2025 European Championship of American football
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host nation |  Europe |
| Dates | 12 October 2024 – 28 October 2025 |
| No. of nations | 12 |
| Final positions | |
Champions  |  Austria |
Runner-up  |  Finland |
Third-place  |  Italy |
← 2023 2027 → | |
The 2025 European Championship was the 17th European Championship in American football. The preliminary round was played around Europe from early October to early November 2024. The final round was played in August and October 2025.[1][2][3]
Level 1, first round
The first round was played around Europe between 12 and 27 October 2024. It saw 12 teams divided to four groups.
| Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austria (1)
|
Finland (2)
|
Italy (3)
|
 Sweden (4)
|
 Serbia (8)
|
 France (7)
|
 Denmark (6)
|
 Great Britain (5)
|
 Hungary (9)
|
 Czech Republic (10)
|
 Switzerland (11)
|
 Germany (12)
|
Group A
| Team | W | L | Pct | PF | PA | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austria |
2 | 0 | 1.000 | 136 | 3 | +133 |
| Hungary |
1 | 1 | 0.500 | 28 | 77 | -49 |
| Serbia |
0 | 2 | 0.000 | 19 | 103 | -84 |
Group B
| Team | W | L | Pct | PF | PA | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finland |
2 | 0 | 1.000 | 38 | 15 | +23 |
| Czech Republic |
1 | 1 | 0.500 | 20 | 35 | -15 |
| France |
0 | 2 | 0.000 | 16 | 24 | -8 |
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finland |
0 | 21 | 0 | 7 | 28 |
| Czech Republic |
0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
at Městský stadion, Ústí nad Labem
- Date: 13 October 2024
- Game time: 13:00 CEST
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Czech Republic |
0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 14 |
| France |
0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
at Stadium Lille Métropole, Villeneuve-d'Ascq
- Date: 20 October 2024
- Game time: 14:00 CEST
- Game attendance: 3500
Group C
| Team | W | L | Pct | PF | PA | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Italy |
2 | 0 | 1.000 | 73 | 27 | +46 |
| Denmark |
1 | 1 | 1.000 | 54 | 35 | +19 |
| Switzerland |
0 | 2 | 0.000 | 7 | 72 | -65 |
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Italy |
13 | 23 | 9 | 0 | 45 |
| Switzerland |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
at Stadion Lachen, Thun
- Date: 12 October 2024
- Game time: 18:00 CEST
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Switzerland |
7 | 7 | |
| Denmark |
27 | 27 |
at Gentofte Sportspark, Gentofte
- Date: 19 October 2024
- Game time: 16:00 CEST
Group D
| Team | W | L | Pct | PF | PA | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germany |
2 | 0 | 1.000 | 91 | 17 | +74 |
| Sweden |
1 | 1 | 0.500 | 26 | 61 | -35 |
| Great Britain |
0 | 2 | 0.000 | 30 | 69 | -39 |
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great Britain |
7 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 19 |
| Sweden |
0 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 20 |
at Sola Arena, Karlstad
- Date: 13 October 2024
- Game time: 15:00 CEST
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germany |
7 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 49 |
| Great Britain |
3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 11 |
- Date: 19 October 2024
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sweden |
0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| Germany |
7 | 14 | 14 | 7 | 42 |
at Grotenburg-Stadion, Krefeld
- Date: 26 October 2024
- Game time: 17:00
- Game attendance: 3000
Level 1, final stage
The final round was played on 2–3 August, and the European Final Four was played in Krefeld, Germany, 25–28 October 2025.
