The competition schedule for the fistball events at the World Games 2025 in Chengdu (China) has been finalized. The tournament will take place from August 9 to 13 at Tianfu Park, starting with preliminary round matches played in two groups each for men and women, followed by knockout stage encounters. With eight men’s and eight women’s teams participating, this marks the largest number of fistball teams ever represented at the World Games.

Two months ahead of the start of the 2025 World Games, the International Fistball Association (IFA) has released the official match schedule and group allocations for both the men’s and women’s fistball competitions. All matches will be held at the newly modernized Tianfu Park, which now features two competition fields and two warm-up/training fields. “Following the inclusion of the women’s fistball competition at the last edition of the Games in 2022 in Birmingham, expanding the women’s field to eight teams—matching the men’s—sends a strong signal for our sport,” said IFA President Jörn Verleger. He looks ahead to August with great anticipation: “We are confident that we will experience an outstanding tournament, supported by excellent local organization in Chengdu.”

GOLD and SILVER Groups Promise Exciting Preliminary Round Action

Eight nations will compete in both the men’s and women’s tournaments, divided into two performance-based groups. The “GOLD Group” features the top four teams from the most recent World Championships, while the “SILVER Group” consists of the next four ranked teams. The seeding was based on final rankings from the Men’s 2023 and Women’s 2024 World Championships. “We incorporated feedback from past major events when determining the groupings,” said Gastão Englert, Chair of the IFA Sports Commission. “The result promises exciting matches from the very beginning. At the same time, every team still has a fair shot at the World Games title, which was a key consideration in planning the schedule.”

High-competitive Women’s Matches on Opening Day

In the women’s GOLD Group, reigning world champions Brazil (PAFA Champion 2024), Germany (European Champion 2023, World Championship runner-up), Switzerland (3rd place, WC 2024), and Austria (4th place, WC 2024) will face off. The SILVER Group includes Chile (5th, WC), Argentina (6th), New Zealand (7th), and the USA (9th). The fistball competition kicks off on Saturday, August 9, at 9:00 AM local time with matches between Chile vs. New Zealand and Argentina vs. USA. Later that day, a replay of the first-ever women’s World Games final will take place between defending champions Germany and Switzerland (5:30 PM).

Men’s World Championship Final Revisited

In the men’s GOLD Group, defending champions Germany (World Champion 2023, European Champion 2024), Austria (WC runners-up), Brazil (PAFA Champion 2024, 3rd place WC), and Switzerland (4th WC) will compete. The SILVER Group features Chile (5th WC), Argentina (6th), Italy (7th), and New Zealand (Oceania Champion, 11th WC). The opening day promises plenty of excitement, culminating in Sunday’s SILVER Group matches—Chile vs. Argentina and Italy vs. New Zealand (4:00 PM)—and thrilling GOLD Group clashes, including a replay of the 2023 WC final between Germany and Austria, as well as Brazil vs. Switzerland (both at 5:30 PM).

Knockout Stage Begins on Day Three

The knockout rounds begin on Day 3, Monday, August 11. The top two teams from each GOLD Group will advance directly to the semifinals. The third- and fourth-placed teams from the GOLD Groups will face the top two from the SILVER Groups in crossover quarterfinals, with winners also progressing to the semifinals. The losing teams and remaining SILVER Group teams will play in classification matches for places five through eight.

On Tuesday, August 12, the first classification matches (for 5th and 7th place) will be played, followed by the four semifinals. The tournament concludes on Wednesday, August 13, when the medal matches take place: the bronze games in the morning, followed by the women’s gold medal match at 2:30 PM and the men’s final at 4:45 PM.

Schedule Women

Schedule Men