1999 IFAF World Championship

The 1999 IFAF World Championship was the inaugural IFAF World Championship, an international American football championship run by the International Federation of American Football (IFAF). It was played in Palermo, Italy from 24 June to 4 July 1999.^[1] The tournament was contested by six nations and was won by Japan.^[1]

1999 IFAF World Championship

Tournament details
Host nation	Italy
Dates	24 June – 4 July
No. of nations	6
Final positions
Champions	Japan
Runner-up	Mexico
Third-place	Sweden
2003 →

Participants

•   Mexico
•   Japan
•   Sweden
•   Australia
•   Finland
•   Italy

Rosters

Finland 1999 IFAF World Championship roster view talk edit
Quarterbacks -- Jarkko Nieminen -- Petri Pekkanen Running Backs -- Mika Ahl -- Jani Puustinen -- Karim Segheir -- Tero Talonen Wide Receivers -- Nikko Olsson -- Mikko Pimminainen -- Jarkko Pippola -- Timo Seppänen Tight ends -- Tommi Padatsu -- Jukka Ryynänen		Offensive Linemen -- Stefan Andersson -- Patrik Karbin -- Ilkka Katainen -- Jari Lyhty -- Tomi Pirhonen -- Marko Puustinen -- Mikko Sorvali -- Mikko Vento Defensive Linemen -- Seppo Evwaraye DT -- Jose Hakala DE -- Timo Jokela DT -- Ville Kurvinen DE -- Pertti Lautala DT -- Pasi Lautala DT -- Marko Luoma DE		Linebackers -- Henri Forsberg -- Matti Lottonen -- Kari Lyhty -- Petri Pellinen -- Juhani Salo -- Jarkko Ylätalo Defensive Backs -- Markus Forsberg S -- Matias Forslund S -- Mika Laurila S -- Sebastian Lind CB -- Simo Mahkonen CB -- Jani Pihlman CB -- Jari Savela CB -- Jukka Tahvanainen CB -- Jouni Virta S Special Teams -- Tapio Hentunen P

Italy 1999 IFAF World Championship roster view talk edit
Quarterbacks -- Federico Castellani -- Marcello Lio -- Elvis Taroni Running Backs -- Alessandro Angeloni -- Massimiliano Fagotti FB -- Alessandro Greco -- Cristian Longhi FB -- Carlo Mezzadri FB -- Giosue Rizzuto Wide Receivers -- Christian Costanzo -- Fabio Capodaglio -- Gianluca Mannatrizio -- Matteo Soresini Tight ends -- Massimo Vicinelli		Offensive Linemen -- Corrado Camerino G -- Emanuele Costanzo C -- Alessandro Dallai G -- Massimo Gertosio T -- Davide Giuliano T -- Placido Massella G -- Stefano Neva C -- Mauro Salvemini T -- Armaldo Sbriccoli C -- Mauro Trombetti T Defensive Linemen -- Luca Bellora DE -- Corrado Camerino DT -- Francesco Fabbri DT -- Fabio Franzini -- Fulvio Rusconi DT		Linebackers -- Alessandro Aldrovandi OLB -- Giuseppe Anello MLB -- Claudio Biavati MLB -- Massimiliano Bonomo OLB -- Marco Boscolo OLB -- Ottavio Carnelli OLB -- Diego Gennaro OLB -- Ezio Marone MLB -- Paolo Orofino -- Stefano Paolucci -- Antonio Pauletto OLB Defensive Backs -- Stefano De Giorgi CB -- Davide Donnini CB -- Renato Gargiulo SS -- Paolo Guerini CB -- Enrico Leonardi CB -- Matteo Mantovani CB -- Filippo Piermaria CB -- Marco Polizzi CB -- Jouni Virta S -- Andrea Ventura Special Teams -- Vito Lafata P/K

Mexico 1999 IFAF World Championship roster view talk edit
Quarterbacks  3 Enrique Villanueva 13 Diego Rodríguez 19 Antonio Toro Running Backs 34 Oliver Feria  1 Eduardo Núñez 33 Mauricio Loustaunau 21 Jerónimo Huerta Wide Receivers 88 Héctor Cuervo 80 Sergio Aguilar  5 Mauricio Líbano 12 Víctor Narváez Tight Ends 82 Félix Joanem		Offensive Linemen Defensive Linemen 99 Erick Sámano DT  6 Jesús Alfredo Muñoz DE		Linebackers Defensive Backs 27 Edgar Loyo CB 10 Jesús Medina CB Special Teams 37 Alejandro Barona K 20 Roberto Mendoza P

