IQA World Cup

For the club competition formerly called Quidditch World Cup, see US Quadball Cup.

IQA World Cup

Current season, competition or edition: 2025 IQA World Cup
IQA logo.
Formerly	Summer Games Global Games
Sport	Quadball/Quidditch
Founded	2012
First season	2012 IQA Summer Games
Organising body	IQA
No. of teams	Varies
Most recent champion(s)	Belgium (1 title)
Most titles	United States (4 titles)
Official website	iqasport.org

The IQA World Cup is an international quidditch tournament contested by the national teams of the members of the International Quidditch Association, the sport's global governing organisation. The championship, which was named Summer Games and Global Games in its first two editions, has been awarded every two years since 2012. The current champions are Belgium, winning their final game against Germany, with Australia coming in third against the United States.

History

Oxford

Frankfurt

Florence

Burnaby

Richmond

Tubize

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Locations of the IQA World Cups

The World Cup was first held in July 2012. The tournament was named the "Summer Games" in accordance with its unofficial tie-in to the 2012 Summer Olympics, and because the name "World Cup" was already being used since 2007 for a club championship held in the United States. The tournament was held in Oxford, United Kingdom as the Olympic torch was passing through the city. Five teams participated: Australia, Canada, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The event followed a round-robin format, with the lowest ranked team being eliminated and the others advancing to the bracket phase. The UK was defeated by all other competitors and did not make the bracket. The US took first place, defeating France in the final, and Australia claimed bronze by defeating Canada.

In 2014, the tournament was renamed "Global Games" and took place under an updated IQA which became an international sports federation. The Games were under the supervision of US Quidditch but were held in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. Seven teams came out to compete: Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Italy had planned to compete but had to pull out. The event was contested over a round-robin, with positions in a series of playoffs determined by each team's result in the first round. Due to limited media relations and improper planning, the tournament was relatively unknown and had a lacking medical staff which became evident when Belgium chose to forfeit after suffering multiple injuries. The United States defended their title by defeating Australia in the final, and Canada claimed bronze by defeating the United Kingdom.

The 2016 World Cup took place in Frankfurt, Germany. The initial tournament plan involved 24 competing teams, but because of the dropouts of five teams, the number of expected nations was reduced to 19. Later, Brazil and Slovakia were added to the roster of teams, resulting in a field of 21 nations. The tournament took place using a pool-play format, followed by a single-elimination bracket with all 21 teams. Ahead of the tournament, exhibition matches were held between Canada and the United Kingdom, Turkey and Mexico and Australia and Germany. After a pool-play and bracket tournament, Australia defeated the United States 150*–130 in the final. The United States had first made a snitch catch which was disallowed on the grounds of charging the snitch. When the Australian seeker caught the snitch, the catch was initially challenged due to the seeker having been hit by a bludger. However the beat was ruled out as the beater had himself been hit by a bludger. The catch was therefore called good and Australia won the match and the United States suffered their first defeat. In the third place match, the United Kingdom avenged their defeat in the 2014 third place playoff years prior by beating Canada 190*–60. Both the final and bronze playoff were therefore re-runs of the same games from the previous World Cup, both with the reverse result.

The 2018 World Cup was held in Florence, Italy with 29 teams competing. There has been much online controversy about the unexpected hike in tournament fees, which has forced some smaller nations to drop out, namely Denmark and Sweden, both of whom would have been attending for the first time.

On the 15th of October 2024, it was announced that the 2025 World cup would be held in Tubize, Belgium. The upcoming tournament is scheduled to be the largest to-date, with 31 teams competing (Originally 32, prior to Slovakia dropping out). This tournament was also the first to be scheduled across three days. The majority of the tournament will take place at Proximus Basecamp, the home of the Belgian FA however, the third place play-off and the final will take place at the 8,000 capacity, Stade Edmond Leburton.

Format

Qualification

None of the competitions so far have involved a qualification round. To be eligible, the team must be representing a region's national governing body.

