Jump to content

United States men's national flag football team

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

United States men's national flag football team
AssociationUSA Football
ConfederationIFAF Americas
Medal record
World Championship
Gold medal – first place 2010 Ottawa Team
Gold medal – first place 2014 Grosseto Team
Gold medal – first place 2016 Miami Team
Gold medal – first place 2018 Panama City Team
Gold medal – first place 2021 Jerusalem Team
Gold medal – first place 2024 Lahti Team
Silver medal – second place 2012 Gothenburg Team
World Games
Gold medal – first place 2022 Birmingham Team
WebsiteOfficial website

The United States men's national flag football team represents the United States in men's international flag football matches. The sport is governed by USA Football. In 2023, the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) ranked the United States men's team 1st worldwide.[1]

Team USA has won the won the IFAF Flag Football World Championship six times, most recently in 2024; which are the most championships won by a country for the tournaments. In 2022, Team USA won a gold medal at the World Games.

Competitive record

[edit]

  Champions    Runners-up    Third place    Fourth place  

IFAF World Championship

[edit]
IFAF Flag Football World Championship
Year Result Pos Pld W D L PF PA
Austria 2002 Did not participate
France 2004
South Korea 2006
Canada 2008 Fourth place 4th
Canada 2010 Champions 1st
Sweden 2012 Runners-up 2nd
Italy 2014 Champions 1st
United States 2016 Champions 1st
Panama 2018 Champions 1st
Israel 2021 Champions 1st 7 7 0 0 392 125
Finland 2024 Champions 1st 7 7 0 0 370 111
Total 6 Titles 8/11

World Games

[edit]
World Games
Year Result Pos Pld W D L PF PA
United States 2022 Champions 1st 6 6 0 0 205 89
Total 1 Title 1/1 6 6 0 0 205 89

Summary

[edit]
Main article: IFAF Flag Football World Championship

2008

[edit]

Although the IFAF Flag Football Championship was founded in 2002, Team USA first competed in the 2008 edition of the tournament. The United States lost to France 45–0 in the bronze medal game, finishing fourth overall in the tournament.

2010

[edit]

In the 2010 tournament, Team USA went undefeated in group play securing their way to the playoff round. The United States defeated Germany 33–0 in the quarterfinals and Canada 48–25 in the semifinals to reach the gold medal game. In the championship game, Team USA faced Denmark who they beat previously in group play. Quarterback Jorge Cascudo led the team to a 35–19 victory to capture the gold medal.[2]

2012

[edit]

In the 2012 tournament, Austria defeated the United States in the gold medal game by a close score of 47–40. Team USA finished the tournament with a silver medal.

2014

[edit]

In the 2014 tournament, the United States reclaimed the gold medal defeating Mexico by a score of 40–14.[3]

2016

[edit]

In the 2016 tournament, The United States defeated Denmark 33–32, to win their second consecutive and third overall title. This was a rematch of the 2010 gold medal match, as Team USA narrowly escaped with another gold medal win over Denmark.[4]

2018

[edit]

The United States won its third consecutive, and fourth overall title at the 2018 tournament. Team USA went undefeated in pool play, before beating Israel in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, the team defeated Denmark handily, jumping out to a 34–0 lead at one point against a team that they beat by only one point in pool play two days earlier. The team went on to defeat Austria in the championship by score of 19–13. In a rematch of the gold medal game in 2012 where Austria defeated the United States, quarterback Eric Holliday led Team USA to victory. The team's third consecutive championship was a first for any country in IFAF Flag World Championship history on either the men's or women's side.[5]

2021

[edit]

The worldwide pandemic forced the tournament to move from 2020 to 2021. Team USA won its fourth consecutive, and fifth overall gold medal, defeating Mexico 44–41 in the final game. The United States went a perfect 7-0 throughout the tournament. Quarterback Eric Holliday led Team USA to a comeback victory in the championship game as Mexico was winning the game by a score of 41–30 with 10 minutes left to play in the game.[6]

2022

[edit]
Main article: Flag football at the 2022 World Games

On July 20, 2020, the International World Games Association (IWGA), National Football League (NFL), and International Federation of American Football (IFAF) announced that flag football would join the existing lineup of 32 unique, multi-disciplinary sports for the 2022 World Games in Birmingham, Alabama.[7] The 2022 World Games, which marked the 40th anniversary of the event, took place from July 7–17, 2022, and was hosted at Birmingham's historic Legion Field

Roster member Dezmin Lewis, with the Buffalo Bills in 2015

Team USA qualified as hosts of the tournament. With a roster including former NFL player Dezmin Lewis,[8] the team went a perfect 3–0 in pool play, with a score differential of +71.[9] Team USA would go on to play Germany in the Quarterfinals, and Austria in the Semifinals, defeating both teams. Team USA would go on to defeat Italy in the final game by a score of 46–36 to capture the gold medal.[10]

2024

[edit]

Team USA won its fifth consecutive championship title in the 2024 addition of the tournament. The team went undefeated throughout the whole tournament, and winning by 25 or more points in every single game that they played. Quarterback Darrell Doucette lead the team, throwing six touchdowns to four different receivers to lead the US to a 53–21 victory over Austria in the championship game.[11]

Flag Football at the Summer Olympics

[edit]

On October 16, 2023, the NFL and IFAF announced the approval of flag football as an official sport in the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.[12] This will mark the first time that American football in any form will be featured in the Olympics since it was a demonstration sport in 1904 and 1932. Team USA will automatically qualify for the tournament as the host country.

On October 17, 2023, NFL executive Peter O'Reilly said the league will work with the players' union on allowing current and former players to participate in the 2028 Summer Olympics.[13]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "World Rankings". International Federation of American Football. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  2. ^ "CANADA AND USA ARE TRIUMPHANT AT 2010 IFAF FLAG FOOTBALL WORLDS". Football Canada. 2010-08-19. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
  3. ^ Spiewak, Stephen. "Overview of the IFAF Flag Football World Championships". blogs.usafootball.com. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
  4. ^ footballcanada (2016-09-12). "Final day recap – 2016 IFAF Flag Football World Championships". Football Canada. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
  5. ^ Burnett, Travis. "U.S. Men's and Women's Flag Football National Teams sweep gold at IFAF World Championships". blogs.usafootball.com. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
  6. ^ Letourneau, Jacob. "U.S. Women's and Men's Flag National Teams win gold at 2021 IFAF Flag World Championships in Israel". blogs.usafootball.com. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
  7. ^ "NFL partners with The World Games to add flag football in 2022". NFL.com. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  8. ^ "DEZ LEWIS COMPETING ON TEAM USA". University of Central Arkansas Athletics. 2022-07-10. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  9. ^ "USA Football". usafootball.com. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  10. ^ "Team U.S.A. men's flag football team wins first-ever World Games gold medal". American Football International. 2022-07-15. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  11. ^ Vargas, Ramon Antonio (2024-08-30). "Doucette helms US to fifth straight flag football world title as sport readies for Olympic debut". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-09-04.
  12. ^ "IOC Makes Flag Football An Olympic Sport For 2028 Summer Games". www.seahawks.com. Retrieved 2023-10-19.
  13. ^ "Tyreek Hill, other NFL players could play flag football in 2028 Olympics". NFL.com. Retrieved 2023-10-19.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://wiki.riteme.site/w/index.php?title=United_States_men%27s_national_flag_football_team&oldid=1248418000"