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 28–20 Estadio Santo Domingo, Alcorcón 26 September 6:00 p.m. CEST 0–21 Stadion Rankhof, Basel 10 October 1:00 p.m. CEST 0–20 Tsarskoye Selo Stadium, Pushkin 10 October 2:00 p.m. CEST 0–56 Voždovac Stadium, Belgrade 11 October 2:00 p.m. CEST 7–14 Letní stadion, Pardubice 24 October 6:00 p.m. CEST 3–17 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
Date Kickoff Away Score Home Game site Semifinals 2 September 2:00 p.m. CEST 10–40 Stadio G. Teghil, Lignano Sabbiadoro 2 September 7:00 p.m. CEST 0–17 Stadio G. Teghil, Lignano Sabbiadoro Classification game 4 September 3:00 p.m. CEST 0–51 Stadio G. Teghil, Lignano Sabbiadoro Final 4 September 7:00 p.m. CEST 14–17 Stadio G. Teghil, Lignano Sabbiadoro
Tournament in Great Britain
Date Kickoff Away Score Home Game site Semifinals 16 September 3–30 Sixways Stadium, Worcester 16 September 13–20 Sixways Stadium, Worcester Classification game 18 September 6–17 Sixways Stadium, Worcester Final 18 September 13–38 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 qualified for the final tournament as only one of the four teams without any match played. Finland, who was already qualified, did not appear on the schedule and no reasons were given.
By March 2018, Sweden, Denmark, and Great Britain had advanced to the final tournament. Germany and Italy were not on the list. According to American Football International 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.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/
Teams (2014 fourth-placed, host) (2014 runner-up) (2014 third-placed) (qualifier) (qualifier) (qualifier)
Venue All games were played at Myyrmäen jalkapallostadion in Vantaa, Finland.
Vantaa Myyrmäen jalkapallostadionCapacity: 4,700
Group stages Group A Standings Team 2 0 1.000 81 18 +63 1 1 0.500 33 61 −28 0 2 0.000 35 70 −35
Schedule
Group B Standings Team 2 0 1.000 63 23 +40 1 1 0.500 42 28 +14 0 2 0.000 16 70 −54
Schedule
Finals
See also International Federation of American Football
References
External links IFAF European Championship – official page