LIVESTREAM World Junior Championship: Team Canada2 vs Team Austria, June 22, 19:00 CET (7 pm, 1 pm EDT)
The first game of an action-packed Saturday in the 2024 IFAF U20 World Junior Championship being held in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada sees European champions Austria matched up against Canada 2.
Austria have blazed a trail across Europe, winning six successive IFAF European Championship titles, the latest of which came in 2023 with a 42-24 victory over Sweden. On the world stage, Austria was the surprise package of the 2014 tournament in Kuwait, starting as eighth seeds before beating France and the hosts and then only missing out on a bronze medal by a single point loss to Mexico. Austria finished fifth in China in 2016. Indianapolis Colts offensive tackle Bernhard Raimann is among many former standouts to have developed through the successful junior program.
Head coach Roman Floredo will take charge of his nation’s junior squad for the last time in Edmonton. Austria had won three straight European crowns dating back to 2011 when his tenure began and Floredo won three more in 2019, 2022 and 2023.
Watch live. Team Canada 2 vs Team Austria, June 22, 19:00 CET (7 pm, 1 pm EDT)
In last year’s Euros gold medal win over Sweden, wide receiver and game MVP Nils Keimel caught two first half touchdowns having passed for the game’s opening score and was virtually unplayable as Austria tore into a 28-3 halftime lead. Tim Tonko rushed for a touchdown in each half, while quarterback Michael Szabo threw for a pair of scores. On the defensive side of the ball, Noel Swancar of the Vienna Vikings is already a two-time European champion, with both the U19 and men’s national teams.
The 45-man roster boasts three players who represent AFL Division 1 teams, three from the European League of Football and 39 from the Austrian Football League.
Taking charge of Canada 2 is Ronald Hilaire, a Laval, Que., native, who was the 21st head coach of the McGill Redbirds of the RSEQ from 2015-23. His time at McGill included being defensive coordinator and interim co-head coach in 2014, in addition to several years with the Montreal Carabins, where his expertise in recruitment shone. He spent his foundational coaching years cultivating talent at CEGEP Collège du Vieux Montreal.
Watch live. Team Canada 2 vs Team Austria, June 22, 19:00 CET (7 pm, 1 pm EDT)
“Words cannot describe the honor it is for me to represent my country as the head football coach of Canada II,” he said. “I remember playing for Team Canada in a similar tournament in the early 2000s and it was an amazing experience. It’s truly a full circle moment for me now having the opportunity to lead these young men in competition.”
