Most recent season or competition: 2023 IQA World Cup | |
![]() IQA logo. | |
Formerly | Summer Games Global Games |
---|---|
Sport | Quidditch |
Founded | 2012 |
First season | 2012 IQA Summer Games |
Organising body | IQA |
No. of teams | Varies |
Most recent champion(s) | ![]() (4th title) |
Most titles | ![]() |
Official website | iqasport |
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 the United States, who defeated Germany in 2023, [1] after having also beaten Belgium back in 2018. [2]
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. [3]
In 2014, the tournament was renamed "Global Games" and took place under an updated IQA which became an international sports federation. [4] The Games were under the supervision of US Quidditch but were held in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. [5] 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. [6] The United States defended their title by defeating Australia in the final, and Canada claimed bronze by defeating the United Kingdom. [7]
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. [8] Later, Brazil and Slovakia were added to the roster of teams, resulting in a field of 21 nations. [9] 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. [10] 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. [11]
The 2018 World Cup was held in Florence, Italy with 29 teams competing. [12] [13] 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.[ citation needed ]
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.
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 [lower-alpha 1] | ![]() 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 |
Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
2 | ![]() | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
3 | ![]() | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
4 | ![]() | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
![]() | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
6 | ![]() | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
![]() | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
![]() | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
Totals (8 entries) | 5 | 5 | 5 | 15 |
Team | ![]() 2012 (5) | ![]() 2014 (7) | ![]() 2016 (21) | ![]() 2018 (29) | ![]() 2023 (15) | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | • | • | • | • | 5th | 1 |
![]() | 3rd | 2nd | 1st | 5th | 6th | 5 |
![]() | • | • | 14th | 11th | 13th | 3 |
![]() | • | 7th | 7th | 2nd | 3rd | 4 |
![]() | • | • | 16th | 27th | 9th | 3 |
![]() | 4th | 3rd | 4th | 9th | 8th | 5 |
![]() | • | • | 12th | 17th | • | 2 |
![]() | • | • | • | 15th | • | 1 |
![]() | • | • | • | • | 4th | 1 |
![]() | • | • | • | 28th | • | 1 |
![]() | 2nd | 6th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 5 |
![]() | • | • | 11th | 7th | 2nd | 3 |
![]() | • | • | • | 25th | 13th | 2 |
![]() | • | • | • | 29th | • | 1 |
![]() | • | • | 20th | 21st | • | 2 |
![]() | • | • | 13th | 8th | • | 2 |
![]() | • | • | • | • | 9th | 1 |
![]() | • | • | • | • | 11th | 1 |
![]() | • | • | • | 18th | • | 1 |
![]() | • | 5th | 8th | 13th | 11th | 4 |
![]() | • | • | 18th | 19th | • | 2 |
![]() | • | • | • | 20th | • | 1 |
![]() | • | • | 9th | 11th | 13th | 3 |
![]() | • | • | 19th | 13th | • | 2 |
![]() | • | • | 17th | 26th | • | 2 |
![]() | • | • | 15th | 21st | • | 2 |
![]() | • | • | 21st | 23rd | • | 2 |
![]() | • | • | 10th | 10th | • | 2 |
![]() | • | • | • | 23rd | • | 1 |
![]() | • | • | 6th | 3rd | • | 2 |
![]() | 5th | 4th | 3rd | 4th | • | 4 |
![]() | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 5 |
![]() | • | • | • | 15th | • | 1 |
Quidditch, officially known as quadball since 2022, is a team sport that was created in 2005 at Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont, United States, and was inspired by the fictional game of the same name in the Harry Potter books by the author J. K. Rowling. Two teams of seven players each, astride broomsticks and opposing each other on a rectangular pitch, compete with the primary objective of passing a ball through the defenders' hoops, while preventing their opponents from passing it through their own hoops. The real-world sport is sometimes referred to as "muggle quidditch" to distinguish it from the fictional game of the books, which involves magical elements such as flying broomsticks and enchanted balls—a muggle in the Harry Potter series being a person without magical abilities. The sport is played around the world.
The International Quadball Association (IQA), previously known as the International Quidditch Association, is the governing body for the sport of quadball. It was founded as the Intercollegiate Quidditch Association in 2009 following the first intercollegiate quidditch match. In 2010, the IQA added the "international" term to its name, and 2016 saw its induction as an international sports federation with its creation of the Congress. It now comprises more than ten national associations governing quidditch in their respective nations.
