2018 European Championship of American football

The 2018 European Championship was the 14th European Championship in American football. The final tournament was played in Vantaa, Finland from 29 July to 4 August 2018.

2018 European Championship of American football
Tournament details
Host nation Finland
Dates29 July – 4 August 2018
No. of nations6
Final positions
Champions  France
Runner-up  Austria
Third-place  Finland
Tournament statistics
Attendance10,001 (Avg. ~1,111 per game)
MVP of the tournamentFrance QB Paul Durand
2014
2021

Qualification

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The Qualification for the European Championship 2018 was held in three stages. In the first round, twelve teams played a single playoff round. The six winners and two further teams played the second round, in two tournaments of four teams. Another two teams entered the qualification in the third round in playoff games against the two tournament winners of the second round. Four teams were already qualified for the European Championship 2018. Altogether an all-time record number of twenty teams competed to win the European title in 2018. One team, Germany, did not play a single game due to the national federation of American Football in Germany having an unresolved dispute with IFAF.

First round

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The first round was played from August to October 2015. Six of the twelve teams took part in one of the tournaments of the last championship. These were the seeded teams playing against an unseeded team. The seeded teams were the hosts of their playoff game. Israel defeating Spain was the only unseeded team to make it to the next round.

Date Kickoff Away Score Home Game site
30 August 12:00 p.m. CEST Israel   28–20   Spain Estadio Santo Domingo, Alcorcón
26 September 6:00 p.m. CEST Slovakia   00–21     Switzerland Stadion Rankhof, Basel
10 October 1:00 p.m. CEST Norway   00–20   Russia Tsarskoye Selo Stadium, Pushkin
10 October 2:00 p.m. CEST Hungary   00–56   Serbia Voždovac Stadium, Belgrade
11 October 2:00 p.m. CEST Poland   07–14   Czech Republic Letní stadion, Pardubice
24 October 6:00 p.m. CEST Belgium   03–17   Netherlands Mandemakers Stadion, Waalwijk

Second round

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The second round tournaments were played in 2016. As runner-up and third in the B Group Tournament in 2013, Italy and Great Britain earned a spot as the host nation of one of the tournaments.

Tournament in Italy

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Date Kickoff Away Score Home Game site
Semifinals
2 September 2:00 p.m. CEST Israel   10–40   Italy Stadio G. Teghil, Lignano Sabbiadoro
2 September 7:00 p.m. CEST Switzerland   00–17   Serbia Stadio G. Teghil, Lignano Sabbiadoro
Classification game
4 September 3:00 p.m. CEST Israel   00–51    Switzerland Stadio G. Teghil, Lignano Sabbiadoro
Final
4 September 7:00 p.m. CEST Serbia   14–17   Italy Stadio G. Teghil, Lignano Sabbiadoro

Tournament in Great Britain

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Date Kickoff Away Score Home Game site
Semifinals
16 September Russia   03–30   Great Britain Sixways Stadium, Worcester
16 September Netherlands   13–20   Czech Republic Sixways Stadium, Worcester
Classification game
18 September Russia   06–17   Netherlands Sixways Stadium, Worcester
Final
18 September Czech Republic   13–38   Great Britain Sixways Stadium, Worcester

Third round

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Italy and Great Britain, as the winners of the tournaments in Italy and Great Britain, were respectively assigned to play against Sweden and Denmark (fifth and sixth place at the 2014 EFAF Championship), with the winners advancing to the 2018 tournament.

In June 2017, Italy was announced to have qualified for the final tournament[1] as only one of the four teams without any match played. Finland, who was already qualified, did not appear on the schedule. No reasons were given.

