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The IFAF World Championship of American Football (also known as the IFAF World Cup) is an international American football competition held every four years and contested by teams representing member nations. The competition is run by the International Federation of American Football (IFAF), the international governing body for the sport. Of the 54 countries that currently field a national American football team, only 12 teams qualify for the championship. The championship has been contested four times since the inaugural 1999 tournament. The size of the tournament has expanded to the current 12 teams from an initial field of 4 at the 1999 tournament. The defending champions are the United States, who won the 2015 championship after winning the 2011 edition and the 2007 edition which was their first appearance. Japan won the 1999 and 2003 championships. The championship was held in Italy in 1999, in Germany in 2003, in Kawasaki, Japan in 2007, and in Austria in 2011. The 2015 IFAF World Championship was originally going to be held in Stockholm, Sweden, however local organizers had to cancel the event due to lack of sponsorship.〔http://stockholm2015.org/world-championship-moves/〕 The 2015 tournament was played in Canton, Ohio, United States. ==Tournament format== At the 2011 championship, the championship tournament consisted of eight teams divided into two groups of four (there were six teams in 1999 and 2007, four in 2003, and seven in 2015). The opening round featured a round-robin tournament within the groups, with each team playing each other once. However, as opposed to a tournament bracket after the games were completed, the teams with the best record from each group met in the gold medal game, with the second-place teams in each group playing for the bronze medal, the third-place teams playing in the 5th-place game, and the fourth-place teams playing in the 7th-place game, thus guaranteeing each team four games. Automatic berths included the host nation and the defending champions. Both finalists from the European Federation of American Football tournament received berths. Two teams from the Pan American Federation of American Football received berths, as did one member each from the Asian Federation of American Football and from the Oceania Federation of American Football. For the 2019 championship, the tournament will expand to 12 teams. Teams will be divided into four groups, each consisting of three teams. Teams will play the other two teams in their group once each, for a total of two group-stage games. Teams will then advance to the second round, and from there to the placement and medal games. Because American football is far more dominant in the United States than anywhere else in the world, the United States did not field a team in the tournament for its first two editions. The United States has fielded a squad for the last three iterations, but with extremely restrictive criteria that make most American football players ineligible for the team. Despite the restrictions, the United States has easily won all three world championships in which they have competed. Similarly, Canada (where Canadian football, a related sport, has widespread popularity) did not participate until the 2011 competition, when the Canadian team finished second to the United States. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「IFAF World Championship」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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