Canadian women’s flag football team are world champions, qualify for LA 2028
The Canadian women’s flag football team are world champions after securing gold at the IFAF World Flag Football Championships presented in Düsseldorf, Germany.
The team had already secured Canada’s first quota spots for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games by reaching the final.
READ: Team Canada qualifies for LA 2028 in men’s flag football
In Sunday’s final, Canada, ranked fourth in the world, defeated the United States, ranked second in the world, 27-20. After a tight first half saw the game tied 14-14, the Canadian players came out firing in the second half. Frédérique Morneau scored two touchdowns, adding to the one she had to open the scoring for Canada. The U.S. were able to get one touchdown on the board with 2:25 remaining in regulation. Though they had possession in the dying seconds, they could not get the ball back in the endzone.
This is Canada’s third world title in women’s flag football, but first since 2014. The U.S. had won the last three world championships.
Quarterback Sara Parker was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament.
The Canadian team achieved their Olympic qualifying feat by defeating world No. 1 Mexico 20-6 in the semifinals on Saturday. Earlier in the day, Canada dominated Austria 40-12 in the quarterfinals.
READ: Both Canadian teams advance to quarterfinals at flag football world championships
The Canadian women’s team finished the group stage with a perfect record of 3-0. On Thursday, they first defeated Panama 27-14 before tallying a dominant 36-6 victory against Brazil. The team concluded the preliminary round by defeating Japan, ranked fifth in the world, by a score of 34-20 on Friday.
The world championships represented the first opportunity for countries to earn Olympic quota spots in flag football. The two best eligible teams of each gender at qualified for LA 2028. The United States had already secured its place in both Olympic tournaments as the host country. By winning the bronze medal, Mexico also qualified for the women’s event at LA 2028.
The remaining three Olympic places for each gender will be awarded during the Olympic Q-Series in June 2028 with some matches presented in Montreal, Quebec.
