The United States are IFAF Flag Football world champions again. The men and the women.
Both won the gold medal at the 2024 edition of the sport’s premier tournament in Lahti, Finland, which was also the largest ever with 55 teams from 32 nations participating. For the US men it is a fifth straight world championship and for the women a third.
All the games played at the Pajulahti Olympic Center and at Lahti Stadium are available to watch on IFAF.TV. All game scores, statistics, standings and a schedule of upcoming games can be found at the official tournament website.
Photo: Lola Morales
Quarterback Darrell “Housh” Doucette led a men’s offense backstopped by a relentless defense that defeated Austria 53-21.
“To me this is one of the greatest teams USA has ever had,” said Housh. “Defensively we were stout, and we got stops when we needed to set the tone early on. We didn’t have any close games like in previous years and that shows that this team is special.”
Johnluis “Lulu” Hernandez, who returned a critical interception for a touchdown to set the tone in the first half said: “I think the weakness of our team has always been our defense and one of our goals in the transition to this year was always to improve.
“We’re well aware that because it’s four downs it’s made for us to lose, so we wanted to equip ourselves with the best possibilities of getting stops and getting turnovers. We did that tonight. I think this is the best team we’ve ever had. This team has a lot more camaraderie and togetherness.”
Photo: Lola Morales
The US women’s team got ahead early, opening a 12-point advantage and Mexico was unable to close the gap and earn a lead. The contest was finely balanced early in the second half, but USA raced away to an eventual 31-18 win.
“The competition here is another level and playing against other countries and to be a word champion, there’s nothing better,” said USA rookie Maci Joncich, the youngest player on the team at 18 years old. I can’t wait to keep working as we go towards the Olympics.”
Mexico quarterback and iconic leader Diana Flores has finished on the losing side in the past two world championships, but in-between won The World Games against USA two years ago. She is determined to return to the winners’ podium.
“This is a game of perfection, and we know the mistakes had today meant that this medal ended up for us being silver, but the goal never changes,” she said. “We’re going to keep training like gold, and this is just one step more for that ultimate objective.”
Photo: Ian Humes