Sweden 1999 IFAF World Championship roster view talk edit
Quarterbacks -- Hakan Eriksson -- Martin Hejdesten -- Martin Wiman Running Backs -- Kaj Dyrvold -- Lars Gustafsson -- Eric Hakansson -- Rachid Karlsson -- Niklas Karlsson Wide Receivers -- Joel Andersson -- Henrik Eriksson -- Benny Granqvist -- Mattias Hejdesten -- Yohan Ohlsson -- Johan Perlstrom Tight ends -- Ola Olsson -- Mikael Tagel		Offensive Linemen -- Carl-Johan Blomwall -- Magnus Dahlin -- Ted Hagberg -- Michael Jonsson -- Tomas Lohr -- Sighsten Lundqvist -- Bjorn Marcusson -- Marten Persson Defensive Linemen -- Andreas Blomquist -- Jorgen Lejon -- Dann Petersson -- Richard Rosenholtz -- Peter Rundberg -- Ola Schon -- Kristian Stenshamn -- Jonas Svan -- Anders Tibling		Linebackers -- Martin Janzon -- Giacomo La Cerva -- Kristian Lonnesjo -- Marcus Miramahdi -- Stefan Skoldeback -- Brian Vilborg Defensive Backs -- Mikael Berg -- Andreas Ekholm -- Mats Eriksson -- Magnus Kullenberg -- Lars Leksell -- Peter Raicevic -- Eric Saeden -- Richard Trincas Special Teams -- Ola Kimrin K

Group stage

Group A

Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA
Mexico	2	2	0	143	0
Italy	2	1	1	28	61
Finland	2	0	2	7	117

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Italy	7	7	7	7	28
Finland	0	7	0	0	7

• Date: June 24

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Mexico	24	35	8	22	89
Finland	0	0	0	0	0

• Date: June 27

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Mexico	21	7	12	14	54
Italy	0	0	0	0	0

• Date: June 30

Group B

Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA
Japan	2	2	0	78	14
Sweden	2	1	1	36	30
Australia	2	0	2	6	76

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Sweden	7	3	6	6	22
Australia	0	6	0	0	6

• Date: June 25

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Japan	7	7	7	3	24
Sweden	0	0	14	0	14

• Date: June 28

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Japan	14	16	14	10	54
Australia	0	0	0	0	0

• Date: July 1

Fifth place match

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Australia	0	0	0	10	10
Finland	0	7	0	0	7

Third place match

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Sweden	10	13	3	12	38
Italy	0	6	7	0	13

• Date: July 3

Final

Period	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Japan	0	0	0	0	6	6
Mexico	0	0	0	0	0	0

• Date: July 4

Both teams entered the gold medal game undefeated in group play. The Mexico defense had not allowed any points, shutting out their two previous opponents, and the Mexican offense was impressive in beating Finland 89-0 (the most points ever in an IFAF Tournament game) and Italy 54-0. The Championship Game was a defensive struggle, with both teams committing turnovers (5 by Mexico, 2 by Japan), and for the first time in the tournament, Mexico did not score a point in any quarter. Japan held a slight advantage in total yards gained (233 to Mexico's 198). In overtime, Japan scored first on 5 yard pass from Sunaga to Abe. The extra point kick was wide, and Japan led 6-0. As they had all game, the Japanese defense kept Mexico out of the endzone, sealing the victory for Japan.

Winner

1999 IFAF World Cup Winners
JAPAN First Title

Statistics

Pos	Team	Games	Win	Lose	Points for	Points against	Difference
1	Japan	3	3	0	84	14	+70
2	Mexico	3	2	1	143	6	+137
3	Sweden	3	2	1	74	43	+31
4	Italy	3	1	2	41	99	-58
5	Australia	3	1	2	16	83	-67
6	Finland	3	0	3	14	127	-113

References

1. Kelly, Roger (24 November 2018). "First ever IFAF World Cup of American Football featured in NFL Films". American Football International. Retrieved 18 June 2023.

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