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With flag football set to make its Olympic debut, Canada is among the countries looking to clinch the first available spots in the 2028 Los Angeles Games at this week’s world championships in Germany.
Two berths are up for grabs in both the men’s and women’s Olympics tournaments, which will each be made up of only six teams. The host United States — a flag football powerhouse — receives an automatic entry, and the remaining three spots for each gender will be decided by a two-stage qualifier in June 2028 that opens in Montreal.
So, while these world championships are not do-or-die in terms of earning a ticket to the Olympics, it sure would be nice to lock one down and not have to sweat that last-chance qualifier for the next two years.
How the worlds work
Sixteen teams were invited to both the men’s and women’s tournaments in Germany and divided into groups of four for the preliminary round on Thursday and Friday. The top two in each group advance to the knockout stage, beginning Saturday. The medal games, which will decide the world champions and who gets the Olympics spots, are on Sunday.
The top two finishers in each tournament get a ticket to the Olympics — though a third-place result would be enough if the U.S. reaches the final, meaning we could get some dramatic bronze-medal games.
When Canada plays
The Canadian women kick off the group stage on Thursday at 2 a.m. ET against Panama before facing Brazil at 8:15 a.m. ET. They wrap up on Friday at 4:30 a.m. ET against Japan.
Canada’s men open on Thursday at 5:45 a.m. ET against Austria, then play Japan on Friday at 2 a.m. ET. The Canadians were scheduled to conclude group play against Nigeria, but that country had to withdraw due to visa issues, so Canada gets a free win.
How Canada stacks up
The women’s team is ranked fourth in the world, behind Mexico, the United States and Great Britain. Canada won the world championship back in 2010 and 2014 and took bronze in ’18 but hasn’t reached the final four since. The Americans, despite being ranked behind Mexico, have won three straight world titles, beating their main rivals in the last two finals.
The Canadian men won their lone world title in 2008 and haven’t medalled since. The closest they’ve come is a pair of bronze-game losses to Italy in 2010 and ’14. Canada is now ranked 10th, putting it behind Austria (No. 2, surprisingly) and Japan (7) in its group. The U.S., going for his sixth consecutive world title, is No. 1.
Who’s playing — and who’s not
When the Olympics added flag football for 2028, there was a lot of fantasizing about which NFL (and CFL) stars might play for the U.S. and Canada. I even put together some dream teams featuring the likes of Patrick Mahomes and Justin Jefferson for the Americans and NFL running backs Chuba Hubbard and Chase Brown for Canada.
However, what a lot of people failed to realize is that flag and tackle football are completely different sports. This was made abundantly clear to the masses at a big men’s flag exhibition tournament back in March in L.A., where a bunch of current NFL superstars including Saquon Barkley, Joe Burrow and Davante Adams and some old-timers like Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski got absolutely cooked by the likes of Darrell “Housh” Doucette and the U.S. men’s national team.
To the naked eye, the flag guys looked physically overmatched next to their bulked-up, big-name NFL opponents. But, from the first snap, it became clear that their shorter, leaner bodies were better suited to the non-contact game as they bedeviled the NFLers with highly athletic hip twists, dips and other moves tailored for flag football — not to mention their obvious strategic superiority.
So, maybe it’s for the best that Canada has sent its men’s and women’s national teams to the worlds. The men’s squad includes former NFL tight end Antony Auclair and rusher/cornerback Marc-Antoine Dequoy, a former CFL safety who won the Grey Cup with Montreal in 2023. The women are led by veteran defensive back Sabrina Gervais and quarterback Sarah Parker, who threw three touchdown passes in a 34-33 win over the U.S. this June in Los Angeles. Here’s a look at both Canadian rosters.
How to watch
The flag football world championships can be seen live on CBC Gem and the CBC Sports website, beginning Thursday at 2 a.m. ET. Here’s the official schedule and results.
