The United States won the first ever Gold Medal at the inaugural IFAF Women's World Championship with a 66-0 victory over Canada at the Zinkensdamms IP Stadium in Stockholm, Sweden on Saturday, July 03.
Earlier in the day, Finland won the Bronze medal with a 26-18 win over Germany, while on a good day for Scandinavia, host Sweden took fifth place overall by beating Austria 20-18.
Team USA head coach John Konecki said afterwards, “Canada was an excellent team and we had to work our butt off to prepare and play against them. I feel honored to have coached this Team USA. It is a remarkable group of women.
Defensive Most Valuable Player Sharon Vasquez of the Pittsburg Passion added:
“It was amazing to win gold medal. It was very emotional. We played an awesome team and it feels great to be in this moment,” said Vasquez.
USA now holds all IFAF tackle football world titles with the USA Football Women's National Team joining their male counterparts, who won the senior crown in 2007 against Japan, and the juniors (aged 19 and under), who beat Canada to lift the 2009 IFAF Junior World Championship.
The IFAF Senior World Championship is held every four years having first been contested in 1999. The 2011 IFAF Senior World Championship will be held in Europe for the third time, with the Asian continent having hosted the 2007 event.
The United States is the reigning senior world champion, but it is the Japanese who claim the most storied history at the senior international level. Japan has twice lifted the world crown and in 2007 took the United States to double overtime before finally surrendering the world title they had held for eight years.

Women's World Championship of American football
Game results, June 27 - July 3:
USA Österrike 63-0
Sverige Canada 6-12
Österrike Finland 6-50
Tyskland Sverige 14-0
Canada Tyskland 20-12
Finland USA 0-72
Österrike Sverige 18-20
Tyskland Finland 18-26
Canada USA 0-66

Gold medal game: USA-Canada
Source: Sveriges Amerikanska Fotbollförbund / www.amerikanskfotboll.com

Women’s football in Sweden is in its infancy with three club teams - Stockholm Mean Machines, Arlanda Jets and Limhamn Griffins - operating since the formation of a national team in 2008. The national team has twice faced neighbor Finland in friendly competition, improving in 2009 with a 36-6 loss following on from a 64-point shutout defeat a year earlier. Sweden’s female players have played flag football and also integrated with country’s men’s teams for the past decade.