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To establish a consistent standard for organizing high-quality fistball events that reflect the IFA’s commitment to excellence, athlete well-being, innovation, and sustainability—while increasing international appeal and engagement—the IFA Board has decided to restructure the Club World Cup, with full implementation planned for 2027. As part of this transition, a temporary event will be held in 2026. Its aim is to strengthen and align with the existing continental competitions.
This decision follows a process led by the IFA Sports Commission, involving input from the sports commissions of the continental associations and discussions with the IFA Athletes’ Commission leadership. The IFA World Tour Finals 2025, scheduled to take place in Vöcklabruck (Austria) from July 24 to 27 under the current format, will remain unaffected by this decision.
“With the break in the World Tour in 2025, we have taken the opportunity to realign the format of the World Cup from 2026 and also to strengthen the importance of the continental competitions held,” says Jörn Verleger, President of the IFA: “The format that has now been decided applies exclusively to 2026. With a restart of the World Tour in 2027, there is the opportunity to reintegrate the top teams from this ranking list into the field of participants.”
New format for 2026
From 2026, the IFA Fistball Club World Championship will be held with six participating teams each for men and women. Qualification will take place exclusively via the continental championships. The first and second-placed teams from the two largest continental associations, Europe and Pan-America/South America, qualify. The fifth starting place goes to one of the continental champions from Asia, Oceania, Africa and North America. Which of these continental associations provides a team is determined based on evaluation criteria such as the number of participating nations and teams in the continental competition. The sixth starting place is allocated to an organizer. If one of the teams does not take part, a successor rule will apply.
“We are convinced that this will create a strong field of participants for an attractive competition,” says Gastao Englert, Chairman of the IFA Sports Commission: “The Club World Cup will award the most important title in club fistball, making it one of our highlight events in international fistball.” Feedback from sports officials in the continental federations was also included in the development of the field of participants. “We held many discussions and had a very constructive exchange,” says Englert.
Prospects for 2027
While the format for 2026 has been approved by the IFA Board of Directors, a commission is now stablished and doing a force task to work on the concept for the 2027 Club World Championship. Under the leadership of Gastao Englert, this commission includes club representatives and organizers of previous World Tour Major, 500 and 250 tournaments, reaching out all event levels. “Thanks to the experience and World Tour know-how of the members, we are convinced that we can successfully set up the World Tour for the future with an update,” says Englert.
A key component of the plans is the reintegration of the IFA Fistball World Tour into the qualification system for the Club World Cup. Englert: “Our aim is to integrate the best teams from the World Tour perfectly into the Club World Championship and thus further increase the quality and attractiveness of the competition.”