The 2007 IFAF World Championship was the third instance of the

IFAF World Championship The IFAF World Championship of American Football (also known as the IFAF World Cup) is an international gridiron competition held every four years and contested by teams representing member nations. The competition is run by the International Fe ...

, the

quadrennial An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded in a previous year, and may also refer to the commemoration or celebration of that event. The word was first used for Catholic feasts to commemorate saints. ...

international

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

world championship tournament. It was held July 7–15, 2007 in

Kawasaki, Kanagawa is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, one of the main cities of Greater Tokyo Area and Keihin Industrial Area. It is the second most populated city in Kanagawa Prefecture after Yokohama, and the eighth most populated city in Japan (includin ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

Venues

Participants

* (qualify automatically as host) * (European champion) * * (invitee) * * (Winner of Asia/Oceania Playoff)

Matches

Group 1

Group 2

5th place

3rd place

Final

The United States competed for the first time in the 2007 IFAF World Cup. Japan was making their third appearance in the finals, winning the previous two World Championships. Japan took a 17-10 lead with seven minutes and seven seconds left in regulation.

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first ...

quarterback Adam Austin guided Team USA with an 11-play, 80-yard drive that ended with the second 5-yard touchdown run by RB Kyle Kasperbauer, to tie the game at 17. IFAF follows the overtime system used by the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

, and both teams scored field goals with their first OT possession. In the second overtime, Japan got the ball first but missed a 34-yard field goal attempt. Team USA then reached Japan's 6-yard line. On 4th and one, Craig Coffin kicked the game winning 22-yard field goal, with the final score at 23-20. University of Nebraska-Omaha running back Kyle Kasperbauer was named MVP of the game after scoring two touchdowns and running for 54 yards on 15 carries. *0-7 Kasperbauer 5 yard run (Coffin kick) (1-9:03) *7-7 Kihira 2 yard pass from Tomizawa (Kaneoya kick) (2-10:51) *10-7 Kaneoya 49 yard field goal (2-8:02) *10-10 Coffin 35 yard field goal (3-4:18) *17-10 Mayuzumi 6 yard pass from Tomizawa (Kaneoya kick) (4-7:07) *17-17 Kasperbauer 5 yard run (Coffin kick) (4-2:51) *17-20 Coffin 43 yard field goal (OT1-0:00) *20-20 Kaneoya 25 yard field goal (OT1-0:00) *20-23 Coffin 22 yard field goal (OT2-0:00) Attendance: 10,231 Team Statistics Japan USA --------------- ----- --- First Downs 13 14 Rushing Plays 34 32 Net Yards Rushing 92 128 Attempts-Completions 25-17 12-25 Net Yards Passing 166 109 Fumbles Lost 1 3 Interceptions 1 1 Penalties-Yards 1-15 3-30 Time of Possession 27:45 20:15 Individual Statistics --------------------- Rushing: Japan - Furutani 13-61, Ishino 3-15, M. Maeda 4-7, Namiki 2-6, Shimizu 3-5, Tomizawa 2-2, Takata 7-(-4) USA - Kasperbauer 15-65, Blakowski 10-55, W. Johnson 4-13, Austin 3-(-5) Passing: Japan - Tomizawa 20-14-140-2-0, Takata 4-3-26-0-1, Nakajima 1-0-0-0-0 USA - Austin 25-12-109-1-0 Receiving: Japan - Hasegawa 3-37, Nakajima 3-29, Furutani 3-23, Shimizu 2-24, Yoneyama 2-12, Mayuzumi 2-11, M. Maeda 1-28, Kihira 1-2 USA - Drenckhahn 5-40, Lewis 2-20, Odom 2/19, Thompson 1-13, Awrey 1-11, Childs 1-6

Winner

Statistics

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:2007 Ifaf World Cup IFAF World Championship World Cup, IFAF Ifaf World Cup, 2007 International sports competitions hosted by Japan American football in Japan