GB women denied in first shot at earning Olympic spot

The Great Britain women’s team have missed out on their first chance to qualify for flag football’s Olympic debut but will have another opportunity on Sunday.

The non-contact version of American football will make its Olympic bow at Los Angeles 2028 and two spots are available for both men and women at this weekend’s World Championships in Germany.

After reaching the quarter-finals as group winners, GB faced Panama on Saturday and came from behind to win 26-20 and set up a semi-final clash with the USA.

Victory would have secured a spot at LA28 and GB led 21-7 in the first half after touchdowns by Grace Conway, Angelica Tait and Emily Kemp.

But the defending champions fought back to win 27-21, while Canada beat Mexico 20-6 to reach their first final since 2014.

However, since the USA qualify automatically for LA28 as hosts, whoever wins Sunday’s bronze-medal game (11:30 BST) will secure the other Olympic spot on offer in Dusseldorf this weekend.

GB are third in the world having won the past two European Championships but Mexico are ranked top having lost the past two World finals to the USA while beating them in the 2022 and 2025 World Games finals.

It will be two years before the other Olympic spots are available.

The GB men’s team lost 50-35 to Switzerland in their first ranking game on Saturday but then beat Austria 28-20 for their first win of the tournament.

They will face Brazil on Sunday to determine who will finish in 13th and 14th place.

The USA face Italy in the final, with Canada taking on Mexico in the bronze-medal game.