2018 European Championship of American football

2018 European Championship of American football
Tournament details
Host nation	Finland
Dates	29 July – 4 August 2018
No. of nations	6
Final positions
Champions	France
Runner-up	Austria
Third-place	Finland
Tournament statistics
Attendance	10,001 (Avg. ~1,111 per game)
MVP of the tournament	QB Paul Durand
← 2014 2021 →

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.

Qualification

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

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

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

Italy
Serbia
Switzerland
Israel

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

Great Britain
Czech Republic
Netherlands
Russia

Date	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

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

Finland (2014 Fourth-placed, host)
Austria (2014 Runner-up)
France (2014 Third-placed)
Sweden (Qualifier)
Denmark (Qualifier)
Great Britain (Qualifier)

Venue

All games were played at Myyrmäen jalkapallostadion in Vantaa, Finland

Vantaa

Myyrmäen jalkapallostadion
Capacity: 4,700

Group stages

Group A

Standings

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

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Austria	0	14	6	20	40
Denmark	0	7	8	0	15

at Myyrmäen jalkapallostadion, Vantaa

Date: 29 July 2018
Game time: 16:00 EEST
Game attendance: 502
Referee: Øyvind Løken
Box score

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Denmark	14	0	0	6	20
Sweden	0	7	17	6	30

at Myyrmäen jalkapallostadion, Vantaa

Date: 31 July 2018
Game time: 16:00 EEST
Game attendance: 347
Referee: Bård Beylich
Box score

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Sweden	3	0	0	0	3
Austria	21	10	7	3	41

at Myyrmäen jalkapallostadion, Vantaa

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

Group B

Standings

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

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Great Britain	0	7	0	0	7
Finland	7	21	0	0	28

at Myyrmäen jalkapallostadion, Vantaa

Date: 29 July 2018
Game time: 20:00 EEST
Game attendance: 1650
Referee: Bård Beylich
Box score

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
France	14	14	7	7	42
Great Britain	3	3	3	0	9

at Myyrmäen jalkapallostadion, Vantaa

Date: 31 July 2018
Game time: 20:00 EEST
Game attendance: 428
Referee: Øyvind Løken
Box score

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Finland	0	0	7	7	14
France	0	7	0	14	21

at Myyrmäen jalkapallostadion, Vantaa

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

Finals

5th place game

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Great Britain	7	7	12	7	33
Denmark	0	0	8	8	16

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

First quarter

GB – Dan Conroy 4-yard run (Ian Jacquet kick), 0:33. Great Britain 7–0.

Second quarter

GB – Dan Conroy 67-yard pass from Patrick Daley (Ian Jacquet kick), 5:16. Great Britain 14–0.

Third quarter

GB – Alex Haldane 20-yard fumble return (Kick failed), 8:34. Great Britain 20-0.
DEN – Lasse Lykke 2-yard pass from Kasper Bolmgren (Thomas Thellufsen pass from Lasse Hansen), 2:31. Great Britain 20-8.
GB – Josh Amis 100-yard kick-off return (Kick failed), 2:16 Great Britain 26-8

Fourth quarter

DEN – Aske Klixbüll 8-yard pass from Kasper Bolmgren (Thomas Ashworth pass from Lasse Hansen), 8:13. Great Britain 26-16.
GB – Ian Jacquet 20-yard pass from Patrick Daley (Ian Jacquet kick), 3:10. Great Britain 33-16

Top passers

GB – Patrick Daley – 15/24, 257 yards, 2 TD, INT
DEN – Kasper Bolmgren – 18/37, 210 yards, 2 TD, 4 INT

Top rushers

GB – Omodeji Alli – 7 rushes, 43 yards
DEN – Michel Konate – 13 rushes, 30 yards

Top receivers

GB – Dan Conroy – 2 receptions, 85 yards, 1 TD
DEN – Mads Christiansen – 3 receptions, 41 yards

Bronze medal game

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Sweden	0	6	15	0	21
Finland	7	7	7	14	35

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

First quarter

FIN – Karri Pajarinen 14-yard run (Joni-Petteri Malka kick), 9:33. Finland 7-0.

Second quarter

FIN – Marcus Siiskonen 34-yard pass from Miro Kadmiry (Joni-Petteri Malka kick), 9:01. Finland 14-0.
SWE – Philip Juhlin 8-yard run (Kick failed), 0:58. Finland 14-6.

Third quarter

FIN – Veikka Lehtonen 4-yard run (Joni-Petteri Malka kick), 9:32. Finland 21-6.
SWE – Jacob Dahre 7-yard pass from Philip Juhlin (Jacob Dahre pass from Philip Juhlin), 6:36. Finland 21-14
SWE – Emil Knutsson 18-yard pass from Philip Juhlin (Jacob Dahre kick), 0:44. Tied 21-21.

Fourth quarter

FIN – Karri Pajarinen 4-yard run (Joni-Petteri Malka kick), 8:08. Finland 28-21.
FIN – Veikka Lehtonen 6-yard run (Joni-Petteri Malka kick), 1:56. Finland 35-21.

Top passers

SWE – Philip Juhlin – 21/41, 310 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT
FIN – Miro Kadmiry – 13/18, 159 yards, TD

Top rushers

SWE – Philip Juhlin – 13 rushes, 80 yards, TD
FIN – Karri Pajarinen – 12 rushes, 82 yards, 2 TD

Top receivers

SWE – Jacob Dahre – 10 receptions, 122 yards, TD
FIN – Marcus Siiskonen – 2 receptions, 41 yards, TD

Final

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
France	7	0	14	7	28
Austria	0	14	0	0	14

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

First quarter

FRA – Andrew James 34-yard pass from Paul Durand (Jefferson Alexandre kick), 2:42. France 7-0. Drive: 7 plays, 70 yards, 3:18

Second quarter

AUT – Sandro Platzgummer 41-yard run (Thomas Pichlmann kick), 10:15. Tied 7-7. Drive: 7 plays, 79 yards, 4:23
AUT – Berhard Seikovits 12-yard pass from Alexander Thury (Thomas Pichlmann kick), 2:51. Austria 14-7. Drive: 4 plays, 36 yards, 1:30

Third quarter

FRA – Jason Aguemon 49-yard run (Jefferson Alexandre kick), 9:01. Tied 14-14. Drive: 6 plays, 81 yards, 2:53
FRA – Jerome Valbon 1-yard pass from Paul Durand (Jefferson Alexandre kick), 3:38. France 21-14. Drive: 8 plays, 63 yards, 3:50

Fourth quarter

FRA – Jefferson Alexandre 20-yard pass from Paul Durand (Jefferson Alexandre kick), 5:25. France 28-14. Drive: 10 plays, 75 yards, 4:49

Top passers

FRA – Paul Durand – 18/27, 225 yards, 3 TD, INT
AUT – Alexander Thury – 10/28, 85 yards, TD, INT

Top rushers

FRA – Jason Aguemon – 11 rushes, 63 yards, TD
AUT – Sandro Platzgummer – 7 rushes, 58 yards, TD

Top receivers

FRA – Jefferson Alexandre – 4 receptions, 54 yards, TD
AUT – Berhard Seikovits – 5 receptions, 46 yards, TD

References

^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 13 August 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ 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/