The Australian Football International Cup is a triennial international tournament in Australian rules football. It is the biggest international tournament in the sport that is open to all nations. More than 26 nations have participated and the competition has expanded into multiple pools and both men and women's divisions. At the time of the last tournament in 2017, the sport had a record 170,744 registered players outside Australia growing at a rate of 25 per cent per annum.
AFL Japan is a league and governing body for Australian rules football in Japan. The Top League season runs from April to November, with a summer break during August. All teams including the University teams compete in the Top League. The most successful team has been the Tokyo Goannas, who have been premiers since the inaugural Top League season. In 2007, the Osaka Dingoes joined the Top League. Since then the league has expanded with the addition of 3 new teams with the Nagoya Redbacks joining in 2009, the R246 Lions joining in 2012 and just recently the Tokyo Bay Suns in 2013.
Exhibition matches in Australian rules football have been used to promote the game as a demonstration sport outside of its heartlands in Australia.
Australian rules football attendance records
The United States national Australian rules football team, nicknamed the Revolution, represents the United States of America in the sport of Australian rules football. The Revolution are named after the American Revolution and wear the colors of the American flag.
The New Zealand national Australian rules football team (Māori: tīmi whutupaoro Ahitereiria o Aotearoa; nicknamed the Hawks ; previously the Falcons, is the national men's team for the sport of Australian rules football in New Zealand. The International Cup team is selected from strict criteria from the best New Zealand born and developed players, primarily from the clubs of the AFL New Zealand. Test and touring squads are selected using similar criteria to other international football codes, additionally allowing players with a New Zealand born parent to play.
The Nauru national Australian rules football team, nicknamed the Chiefs, represents Nauru in Australian rules football. Despite its small size and population, Nauru, which is the only country with AFL as its national sport, consistently ranks among the top eight teams in the world.
Women's Australian rules football, is the female-only form of Australian rules football, generally with some modification to the laws of the game.
The MAAFL was a division of the United States Australian Football League and an Australian rules football competition based in the United States.
Australia has named a senior Australian rules football team, known as the All-Australian team since 1947. This team, however has never officially played an international Australian rules football match. This is primarily because the sport is played professionally in Australia.
Australian rules football in Papua New Guinea (PNG) is a developing team sport which was initially introduced by Australian servicemen during World War II. The governing body for the sport is the PNG Rules Football Council, with the development body being AFL PNG. The junior development version is known locally as Niukick. Regionally, AFL PNG is affiliated with AFL Oceania.
Australian rules football in South Africa is a team sport played at amateur level in the country with a small audience. The governing body is AFL South Africa.
Australian rules football in Samoa has been played since 1997.
Australian rules football in China has been played since the 1989 and grew in popularity in the 2010s.
Australian rules football in Africa is most organised in South Africa, although there are programs under development in many African nations including Botswana, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya and Zimbabwe and there are plans to introduce the sport into more African countries.
Australian rules football in Oceania is the sport of Australian rules football as it is watched and played in the Oceanian continent. The regional governing and development body is AFL South Pacific it is affiliated to the AFL Commission and was formed in 2008.
Australian rules football in Asia dates back to 1910 but was only sporadically played until the 1980s after which it has boomed. Clubs have begun in most Asian countries and a governing body for the region, AFL Asia was formed in 2008 to coordinate the Asian Championship and promote its affiliated leagues. AFL Asia estimates that there are now more than 10,000 Australian Football players across the continent.
Australian rules football in the Middle East describes the minority sport of Australian rules football as it is watched and played in the Middle East region.
Australian rules football has been played at an organised amateur level in the United States and Canada since around 1990. There have also been clubs formed for occasional play in Bermuda, Brazil, Chile, Argentina and Colombia.
Australian Rules Football was played by three clubs in Iceland, with the Andspyrnusamband Íslands being the main league and controlling body for the sport. The IceAFL was founded in 2009, and regular competition commenced in 2010. The league was the world's most northerly Australian Rules Football league. Since the inaugural Arctic Cup competition Australian Rules Football hasn't been played in Iceland.
