--- title: "USA flag football teams lose at 2026 IFAF World Championships in Düsseldorf; first international loss in 14 years." sdDatePublished: "2026-08-25T16:12:00Z" source: "https://www.olympics.com/en/news/usa-flag-football-world-championships-la28-winning-streak-american-samoa-results" topics: - name: "sport" identifier: "medtop:15000000" - name: "sport event" identifier: "medtop:20001108" - name: "sport achievement" identifier: "medtop:20001301" - name: "Olympic Games" identifier: "medtop:20001177" - name: "football" identifier: "medtop:20001065" locations: - "Los Angeles" - "Chengdu" - "Düsseldorf" - "Canada" - "Israel" - "Mexico" - "Japan" - "American Samoa" - "Italy" - "Germany" - "United States" --- USA flag football teams lose at 2026 IFAF World Championships in Düsseldorf; first international loss in 14 years. USA flag football teams relish wake-up call before LA28: “We’ve been needing something to humble us” USA flag football teams relish wake-up call before LA28: “We’ve been needing something to humble us” The IFAF Flag Football World Championships had plenty of surprises in store for the U.S. teams. Olympics.com spoke to the players and coaches about why they were grateful for the adversity they faced. No team likes to lose a history-making winning streak in their sport. But for the USA's men's and women's flag football players, defeats at the 2026 IFAF Flag Football World Championships – two years before the home Olympic Games at LA28 – were seen as a blessing. “It's good. Sometimes you need to be punched in the face and react to it and stand up and keep on going ,” wide receiver and defensive back Ja’Deion High told Olympics.com after the U.S. men lost their first international match in 14 years against the tournament’s lowest-ranked team, American Samoa. “We've been needing something to put us on that level to humble us.” Being on the losing side of the scoreboard is not a feeling the USA – the ultimate authority in flag football, the sport’s inventors and guardians, its formidable Goliath – are familiar with. The U.S. men's group stage game against world debutants American Samoa in Düsseldorf was supposed to be a mere stepping stone to a seventh world title . Instead, it revealed that they were vulnerable on the eve of their home Olympic Games*, even if they did go on to claim their sixth straight gold medal by beating European champions Italy 46-26 in the final. In the women’s tournament, the U.S. came in as the three-time, back-to-back world champions . They were determined to defend their crown and regain the No.1 world ranking they lost to Mexico in 2025. But they narrowly scraped through the knockout games against Germany and Great Britain, before falling to Canada in the gold medal game. However, just like their male counterparts, the overwhelming mood on the women's side after a rare defeat was that of gratitude. The losses had exposed the cracks in the two USA teams, but they also revealed the grit of their players and reunited them around a common goal – a first-ever Olympic gold medal in flag football. “We had faced a lot of adversity over the last year and even in this tournament alone with some injuries, some ups and downs, but I'm very proud of our perseverance and our resilience,” said the women’s team defensive back Deliah Autry-Jones . “Instead of pointing fingers, blaming each other, we definitely have learnt to come together and lean on each other in those tough moments.” *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. How to qualify for flag football at LA28 Olympics: The qualification system explained Team USA quarterback Nico Casares can't wait to get the ball rolling at 2026 IFAF Flag Football World Championship The USA men won their seventh world title at the 2026 IFAF Flag Football World Championships The pride and pressure of a USA flag football jersey For more than a decade, the USA teams – the men, in particular – have upheld the golden standard in flag football. And for just as much time, they have been the hunted teams, the ones that rival players circled in red on their game calendars. “We always tell (our players) we expect the best from every team that we play against,” said the USA men’s head coach Jorge Cascudo . “ When they play us, it's like their Super Bowl .” The intensity of these clashes has become even greater since the October 2023 announcement that flag football will be part of the Olympic programme at Los Angeles 2028. The competition has got so tough, in fact, that even experienced U.S. players who have battled past the most valiant underdogs in the past were taken aback by the opposition they faced in Düsseldorf. “It was unexpected, I'm not gonna lie,” High said. “It kind of put you out like, ‘All right, these people around the world are getting way better ’.” While the 38-32 group stage loss to world No.33 American Samoa rallied High and his teammates for a commanding 40-24 win over Israel later the same day, the knockout stage had them teetering on the brink of defeat twice more. They trailed Japan until the last two minutes of their quarter-final and faced a similar scenario when Mexico