The International Federation of American Football 2022 Men’s U19 European Group A Championships is set to kick off in Vienna, Austria from July 7 to July 10.
The teams that finished in the top four spots in the 2019 tournament – gold medal winning Team Austria, silver medalists, Team Sweden, the bronze medal winners, Team France and fourth place Team Denmark – will face each other in two single round knockout games to decide the 2022 champion.
Let’s take a look at the four teams
Team Austria
Team Austria head coach Roman Floredo leads his team into the 2022 U19 European Championship tournament as four-time defending champions. The Austrian national team has not lost a game to a European team since 2008 when Austria earned fifth place in the tournament. Since then, Team Austria has won four straight titles. Austria also won a European tournament in 2017, but it was not counted as an official European championship.
Austrian Federation of American Football president Michael Eschlböck:
“Roman Floredo is a perfect coach for this team, also because he played on it himself. He knows every aspect of the team and which buttons he has to push.”
Team Sweden
The Swedish junior national team was formed in 1992 and ever since been among the elite U19 squads in Europe. Team Sweden is the reigning Nordic champion and finished second in the 2019 tournament in Bologna, Italy where they lost to Austria in the title game. Team Sweden’s head coach, Sebastian Brinkenfeldt, has returned for his second stint after leading Sweden to the silver medal in 2019.
Team France
Team France were bronze medalists in the 2019 tournament after beating Denmark in the third-place game, 42-15. France has one of the best records in the biennial tournament since its inception in 1992. The French have won the U19 European Championship title twice, 2004 and 2006, finished second five times, 1992, 1998, 2011, 2013 and 2017*. Team France also wound up third in 2008 and finished fourth in 1994, 2002 and 2015.
French national team head coach, Emmanuel Maguet, has picked the majority of his players from the two well-known football academies of Amiens and Bordeaux.
Team Denmark
Team Denmark head coach Victor Ebsen Andersen faces a difficult task in leading his team into the 2019 U19 European Championships. They will face the defending and four-time champions, Austria in the opening game, a team that beat them in 2019 45-6. Still, Denmark has been an integral part of the U19 European Championship since 2006. The Danish national team won the bronze medal in the tournament in 2015 and could surprise.