games in August 2025.

On the other end of the spectrum, American Samoa men and Slovenia women are hoping to impress in their world championships debuts.

Discover the key storylines from the first flag football Olympic qualifier, the tournament format and groups, full schedule of games and how to watch the action live.

Teams that have qualified for the IFAF Flag Football World Championships 2026

Flag football: FAQs about the sport set to debut at Los Angeles 2028

As National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective teams at the Olympic Games, athletes’ participation at the LA Games depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation at LA28.

IFAF Flag Football World Championships 2026: Tournament format and Olympic qualification

The men’s and women’s tournaments feature 16 teams each, split into four groups per gender.

The games in Düsseldorf will be held on three fields simultaneously, starting with the round robin stage where each team plays the other three teams in their group.

The best two teams in each group advance to the quarter-finals while the bottom two teams will play in placement games. The men’s and women’s semi-finals take place on Friday (15 August) while the medal games, which not only decide the next world champions but also the teams qualified for the LA28 Olympic Games, are held on Sunday.

A total of six quotas per gender is available for the flag football tournament at LA28. One quota in each tournament goes to the host nation USA, two will be awarded at the 2026 IFAF Flag Football World Championships, and the last three at the Olympic Q-Series , which take place in May and June 2028.

IFAF Flag Football World Championships 2026: Groups

Group A: United States, Australia, Israel, American Samoa

Group B: Austria, Japan, Canada, Nigeria*

Group C: Mexico, Switzerland, Germany, Brazil

Group D: Italy, France, Great Britain, Panama

Group A: Mexico, Italy, Germany, Slovenia

Group B: United States, Spain, Australia, Nigeria*

Group C: Great Britain, Austria, France, People’s Republic of China

Group D, Canada, Japan, Panama, Brazil

*Nigeria’s men and women qualified for the 2026 IFAF Flag Football World Championships as reigning African champions but will be unable to make their worlds debut due to visa issues, the International Federation of American Football, the National Sports Commission of Nigeria and the Nigerian Federation of American Football announced in a joint statement on the eve of the tournament. Teams scheduled to play Nigeria in the group stage will be awarded automatic victories for those games.

Flag Football on the Road to Los Angeles 2028: why this is the sport everyone can play

It’s inclusive. It’s fast. It’s addictive. It’s magical. Ahead of its Olympic debut at Los Angeles 2028, flag football athletes at the World Games in Chengdu reveal why this sport is so special: from all body types, ages and skills to creating a family on and off the field. Global stars like Diana Flores from Mexico or Vanita Krouch from the US explain why you are going to love this sport.

Teams to watch: Women’s tournament

The battle for the women’s world title promises to be the most exciting one in recent years with three-time champions United States coming in as the chasers for the first time in eight years and 17-year-old Akemi Higa stepping up as their new quarterback.

The reigning world champions had a firm hold on the top position in the IFAF World Ranking until a loss to Mexico in the final of the World Games 2025 knocked them down to second. The tournament in Düsseldorf will mark their first appearance at an international competition since then.

Led by team veteran and flag football’s global ambassador Diana Flores , Mexico won three world titles – in 2004, 2008 and 2012 – though all of these came before USA women asserted their dominance on the international scene, so a fourth title would be even more special.

In addition to their top rank, Mexico are reigning Americas champions from 2025 after beat world No.4 Canada 12-0 in a memorable game disrupted by an electrical storm. Canada look to build on that historic best finish with experienced quarterback Sara Parker at the helm.

Europe will have strong representation in Great Britain , who won the 2023 and 2025 editions of the continental championships, and four-time European champions Austria looking to tap into their former glory days and move up the rankings.

People’s Republic of China , the 2025 Asia-Oceania Flag Football Championships winners, have already shifted the balance of power on the Asian continent and are now hoping to repeat that success on the global stage. Their flag football squad has shown great improvement since the sport was included in the Olympic programme, but with less than two years until LA28, it remains to be seen if the timeline is too tight for China to obtain one of the available quotas.

Slovenia are set to make their first appearance in an opening match against top 10-ranked Italy .

Teams to watch: Men’s tournament

Reigning world champions United States are going for a record-extending six world titles in a row, having not lost the tournament final since 2012 when they placed second to Austria.

They have won six of the 11 world titles since the Flag Football World Championships were first held in 2002 and remain the team to beat ahead of the inaugural Olympic competition in the sport.

Australia will be out to test USA early on in their Group A round robin game. Winners of the 2025 Asia-Oceania Flag Football Championships, Australia have seen a lot of progress in the last six months after switching to a centralised training program.

Austria are the last team to have beaten USA on the world stage when they won the world title 14 years ago. While they have not claimed world or European titles since, their results remain consistent and they are ranked second in the world.