2025 Format:

31 Teams were divided into seven groups. 3 of the groups had 5 teams, with the remaining 4 having 4 teams. The 5 team groups play each of the other 4 teams within their group in a round-robin format, whilst the 4 team groups play every team within another 4 team group (e.g pool 4 plays against all the teams in pool 5, with pool 6 playing against all the teams in pool 7). These group games set the seedings for the knockout bracket. The team with the highest seeding following the group stage is given a Bye, with the remaining 30 teams entering a round of 30 knockout stage. This winners bracket will follow a single elimination system, culminating in the final. Any teams eliminated will compete in either mini-consolation brackets or round robin play against other eliminated teams in order to set position 4th-31st.

Results

The following table shows a list of all World Cups to date. The team that caught the snitch is denoted with an asterisk.

Year	Host city		Final				3rd place match				Teams
			Champions	Score	Runners-up		3rd place	Score	4th place
2012 Details	Oxford		United States	160*–0	France		Australia	60*–50	Canada		5
2014 Details	Burnaby		United States	210*–0	Australia		Canada	70*–40	United Kingdom		7
2016 Details	Frankfurt		Australia	150*–130	United States		United Kingdom	190*–60	Canada		21
2018 Details	Florence		United States	120*–70	Belgium		Turkey	110*–60	United Kingdom		29
2023 Details	Richmond		United States	140*–50	Germany		Belgium	120*–60	England		15
2025 Details	Tubize		Belgium	170*–90	Germany		Australia	90*–80	United States		31

Medals summary

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	4	1	0	5
2	Australia	1	1	2	4
3	Belgium	1	1	1	3
4	Germany	0	2	0	2
5	France	0	1	0	1
6	Canada	0	0	1	1
	Turkey	0	0	1	1
	United Kingdom	0	0	1	1
Totals (8 entries)		6	6	6	18

Appearance

Team	2012 (5)	2014 (7)	2016 (21)	2018 (29)	2023 (15)	2025 (31)	Total
African Nations	•	•	•	•	5th	10th	2
Australia	3rd	2nd	1st	5th	6th	3rd	6
Austria	•	•	14th	11th	13th	8th	4
Belgium	•	7th	7th	2nd	3rd	1st	5
Basque Country	•	•	•	•	•	22nd	1
Brazil	•	•	16th	27th	9th	17th	4
Canada	4th	3rd	4th	9th	8th	13th	6
Catalonia	•	•	12th	17th	•	25th	3
Czech Republic	•	•	•	15th	•	30th	2
England	•	•	•	•	4th	5th	2
Finland	•	•	•	28th	•	•	1
France	2nd	6th	5th	6th	7th	6th	6
Germany	•	•	11th	7th	2nd	2nd	4
Hong Kong	•	•	•	25th	13th	29th	3
Iceland	•	•	•	29th	•	•	1
India	•	•	•	•	9th	9th	2
Ireland	•	•	20th	21st	•	19th	3
Italy	•	•	13th	8th	•	21st	3
Japan	•	•	•	•	11th	12th	2
Malaysia	•	•	•	18th	•	•	1
Mexico	•	5th	8th	13th	11th	16th	5
Netherlands	•	•	18th	19th	•	27th	3
New Zealand	•	•	•	20th	•	•	1
Norway	•	•	9th	11th	13th	7th	4
Philippines	•	•	•	•	•	20th	1
Poland	•	•	19th	13th	•	28th	3
Scotland	•	•	•	•	•	23rd	1
Slovakia	•	•	17th	26th	•	•	2
Slovenia	•	•	15th	21st	•	18th	3
South Korea	•	•	21st	23rd	•	•	2
Spain	•	•	10th	10th	•	11th	3
Switzerland	•	•	•	23rd	•	31st	2
Turkey	•	•	6th	3rd	•	15th	3
United Kingdom	5th	4th	3rd	4th	•	•	4
United States	1st	1st	2nd	1st	1st	4th	6
Vietnam	•	•	•	15th	•	24th	2
Wales	•	•	•	•	•	26th	1

Legend

• 1st – Champions
• 2nd – Runners-up
• 3rd – Third place
• 4th – Fourth place
•  •  – Did not enter / Did not qualify
•     – Hosts
• Q – Qualified for forthcoming tournament
• WD – Withdrew from the tournament

See also

• International Quidditch Association
• Quidditch (sport)
• European Games (quidditch)

References

Notes

External links

• Official website of the IQA