The IFAF Americas Women’s Flag Football title is up for grabs this week in Panama as nations from across North, Central and South America as well as from the Caribbean converge on the Estadio Virgilio Tejeira Andrión in Penonomé from September 12-14.
The top five teams will qualify for the 2026 IFAF Flag Football World Championships to be played in Dusseldorf, Germany.
Most women’s flag football fans are looking forward to the finals match that they are likely certain will feature a rematch between Mexico and the United States. Those fans have history on their side. The North American rivals have split, finishing first and second in their last several tournament meetings.
The U.S. National Team has dominated the IFAF World Flag Championships, winning the last three titles. However, the Mexican National Team finished second during the 2021 and 2024 tournaments, and both times that women’s flag has been a part of the World Games, Mexico has beaten the U.S.
The USNT, when it has won, has won convincingly. They beat the MNT by 10 points in 2021, and 13 points in 2024. After the MNT blew out the USNT in the 39-6 in flag football’s debut in the 2022 World Games held in Birmingham, Alabama, the teams played their closest finals match in the 2025 World Games in Chengdu, China.
The USNT scored on a Vanita Crouch to Ashlea Klam pass for the tie, and Isabella Geraci for the one-point conversion, to go ahead 21-20 with 28 seconds left the MNT, however, drove the ball down the field and QB Diana Flores hit Tania Rincon for the go ahead score to make it 26-21 with no time left, which gave the MNT a second World Games Championship.
If the games go the way they have in the past several years, the USNT will be able to defeat Panama, Brazil, Jamaica, and Columbia, the other teams in their Group A. Likewise, the MNT should be able to handle Canada, Guatemala, and Argentina in their Group B.
But there is a reason they play the games on the field rather than on paper. The USNT struggled defensively at times in Chengdu, and perhaps that will give the Panamanians, the victors in the 2016 IFAF World Flag Championship, a chance to take advantage of their home field advantage. Mexico will also have to get past Canada, who won bronze in China, and who also finished in third place in the 2018 IFAF tournament.
The speculation will become reality on Friday September 12, when the USNT takes on Columbia and Brazil. The MNT will play Guatemala, Panama faces off against Brazil and Jamaica, and the Canadians will play Argentina.
Women’s Group A
USA
Panama
Brazil
Jamaica
Colombia
Women’s Group B
Mexico
Canada
Guatemala
Argentina