Following a year in which IFAF crowned men's and women's continental champions for the Americas, Europe, and Asia/Oceania, the International Federation of American Football has adopted a new method to determine the IFAF Flag Football Annual World Rankings.
IFAF calculates rankings using a variation of a formula known as the Elo rating system. This formula is used by many sports organizations and events around the world.
“This formula allows IFAF to rank countries based on three years of competition and will create new rivalries when the city of Lahti hosts the 2024 IFAF Flag Football World Championship this summer. ” said IFAF Competition Director Rope Noronen. “This will generate discussion and discussion among the flag football community, and we are confident that it will be resolved when all these countries come together on the field in Finland in August.”
In the women's rankings, the United States, the reigning champions of the Americas and World Championships, took the top spot, with runner-up and World Games gold medalist Mexico in second place. Both countries won last summer's continental tournament, with Japan narrowly ahead of Great Britain in third place.
The United States, undefeated through three years of competition used to determine the rankings, also led the men's division, with Mexico in second, European champions Germany in third and runners-up Austria in fourth. .
Ranking points are allocated from official IFAF tournaments such as IFAF World Championships, World Games and IFAF Continental Championships, but not from friendly matches. The World Games are included because qualification is meritocratic and other tournaments are only considered if countries have equal access to qualify.
The newly applied formula takes into account the results of tournaments held in the annual cycle and rewards countries for their success in the previous two competitions. Each year, the value of points earned in the most recent event is removed from the overall total, and the value of points earned in the third most recent event is halved.
For example, the current IFAF Flag Football World Rankings are calculated based on the results of the 2023 IFAF Continental Championships, but also reflect success at the 2022 World Championships and the 2021 IFAF Flag Football World Championships. . The 2024 rankings will be calculated after the 2024 IFAF Flag Football World Championship to be held in Finland in August, and will also reflect results from 2023 (full points) and 2022 (half points).
The IFAF Flag Football World Championship awards more points to the top four teams than the IFAF Continental Championships or World Games. Additional points will be awarded to teams from 5th to 8th place.
Ranking calculation:
- Going into a new cycle, countries that participated in previous tournaments will receive weighted ratings on a sliding scale from 1500 to 1100 points based on their success on the flag football field. For example, in the 2023 women's ranking, the World Games semi-finalists USA, Mexico, Panama and Austria received her 1500 weighted points. At the other end of the scale are Finland and Chile, with 17th and 18thCountries that earned 1100 weighted points at the 2021 IFAF World Championship.
- Each new team entering the contest will be given a default rating of 1000 points.
- In competitive play, 400 points are awarded for a win, minus 400 points for a loss, and 0 points for a draw, which are added to the opponent's weight or new rating points.
- Once all games are completed, a team subtotal is calculated and divided by the number of games played.
- The nation's unique weighted rating points for that year are then added to arrive at the final total for the tournament.
- Earned Gold (1200 points), Silver (900 points), Bronze (750 points), 4th place (600 points), 5th place (500), 6th place (400), 7th place (300), and 8th place ( 200 points), you will be awarded additional points. ) at the IFAF Flag Football World Championship.
- Additional points are awarded for winning gold (700 points), silver (500 points), bronze (300 points) and finishing fourth (150 points) at the Continental Championships and World Games.
- Teams that do not participate in the IFAF Championship will have 400 points deducted in that competition year to ensure that points are not inflated due to countries not participating.
Women's 2023 IFAF Flag Football World Rankings
Men's 2023 IFAF Flag Football World Rankings
*Team Neutral participated in the 2021 IFAF Flag Football World Championship but is not included in the rankings
Read IFAF's original story.
