8 Nations Learn Dates, Location, Format for 2015 IFAF World Championships

| 2015 IFAF World Championships - Canton | 02/11/2015

New Groupings, Seedings, Format for the Canton, Ohio WC’s

Nearly two weeks after meetings held in Arlington, Texas in conjunction with the 2015 International Bowl, American football’s international governing body, IFAF, has released the final dates, location, and format for the 2015 IFAF World Championships.

The nations have been seeded and grouped. The eight teams, (1) United States, (2) Canada, (3) Japan, (4) Mexico, (5) France, (6) Australia, (7) South Korea and (8) Brazil, will play in a two-group format.

Due to December’s cancellation and change in venue, a new format had to be decided upon to accommodate the eight (as opposed to original twelve) teams.

The notable and surprising new information released today is how the groups shall be formed and the how the winners shall advance.

See the below IFAF Press Release for the details!

[su_box title=”2015 IFAF World Championships”]The 2015 IFAF World Championship will be contested in Canton, Ohio between the 8th and 19th of July with all games staged at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium (formerly known as Fawcett Stadium).

The tournament will feature the defending World Champion United States along with Canada, Japan, Mexico, France, Australia, Korea and Brazil.

In a notable change to previous formats, there will be four game days, each featuring four match ups drawn from a new playoff format.

In the first round teams will be divided into two groups of four teams, having the top four ranked teams in one group (Group A) and the lower ranked four teams in the other (Group B).

Groups will play knockout games to determine the rankings in both groups. The best team from Group B will advance to semi finals together with three best teams from Group A. The fourth team from Group A will play for places five through to eight with the three remaining teams from Group B.

The participating teams are ranked the following way taking into consideration the team’s previous performance at the World Championship.

WC 2015 Rankings:

  1. USA
  2. Canada
  3. Japan
  4. Mexico
  5. France
  6. Australia
  7. South Korea
  8. Brazil[/su_box]

Let us know your thoughts and concerns in the comments below!

John McKeon is a former professional and collegiate American Football player and coach now living and working in New York. His goal is to spread news, information, and opinion on the global growth of the sport he loves.