1–4
| Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||
| 1 | Austria
| 30 | |||||||
| 12 | Germany
| 9 | |||||||
| 1 | Austria
| 27 | |||||||
| 2 | Finland
| 0 | |||||||
| 2 | Finland
| 9 | |||||||
| 3 | Italy
| 8 | Third place | ||||||
| 3 | Italy
| 17 | |||||||
| 4 | Germany
| 14 | |||||||
5–8
| Placement 5–8 | 5th place game | ||||||||
| 4 | Sweden
| 0 | |||||||
| 10 | Czech Republic
| 13 | |||||||
| 10 | Czech Republic
| 23 | |||||||
| 6 | Denmark
| 0 | |||||||
| 6 | Denmark
| 30 | |||||||
| 9 | Hungary
| 28 | 7th place game | ||||||
| 4 | Sweden
| 13 | |||||||
| 9 | Hungary
| 6 | |||||||
9–12
Switzerland folded the tackle football team in the end of 2024.[4] France folded tackle football in January 2025.
| Placement 9–12 | 9th place game | ||||||||
| 5 | Great Britain
| NA | |||||||
| 11 | Switzerland
| NA | |||||||
| 5 | Great Britain
| ||||||||
| 7 | France
| ||||||||
| 8 | Serbia
| ||||||||
Level 2
3 teams participate for the level 2 competition, 3 games will be played in 2024. The winner will be promoted to Level 1.
- 19 October 2024:
Ireland – 
Netherlands 18-13 - 3 November 2024:
Turkey – Ireland 41-18 - 17 November 2024: Netherlands – Turkey 0-3
Legacy
The two-year run of the IFAF European Men's Tackle Championship may be best known for the collapse of leading programs during and after the competition.
The return of Germany to the top tier of IFAF European competition was short-lived. With the 0-2 record at the European Final Four they hosted which reulted in a fourth-place finish, coupled with a last-place finish in the Gridiron Nations Championship, the American Football Association of Germany (AFVD) withdrew its men's national team from the IFAF European Championship cycle for 2026 and 2027, citing financial constraints and internal restructuring. The AFVD is focusing on domestic development, separating itself from IFAF.[5]
The SWE3 Federation withdrew the Swedish men's national American football team from the IFAF 2026–2027 European Championship due to severe financial constraints shortly after the competition. A 100% cut in elite sport funding from the Swedish Sports Federation for 2026 forced this decision, resulting in a halt to the team's participation in international tournaments. [6]
2018 European champion France shut down its senior men’s tackle national team in early 2025 in the middle of the competition, after French American football lost its “high-level sport” recognition from the Federal Ministry. In a March 2025 interview, FFFA president Frédéric Paquet says the status was lost “officially since January 2, 2025,” and links that to both the closure of the Pôles and the disappearance of the national tackle teams due to lack of funding. The lack of an IFAF World Championship was also cited.[7]
Also, Switzerland effectively withdrew its men’s tackle national team from the IFAF European Championship mid-tournament when the SAFV announced in December 2024 that it was suspending all tackle national teams “for the time being.” The stated reasons were a strategic shift toward flag football with LA 2028 in view, plus a review of results and cost structure.[8] Switzerland is the only team of the four folded during the 2024-25 Championship to have restarted their program for the 2026-27 European cycle.
See also
References
- ^ "Den amerikanska fotbollens landslagsår 2024". Amerikansk fotboll (in Swedish). 2023-11-28.
- ^ "Duell mit Deutschland winkt: Team Austria startet "Mission Titelverteidigung"". AFBÖ (in Austrian German). 2024-02-08.
- ^ "Die deutsche Herren Nationalmannschaft spielt wieder im A – Turnier – AFVD". AFVD (in German). 2024-02-14.
- ^ Manuel Aeberli (2024-12-20). "SAFV fokussiert auf Flag Football - Keine Tackle Nationalmannschaft mehr". endzone.ch (in German). Retrieved 2025-01-07.
- ^ American Football International (14 January 2026). "AFVD halts German National Team's European Championship participation".
- ^ American Football International (9 December 2025). "Sweden withdraws from IFAF 2026–2027 Men's European Championship due to funding cuts".
- ^ Cyprien Baude, Gazette SportsMag (13 March 2025). "FEDERAL WORLD – Exclusive interview with Frédéric Paquet, president of the FFFA".
- ^ EndZone Suisse (20 December 2024). "SAFV focuses on flag football – no more tackle national team".