The World Lacrosse Men's Championship is the international men's field lacrosse championship organized by World Lacrosse that occurs every four years.

The WLC began before any international lacrosse organization had been formed. It started as a four-team invitational tournament which coincided with Canada's centennial lacrosse celebration in 1967. Canada, the United States, Australia, and England participated. Seven years later, Australia celebrated its lacrosse centenary and another four-team invitational tournament was held between the same countries. After that tournament in 1974, the first international governing body for men's lacrosse was formed, the International Lacrosse Federation (ILF). The ILF merged with the women's governing body in 2008 to form the Federation of International Lacrosse, which changed its name to World Lacrosse in 2019.

The United States has won the championship most titles in eleven times. With 46 nations competing, the 2018 WLC in Israel was the largest tournament and was the first championship held outside of Australia, Canada, England or the United States.

The oldest world Lacrosse championship match was recorded on April 22, 1870, in Montreal. The Montreal Lacrosse club accepted a challenge vs the Caughnawaga Lacrosse team.

Editions 2006 Championship

Canada defeated the United States 15–10 in the gold medal game of the 2006 World Championship in London, Ontario. Geoff Snider of Team Canada was named tournament MVP.

2010 Championship

The 2010 WLC was held in Manchester, England from July 15 to 24. For the first time, a World Lacrosse Festival was sanctioned to run alongside the world championships.

With more nations entering, the Round Robin stage of the tournament featured 30 nations and was split into 7 divisions, considerably larger than ever before. The Iroquois Nationals were unable to participate because the host nation did not recognize the validity of passports issued by the Iroquois confederacy.

The United States defeated Canada 12–10 in the gold medal game to capture their ninth victory at the World Lacrosse Championship.

2014 Championship

The 2014 WLC was held on July 10–19, 2014 in Commerce City, Colorado, at Dick's Sporting Goods Park, home of the Colorado Rapids soccer team. 38 nations participated in over 142 games. The countries with the top six rankings - Australia, Canada, England, Iroquois, Japan, and the United States - competed in the Blue Division.

Belgium, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Israel, Russia, Thailand, Turkey, and Uganda all competed in the event for the first time.

Canada defeated the United States 8–5 in the gold medal game to capture their third World Lacrosse Championship

2018 Championship

The 2018 WLC was held on July 11–21, 2018 in Netanya, Israel, at Netanya Stadium and Wingate Institute. 46 nations participated in tournament games. The countries with the top six rankings - Australia, Canada, England, Iroquois, Scotland, and the United States - competed in the Blue Division.

United States defeated Canada in the gold medal game, dramatically scoring the controversial game-winning goal at the last second.

2023 Championship

Originally, the championship was scheduled to be held in 2022 in Coquitlam, British Columbia, however due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the games were delayed to 2023 and moved to Los Angeles, California, but ultimately were relocated to San Diego, California.

The 2023 WLC was held from June 21–July 1, 2023. Pool games and placement games were held at San Diego State University's SDSU Sports Deck and the University of San Diego's Torero Stadium, while playoff games were held at SDSU's Snapdragon Stadium. 30 nations participated in tournament games, marking both the first time qualifiers were used to determine tournament entry and the first time the number of competing teams decreased from the previous tournament.

The countries with the top five rankings - Australia, Canada, England, Haudenosaunee, and the United States - competed in Pool A.

After the tournament, the Philippines' standing was demoted to 30th (last place) due to the team's failure to comply with eligibility requirements, the team initially finished in 15th place.

Championship hosts Hosting responsibilities for the 12 championships from 1967 to 2014 were evenly divided between four countries, with the United States, Canada, Australia, and England each hosting three times.

The 2018 championship in Israel was the first time the tournament expanded beyond the traditional four hosts. For the 2018 edition, World Lacrosse had originally selected England in 2013, but English Lacrosse withdrew in 2017, citing “unacceptable financial risk”, and Israel was selected instead.