France is the third most-decorated nation in the history of the Flag Football World Championships, They won gold in 2006 to add to their bronze medals from earlier editions, but have not stood on the podium since 2008. The 2025 European bronze medallists start their campaign by trying to upset reigning European champions Italy in Group D.

The Mexican men’s team will hope to match the success of their women’s side, their first test coming from hosts Germany in the opening match of the tournament. The Germans, 2023 European champions, are riding the wave of flag football’s growing popularity at home as they look to repeat or improve on their best-ever placement at the Worlds so far – silver medals at the 2002 and 2004 editions of the tournament.

American Samoa , which finished third at the 2025 Asia-Oceania Flag Football Championships. are making their debut at the event.

Super Bowl to Olympic superstar? NFL players share their flag football favorites for LA28

With flag football making an Olympic debut at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, we asked the stars of the Seattle Seahawks NFL team, who are preparing to face the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX, which of their teammates have the skills to make it on to Team USA. Find out what Sam Darnold, Cooper Kupp, Leonard Williams, Julian Love, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba had to say, and who Darnold picked as his favorite Olympian.

IFAF Flag Football World Championships 2026: Full schedule of group stage, playoffs and medal games

All times are local Central European Summer Time (UTC+2).

USA vs Australia (women) - 8:00

Japan vs Brazil (women) - 8:00

Canada vs Panama (women) - 8:00

Mexico vs Germany (women) - 9:15

Spain vs Nigeria* (women) - 9:15

Italy vs Slovenia (women) - 9:15

Austria vs China (women) - 10:30

Great Britain vs France (women) - 10:30

Mexico vs Germany (men) - 10:30

Italy vs Great Britain (men) - 11:45

Austria vs Canada (men) - 11:45

Switzerland vs Brazil (men) - 11:45

USA vs Israel (men) - 13:00

France vs Panama (men) - 13:00

Japan vs Nigeria* (men) - 13:00

Japan vs Panama (women) - 14:15

Brazil vs Canada (women) - 14:15

Australia vs American Samoa (men) - 14:15

Italy vs Germany (women) - 15:30

Nigeria* vs USA (women) - 15:30

Spain vs Australia (women) - 15:30

Switzerland vs Germany (men) - 18:00

Brazil vs Mexico (men) - 18:00

Austria vs France (women) - 16:45

China vs Great Britain (women) - 16:45

Slovenia vs Mexico (women) - 16:45

France vs Great Britain (men) - 19:15

Panama vs Italy (men) - 19:15

Nigeria* vs Austria (men) - 8:00

Japan vs Canada (men) - 8:00

Australia vs Israel (men) - 8:00

Germany vs Slovenia (women) - 9:15

Panama vs Brazil (women) - 9:15

American Samoa vs USA (men) - 9:15

Great Britain vs Austria (women) - 10:30

Canada vs Japan (women) - 10:30

Australia vs Nigeria* (women) - 10:30

USA vs Spain (women) - 11:45

France vs China (women) - 11:45

Mexico vs Italy (women) - 11:45

Germany vs Brazil (men) - 13:00

Great Britain vs Panama (men) - 13:00

Mexico vs Switzerland (men) - 14:15

Italy vs France (men) - 14:15

Canada vs Nigeria* (men) - 14:15

USA vs Australia (men) - 15:30

Austria vs Japan (men) - 15:30

Israel vs American Samoa (men) - 15:30

Quarter-finals - A1 vs B2 (women) - 9:15

Quarter-finals - D1 vs C2 (women) - 9:15

Quarter-finals - B1 vs A2 (women) - 10:30

Quarter-finals - C1 vs D2 (women) - 10:30

Quarter-finals - A1 vs B2 (men) - 11:45

Quarter-finals - D1 vs C2 (men) - 11:45

Quarter-finals - B1 vs A2 (men) - 13:00

Quarter-finals - C1 vs D2 (men) - 13:00

Semi-finals - Winner Quarter-final 1 vs Winner Quarter-final 4 (women) - 16:45

Semi-finals - Winner Quarter-final 2 vs Winner Quarter-final 3 (women) - 16:45

Semi-finals - Winner Quarter-final 1 vs Winner Quarter-final 4 (men) - 19:15

Semi-finals - Winner Quarter-final 2 vs Winner Quarter-final 3 (men) - 19:15

Bronze medal game (women) - 14:15

Bronze medal game (men) - 15:30

Gold medal game (women) - 16:45

Gold medal game (men) - 18:00

IFAF Flag Football World Championships 2026: How to watch live

The action from the Flag Football World Championships will be streamed on DAZN for the first time this year after the sports platform acquired global rights to IFAF flag football competitions in a multi-year agreement leading up to LA28.

The games will be free-to-view in more than 200 markets.

Flag Football | World Championships | Düsseldorf | Germany