soared into the lead with late drives. Scrambling to respond with a touchdown of their own, USA managed to halt further damage with an interception two seconds before the final whistle, but the tight game still had them visibly rattled. USA women also faced a challenge much earlier than expected. In the quarter-final, they left it up to the last touchdown and conversion to squeeze past ninth-ranked Germany with a one-point lead. In the semi-final, they trailed to Great Britain by as much as 14 points at different parts of the game and did not go into the lead until there was less than a minute left on the clock. Wearing the USA jersey in flag football comes with great pride, but also plenty of pressure Darrell Doucette: “Facing adversity made us stronger” These were not the results USA fans had expected to see as they watched the games from the stands with enough stars-and-stripes flags, banners and tinsel to stock a Fourth of July party. Their players had not risen to the near superhuman standard they were upheld to, but curiously, there was no sense of dejection within the team huddles themselves. The athletes were far from discouraged. On the contrary, it was in these low moments that they found new strength and purpose. “It actually made us stronger as a team, going through adversity, facing adversity,” said experienced quarterback Darrell "Housh" Doucette . “It made us a better team. I love the fact that my guys were ready for these moments.” Coach Cascudo added: “I'm extremely proud because we haven't had this much adversity prior to this and it just shows the character of our guys. We bend but we don't break . We don't give up. We keep fighting. Hopefully that'll motivate us now, moving forward, and we start a new winning streak.” Reflecting back on the four days of competition, USA men’s and women’s players were unanimous in their self-analysis: They had left the tournament as changed teams, more resilient and more united. “A lot of adversity you take on with each other, the chemistry builds, the organisation gets better,” said High. “I think it was needed. I don't think we've ever been put down like that. For us, we have some new pieces on the team, so it actually brought us stronger together so that we could take a loss and still keep on moving forward.” While the feelings of vulnerability were new for the men’s side, the USA women had already experienced shadows of them a year ago when they lost the 2025 World Games final to Mexico, which also cost them the No.1 spot in the world ranking. “We all understood that we had to find ourselves again and find our love for the game,” Autry-Jones said of how the team regrouped after the loss in Chengdu, People’s Republic of China. “I like where we are right now. There's a lot of potential. There's also a lot of room for growth. I think this tournament itself is a testament to how much other programmes are strengthening and how much more we have to do so that we can continue to elevate and separate ourselves.” USA men gather in a huddle after each game and raise their index fingers in a universal sign of one USA’s winning formula ahead of LA28 While the USA games in Düsseldorf were tighter than expected and exposed some vulnerabilities on the teams, the players have no doubt that all the winning pieces are already there. “Electric,” Autry-Jones summed up her team's standout quality. “We're fast, we're big, we're aggressive, and we bring the heat a lot of the time. We're just somebody you got to prep for.” The USA men are also a team opponents undoubtedly have to prep for: talented athletes, teammates, and brothers in all but blood. “We always have each other's back ,” Doucette said. “That's what it's all about, having each other's back.” As they gather in a huddle after each game – 12 players and their coaches anchoring each other, their hands brought together in the centre, index fingers raised in a universal sign of one – it takes no effort to guess at the goal that unites them. After all, no matter what transformation the USA teams undergo through adversity, one thing is sure to remain unchanged – their almost insatiable hunger for gold. “It's the best feeling in the world,” quarterback Nico Casares said after his team won their seventh world title. “The feeling never leaves and it's going to continue to be that way. And everyone talked about our streak being broken of 14 years on the field and whatnot. Well, six gold medals in a row, that streak isn't broken . So we're going to continue with that streak and keep on getting better.” Flag football players herald sport's golden era at first Olympic qualifier Flag football will make its Olympic debut at Los Angeles 2028 and the players are thrilled not only about the new opportunities this offers them but also what it means for the growth of their sport. Olympics.com spoke to top athletes about flag football’s new era during the 2026 IFAF Flag Football World Championships in Düsseldorf, Germany, the first-ever Olympic qualifier in the sport. The Associated Press via IFAF The Associated Press via IFAF Flag Football | World Championships | Düsseldorf | Germany