In March 2018, IFAF New York announced to have Sweden, Denmark, and Great Britain advancing to the final tournament. Now reigning Champion Germany and Italy were not on the list. Again, no reasons were given. On 28 March, the website American Football International reported that the reason for Germany not joining was due to the teams in the German Football League voting not to change the league schedule to accommodate the European Championships.[2]

Teams

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Venue

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All games were played at Myyrmäen jalkapallostadion in Vantaa, Finland

Vantaa
Myyrmäen jalkapallostadion
Capacity: 4,700
 

Group stages

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Group A

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Standings

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Team W L Pct PF PA PD
  Austria 2 0 1.000 81 16 +63
  Sweden 1 1 0.500 33 61 −28
  Denmark 0 2 0.000 35 70 −35

Schedule

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Quarter 1 2 34Total
  Austria 0 14 62040
  Denmark 0 7 8015

at Myyrmäen jalkapallostadion, Vantaa

  • Date: 29 July 2018
  • Game time: 16:00 EEST
  • Game attendance: 502
  • Referee: Øyvind Løken
  • Box score
Quarter 1 2 34Total
  Denmark 14 0 0620
  Sweden 0 7 17630

at Myyrmäen jalkapallostadion, Vantaa

  • Date: 31 July 2018
  • Game time: 16:00 EEST
  • Game attendance: 347
  • Referee: Bård Beylich
  • Box score
Quarter 1 2 34Total
  Sweden 3 0 003
  Austria 21 10 7341

at Myyrmäen jalkapallostadion, Vantaa

  • Date: 2 August 2018
  • Game time: 16:00 EEST
  • Game attendance: 512
  • Referee: Øyvind Løken
  • Box score

Group B

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Standings

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Team W L Pct PF PA PD
  France 2 0 1.000 63 23 +40
  Finland 1 1 0.500 42 28 +14
  Great Britain 0 2 0.000 16 70 −54

Schedule

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Quarter 1 2 34Total
  Great Britain 0 7 007
  Finland 7 21 0028

at Myyrmäen jalkapallostadion, Vantaa

  • Date: 29 July 2018
  • Game time: 20:00 EEST
  • Game attendance: 1650
  • Referee: Bård Beylich
  • Box score
Quarter 1 2 34Total
  France 14 14 7742
  Great Britain 3 3 309

at Myyrmäen jalkapallostadion, Vantaa

  • Date: 31 July 2018
  • Game time: 20:00 EEST
  • Game attendance: 428
  • Referee: Øyvind Løken
  • Box score
Quarter 1 2 34Total
  Finland 0 0 7714
  France 0 7 01421

at Myyrmäen jalkapallostadion, Vantaa

  • Date: 2 August 2018
  • Game time: 20:00 EEST
  • Game attendance: 2518
  • Referee: Bård Beylich
  • Box score

Finals

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5th place game
Quarter 1 2 34Total
  Great Britain 7 7 12733
  Denmark 0 0 8816

at Myyrmäen jalkapallostadion, Vantaa

  • Date: 4 August 2018
  • Game time: 11:00 EEST
  • Game weather: Sunny, +25°C
  • Game attendance: 303
  • Referee:   Veikko Lamminsalo
  • TV: YLE Areena
  • Box score
Game information
Bronze medal game
Quarter 1 2 34Total
  Sweden 0 6 15021
  Finland 7 7 71435

at Myyrmäen jalkapallostadion, Vantaa

  • Date: 4 August 2018
  • Game time: 15:00 EEST
  • Game weather: Cloudy, +24°C
  • Game attendance: 1,984
  • Referee:   Bård Beylich
  • TV: YLE Areena
  • Box score
Game information
Final
Quarter 1 2 34Total
  France 7 0 14728
  Austria 0 14 0014

at Myyrmäen jalkapallostadion, Vantaa

  • Date: 4 August 2018
  • Game time: 18:00 EEST
  • Game weather: Cloudy, +24°C
  • Game attendance: 1,757
  • Referee:   Øyvind Løken
  • TV: YLE Areena
  • Box score
Game information

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 13 August 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ American Football International. 28 March 2018, retrieved on 1 August 2018. http://www.americanfootballinternational.com/german-american-football-clubs-will-not-change-schedule-to-accommodate-ifaf-european-championships/
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