Great Britain’s women missed their first opportunity to qualify for flag football’s Olympic debut at Los Angeles 2028 after losing a tight semifinal to the United States on Saturday. They still have one immediate chance left, in Sunday’s bronze medal match.
Flag football, a no contact form of American football, will make its Olympic bow at Los Angeles 2028, and two spots for both men and women are being decided at the World Championships in Germany this weekend.
After topping their group, Great Britain’s women faced Panama in the quarterfinal on Saturday. They came from behind to win 26-20 and set up a meeting with the United States.
A win would have secured a place at LA28, and Great Britain built a 21-7 first half lead thanks to touchdowns from Grace Conway, Angelica Tait and Emily Kemp.
The United States, the defending champions, responded after the break and eventually secured a 27-21 victory. Canada also reached their first final since 2014 by beating Mexico 20-6.
Because the United States qualify automatically for LA28 as the host nation, the winner of Sunday’s bronze medal match will take the second Olympic spot on offer in Dusseldorf. Great Britain will face Mexico in that contest at 11:30 BST.
Great Britain are currently third in the world rankings and have won the past two European Championships. Mexico are top of the rankings, having lost the past two World finals to the United States but beaten them in the 2022 and 2025 World Games finals.
The remaining Olympic places will not be decided for another two years.
In the men’s tournament, Great Britain lost 50-35 to Switzerland in their first ranking match on Saturday but then recorded a first victory by beating Austria 28-20. They will meet Brazil on Sunday to decide 13th and 14th positions.
The men’s final will be contested by the United States and Italy, while Canada and Mexico meet in the bronze medal match.
Sunday gives the British women another chance to secure an Olympic place, while the men will play Brazil to settle 13th and 14th place.
