It's an important step for Canada's flag football Olympic aspirations.
The Canadian men's and women's teams will be competing in the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) Continental championship in Panama City. The top-five finishers will qualify for the '26 IFAF world competition, where the top-three squads will automatically earn berths to the '28 Los Angeles Summer Games, where flag football will make its Olympic debut.
"Everyone keeps talking about the Olympics but we've got to finish in the top-five to continue," said Paul LaPolice, the veteran CFL coach who's coaching the Canadian men's flag team. "If you get to worlds you get an opportunity to go to the Olympics and so we're shooting for a top-five so we can assure a spot at worlds next year."
Canada will open the men's competition Friday with two games, facing Guatemala and Brazil in their pool A competition. Then on Saturday, the Canadians will finish the round robin against Colombia and the United States, the five-time world champions who Canada upset 25-21 en route to going 4-0 at the 2025 International Bowl in June.
"Some of the top teams in the world are here," LaPolice said. "But obviously you understand the U.S. is the five-time world champion."
The top-two teams in each division advance to medal round Sunday with the first-place finishers facing the second-place squads. The winners will meet for the gold medal with the two losers squaring off for the bronze medal.
The Canadian women's team enters this event off a third-place finish at the '25 World Games in China. Canada defeated Austria 38-20 to claim the bronze medal, its first international hardware as quarterback Sara Parker threw six TD passes while Lauriane Beauchamp and Lea Duval
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