New formula determines IFAF Flag Football World Rankings

IFAF | American Football | 04/04/2024

Photo: Ian Humes

Following a year in which IFAF crowned men’s and women’s continental champions in the Americas, Europe, and Asia-Oceania, a new formula has been adopted by the International Federation of American Football to determine annual IFAF Flag Football World Rankings.

IFAF calculates rankings using a variation of a formula known as the Elo Rating System, adaptations of which are used by many sporting organizations and events around the world.

“This formula allows IFAF to rank nations based on three years’ worth of competition and will create some new rivalries when the city of Lahti hosts the 2024 IFAF Flag Football World Championships this summer,” said IFAF Competitions Director Roope Noronen. “I am sure this will create discussion and debate among the flag football community that can be settled when all these nations meet on the field in Finland in August.”

In the women’s rankings, the United States claim top spot as reigning Americas and World champions, while runners up and The World Games gold medalists Mexico are placed second. Japan holds third place marginally ahead of Great Britain after both nations won their respective continental tournaments last summer.

Unbeaten throughout the three years of the competitions used to determine the rankings, the United States also lead the men’s bracket, with Mexico in second spot ahead of European champions Germany in third and runners up Austria in fourth.

Ranking points are allocated from official IFAF tournaments – IFAF World Championships, The World Games, and IFAF Continental Championships – but not from friendly games. The World Games is included because qualifying is meritocratic and other tournaments will only be considered if there is equal access for nations to earn berths.

The newly applied formula takes into consideration results from tournaments played in an annual cycle while also rewarding nations for success in the two previous competitions. Every year the value of points scored at the least recent event will be deleted from overall totals and the value of points scored at the third-most recent event will be halved.

For example, the current IFAF Flag Football World Rankings were calculated based on results at the 2023 IFAF continental championships, while also reflecting successes at the 2022 World Games and 2021 IFAF Flag Football World Championships. The 2024 rankings will be calculated following the 2024 IFAF Flag Football World Championships to be played in Finland, in August and will also reflect results from 2023 (full points) and 2022 (half points).

The IFAF Flag Football World Championships will offer an increased number of points for teams finishing in the top four places than are awarded for IFAF Continental Championships and The World Games. Additional points will be awarded to teams finishing fifth through eighth.

Calculating the rankings:

Entering a new cycle, nations that have participated in prior tournaments receive ratings weighted on a sliding scale between 1500 points and 1100 points based on success on the flag football field. For example: in the women’s rankings in 2023, The World Games semifinalists USA, Mexico, Panama, and Austria carried 1500 weighted points. At the other end of the scale, Finland and Chile, the 17^th and 18^thplaced nations at the 2021 IFAF World Championships, carried 1100 weighted points.
Each new team entering competition receives a default rating of 1000 points.
Competition play awards 400 points for a win, minus-400 points for a loss, and zero points for a draw, which is added to an opponent’s weighted or new rating points.
Once all games are completed, a team’s sub-total is calculated and divided by the number of games played.
A nation’s original own weighted rating points for that year are then added to provide a final total for the tournament.
Additional points are awarded for winning Gold (1200 points), Silver (900 points), Bronze (750 points) and finishing fourth (600 points), fifth (500), sixth (400), seventh (300), and eighth (200) at the IFAF Flag Football World Championships.
Additional points are awarded for winning Gold (700 points), Silver (500 points), Bronze (300 points) and finishing fourth (150 points) at Continental Championships and The World Games.
Teams that do not participate in IFAF championships are docked 400 points in that competition year to ensure nations do not hold an inflated points rating by not competing.

Women’s 2023 IFAF Flag Football World Rankings