IFAF Men’s Euro Flag: Italy claims historic Gold Medal victory

| 2025 IFAF Euroflag | 09/28/2025

Italy was crowned the men’s champion at IFAF Euro Flag 2025, beating Austria 27-19 to win gold having previously been the continent’s runners up four times dating back as far as 2005.

Austria settles for silver once again
Austria had to settle for silver just as they had two years ago, losing to Germany in the 2023 final, and in Finland last summer when they were defeated by the United States at the IFAF world championships.

MVP Zahradka and Papale connect for three touchdowns
Vincent Papale caught three first half touchdowns from MVP quarterback Luke Zahradka for a 21-6 halftime lead. The son of former Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Vince Papale, whose story inspired the move Invincible, scored either side of a scoring grab of Austria’s Simon Knoll before giving Italy a commanding lead at the break.

“It’s just unbelievable,” said Papale of the win. “I’m just so happy to be here and be part of this team and wear Italy across my chest. I think our offense and defense came through when we needed them. We firmly believe we’re the best offense not only in Europe but also in the world and we’ll put that to the test In Germany next year.”

Second-half defensive dominance secures championship
Italy’s defense dominated the second half as Simone Alinovi and Paolo Lazzaretto came up with interceptions. Receiver Jordan Bouah ensured the Italian lead remained in double digits with a scoring grab after Knoll’s touchdown had pulled Austria to within nine points.

Austria put Luis Effenberger in at quarterback, and he connected with Valentin Ehrenfried inside the final two minutes following an interception to move to within eight points of tying the game, but time ran out on the comeback attempt.

“Not the end result we wanted but we will get better for the world championships and congratulations to Italy,” said Austria defensive back Sebastian Wolf. “What we can do better is get faster and I think we’re on a really good track. We have a lot of good young players coming through and the future is bright.”

Six nations qualify for 2026 World Championships
Six nations –Italy, Austria, France, Great Britain, Israel and Switzerland – qualified for the 2026 IFAF Flag Football World Championships to be played in Dusseldorf next summer, joining host Germany.

France captures bronze medal in consolation victory
France won the bronze medal in a close 34-20 win over Great Britain. A key defensive stop late in the game preserved France’s seven-point advantage after the teams had traded touchdowns. France receiver Tanguy Lominet reeled in all France’s touchdowns and caught his fifth score from quarterback Anthony Riquin to put the result beyond doubt.

“It’s wonderful, we are really happy to finish with a medal,” said France defensive back Vincent Lemione. “Defense was the key today. The connection was clicking the communication was clicking everything was set so I feel like we saw the plays in slow motion and that’s really what makes everything work.”

Great Britain defensive captain Oliver Dyer said:

“It’s difficult when you play two games in a day and lose twice and obviously that’s really disappointing but overall, I think we can hold our heads high with how we’ve done this year. It’s a new regime, a lot of new players a lot of new faces although we wanted more. This is GB’s best finish on the men’s side ever and it says we’re going in the right direction.”

Complete tournament results and final placements
Gold Medal Game
Italy 27 Austria 19

Bronze Medal Game
France 34 Great Britain 20

Semifinals
Austria 43 France 35
Italy 28 Great Britain 22

5th Place
Israel 35 Switzerland 26

7th Place
Slovenia 1 Denmark 0
(Denmark forfeited due to a player injury)

9th Place
Germany 34 Spain 20

11th Place
Ireland 21 Czechia 12

13th Place
Ukraine 31 Finland 19

15th Place
Hungary 33 Netherlands 25

17th Place
Sweden 46 Croatia 12

19th Place
Portugal 25 Poland 7

21st Place
Slovakia 41 Norway 34

23rd Place
Belgium 33 Georgia 24

Final Placement

  1. Italy
  2. Austria
  3. France
  4. Great Britain
  5. Israel
  6. Switzerland
  7. Slovenia
  8. Denmark
  9. Germany
  10. Spain
  11. Ireland
  12. Czechia
  13. Ukraine
  14. Finland
  15. Hungary
  16. Netherlands
  17. Sweden
  18. Croatia
  19. Portugal
  20. Poland
  21. Slovakia
  22. Norway
  23. Belgium
  24. Georgia

Roger Kelly is an editor and a writer for AFI. A former PR Director the B.C. Lions of the Canadian Football League for 7 years, he now lives in Sweden writing about and scouting American Football throughout the world.