Turkey set to face the Netherlands in Holland for Level 2 supremacy

Photo: Türkiye Ragbi Federasyonu

The Netherlands and Türkiye meet to decide the 2024/25 IFAF European Championships Level 2 group on Sunday, November 17, at the Arnhem Falcons American Football Club (kickoff 3pm CET).

Türkiye blew the group wide open with a convincing 41-18 victory over Ireland in from of 4,000 spectators at the Hasan Dogan Stadium in Ankara on two weeks ago, and a road win will seal top spot.

The Netherlands were beaten 18-13 by Ireland in Navan in October but can still come out on top by winning at home to create a three-way tie and taking care of a points differential that is currently in favor of the visitors. Türkiye boasts plus-23 points, while the Netherlands has minus-5 points, so a Dutch win by 15 points or more is required to win by the points differential tiebreaker.

“I am pleased where we are as a team after seven practices and a game,” said Netherlands head coach Fred Armstrong. “The decision to play in this tournament now and not wait until 2026 was the right choice. Turkey has high caliber players on their team and are coached well. We look forward to playing the first national team home game since 2016.”

Batur Kaplan, head coach of the Turkish national team, said: “We are very excited about the game. It’s going to be a great battle. We are ready to go.”

2024/25 IFAF European Championships Level 2 Group Stages Schedule

October 19      Ireland 18 Netherlands 13

November 3    Türkiye 41 vs Ireland 18

November 17 Netherlands vs Türkiye in Arnhem