The British Quadball Cup, also British Quidditch Cup, is a quidditch tournament held in the United Kingdom that follows the rules laid out by the International Quidditch Association. It is organised by QuadballUK and is the largest UK tournament of the year.
QuadballUK is the official governing body of quadball in the United Kingdom and is affiliated with the International Quadball Association.
The US Quadball Cup, previously known as US Quidditch Cup and IQA World Cup, is a quadball tournament held in the United States and organized by US Quadball. The first US Quadball Cup was held in 2007 with only two teams participating, and now features around 60 collegiate and club teams from around the United States.
The Belgium national quidditch team, also known as the Belgian Gryffins, is the national team of Belgium in quidditch. The team was founded in 2014 upon the announcement of the 2014 IQA Global Games, the International Quidditch Association's second international tournament featuring national teams.
Quidditch Canada is the governing body that oversees quidditch within Canada under its mother organization, the International Quidditch Association. In August 2022, QC announced plans to rebrand with the new name Quadball in 2023.
The United Kingdom National Quidditch Team, colloquially known as Team UK, was the official national Quidditch team of the United Kingdom. Team UK made its debut in 2012 at the IQA Summer Games in Oxford, UK where it placed 5th of 5 teams. The team then played in Canada at the 2014 IQA Global Games in Burnaby, BC on July 29, 2014 where it placed 4th of 7 teams and in the European Games in Sarteano, Italy in July 2015, placing 2nd of 12. Team UK gained its first medals at the IQA World Cup 2016 in Frankfurt on July 23–24, 2016, finishing 3rd out of 21 teams. In 2017 the team gained its first international trophy, winning the IQA European Games, beating France in the final. Team UK's final tournament appearance was a 3rd place medal at the 2019 IQA European Games in Bamberg.
US Quadball, formerly known as US Quidditch, is a non-profit organization that governs the sport of quadball in the United States of America. Quadball is a sport that combines elements of basketball, dodgeball, and rugby. The sport is played at more than 100 colleges and 50 independent clubs in the United States.
Quidditch, also known as Quadball, in Australia is played by a mixture of university and community teams. Due to the geographic demographics of the country, most major competitive tournaments are held in the eastern states. There are currently over 30 registered teams in the country.
The Canadian national quidditch team made its debut in 2012 at the IQA Summer Games in Oxford, UK, where it placed 4th of five teams. The team once again represented Canada at the 2014 IQA Global Games in Burnaby, BC on July 29, 2014 where it took third place, coming behind the United States and Australia, respectively.
Quidditch is a growing team sport in Canada. Due to its relative youth within the sports scene of Canada, adoption is not as widespread as other sports such as rugby or ultimate. However, adoption is picking up with additional university and community teams each year. As a result of its inclusivity and its many niche styles of play, a wider spectrum of individuals are drawn to this sport than other mainstream sports. For the moment, the majority of teams are based in Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta, but teams are rapidly starting up in Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and Manitoba. Quidditch Canada is the governing body for the sport across the country; there are no associations within Quidditch Canada that govern provincially/territorially.
The IQA European Games (EG) are the biennial games for the sport of quidditch held in Europe where national governing bodies send national teams to compete. The European Games were created in response to the IQA World Cup, the biennial tournament wherein nations from around the world compete in a similar style to the FIFA World Cup. Both Games alternate years so in the off years regional tournaments such as the European Games or the Asian Quidditch Cup can occur. These games are the highest level of championships in quidditch aside from Global Games. The 2015 champions were Team France, narrowly beating Team UK.
The 2015 IQA European Games, also known simply as the European Games, was the inaugural European championship for the sport of quidditch organized jointly by Sarteano2015, Quidditch Europe and the International Quidditch Association. The tournament was held the weekend of the 24–26 July 2015 in the city of Sarteano, Italy. France took first against the United Kingdom with a final score of 90*–50, and Norway came in third winning 150*–80 against Belgium.
The 2016 IQA World Cup is the third edition of the IQA World Cup, the international quidditch championship organized by the International Quidditch Association. It was held in Frankfurt, Germany on 23–24 July 2016. Australia won the cup 150*–130 against the United States; the latter team had won all the previous editions. 21 nations competed, including Australia, Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. A crowdfunding campaign aimed to send the Ugandan team as the first-ever African nation to compete internationally. However, the team members failed to obtain a German visa and withdrew from the competition. The Peruvian team also withdrew before the competition due to a lack of funds. A documentary entitled Fly the Movie: Journey to Frankfurt followed the British team in their preparation before the cup.
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