Results

YearHostChampionsScoreRunner-upNumber of teams1967 Toronto, Ontariorowspan=2 41974 Melbourne, Australia41978 Stockport, England17–16 (OT)41982 Baltimore, Maryland22–1441986 Toronto, Ontario18–941990 Perth, Australia19–1551994 Bury, England21–761998 Baltimore, Maryland15–14 (OT)112002 Perth, Australia18–15162006 London, Ontario15–10212010 Manchester, England12–10292014 Denver, Colorado8–5382018 Netanya, Israel9–8462023 San Diego, California10–7302027 TBD, Japan

Performance by team

Medal table

Performance by tournament +TeamAppearancesHighestFinish1967(4)1974(4)1978(4)1982(4)1986(4)1990(5)1994(6)1998(11)2002(15)2006(21)2010(29)2014(38)2018(46)2023(30)2027TBD 3 28th – – – – – – – – – – 28th 36th 39th – 14 2nd 2nd 2nd 3rd 2nd 3rd 3rd 2nd 3rd 3rd 3rd 3rd 4th 4th 4th 4 21st – – – – – – – – – – 21st 28th 24th 27th 2 27th – – – – – – – – – – – 27th 30th 4 18th – – – – – – – – – 21st 18th 24th 37th –0––––––––––––– 14 1st 3rd 3rd 1st 3rd 2nd 2nd 3rd 2nd 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 2nd 2 33rd – – – – – – – – – – – 33rd 42nd 2 37th – – – – – – – – – – – 37th 45th 1 38th – – – – – – – – – – – 38th –– 1 43rd – – – – – – – – – – – – 43rd 7 9th – – – – – – – 9th 10th 15th 13th 14th 26th 22nd 4 16th – – – – – – – – – 16th 26th – 34th 28th 14 4th 4th 4th 4th 4th 4th 4th 4th 5th 6th 5th 5th 5th 5th 6th 4 9th – – – – – – – – – 9th 12th 13th 15th 4 17th – – – – – – – – – – 27th 31st 33rd 17th 7 6th – – – – – – – 6th 8th 8th 6th 9th 9th 11th 1 19th – – – – – – – – – – – – 19th0––––––––––––– 8 3rd – – – – –5th 5th 4th 4th 4th 3rd 3rd 3rd 6 13th – – – – – – – – 14th 20th 22nd 21st 27th 13th 1 28th – – – – – – – – – – – – 28th 6 7th – – – – – – – – 13th 7th 9th 10th 12th12th 3 7th – – – – – – – – – – – 7th 7th 7thQ 5 9th – – – – – – – – – 10th 19th 18th 16th 9th 2 8th – – – – – – – – – – – – 13th 8th 8 4th – – – – – –6th 8th 5th 6th 4th 8th 6th 5th 5 14th – – – – – – – – – 14th 20th 19th 18th 20th 1 46th – – – – – – – – – – – – 46th –0––––––––––––– 4 15th – – – – – – – – – – 29th 23rd 38th 15th 5 8th – – – – – – – – – 12th 8th 16th 22nd 14th 6 12th – – – – – – – – 15th 19th 15th 12th 21st 24th 3 17th – – – – – – – – – – 24th 25th 17th 2 21st – – – – – – – – – – – – 39th 21st 2 10th – – – – – – – – – – – – 10th 30th 4 14th – – – – – – – – – – 14th 20th 32nd 19th0––––––––––––– 2 8th – – – – – – – – – – – – 8th 10th 2 32nd – – – – – – – – – – – 32nd 36th – 7 6th – – – – – – – 7th 7th 11th 7th 6th 11th 16th 3 17th – – – – – – – – – – 17th 26th 23rd 0––––––––––––– 6 11th – – – – – – – – 11th 18th 25th 35th 35th 25th 4 16th – – – – – – – – – 17th 16th 30th 31st 6 9th – – – – – – – 10th 9th – 10th 11th 25th 23rd 4 15th – – – – – – – – – – 23rd 15th 20th 26th 1 41st – – – – – – – – – – – – 41st 1 29th – – – – – – – – – – – 29th ––222nd–––––––––––22nd44th 3 29th – – – – – – – – – – – 34th 40th 29th 14 1st 1st 1st 2nd 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 1st 7 11th – – – – – – – 11th 12th 13th 11th 17th 14th 18th +Legend1stChampions2ndRunners-up3rdThird Place•Did not qualify••Withdrew Hosts–Did not enter

See also World Lacrosse World Lacrosse Women's World Championship World Lacrosse Men's U20 Championship World Indoor Lacrosse Championship (men) Field lacrosse

References

External links Federation of International Lacrosse official website 2018 WLC official website