World Lacrosse Championship

World Lacrosse Championship
SportField lacrosse
Founded1967; 57 years ago (1967)
Organising bodyWorld Lacrosse
RegionInternational
Most recent
champion(s)
 United States
(11th title)
(2023)
Most titles United States
(11 titles)
Related
competitions
Women's Lacrosse World Cup

World Indoor Lacrosse Championship

World Lacrosse Men's U20 Championship
Official websiteOfficial website

The World Lacrosse Men's Championship,[1] formerly World Lacrosse Championship, is the international men's field lacrosse championship organized by World Lacrosse that occurs every four years.

The WLC began before any international lacrosse organization had been formed. It started as a four-team invitational tournament which coincided with Canada's centennial lacrosse celebration in 1967. Canada, the United States, Australia, and England participated. Seven years later, Australia celebrated its lacrosse centenary and another four-team invitational tournament was held between the same countries. After that tournament in 1974, the first international governing body for men's lacrosse was formed, the International Lacrosse Federation (ILF). The ILF merged with the women's governing body in 2008 to form the Federation of International Lacrosse, which changed its name to World Lacrosse in 2019.[2]

The United States has won the championship most titles in eleven times.[2] With 46 nations competing, the 2018 WLC in Israel was the largest tournament and was the first championship held outside of Australia, Canada, England or the United States.

The oldest world Lacrosse championship match was recorded on April 22, 1870, in Montreal. The Montreal Lacrosse club accepted a challenge vs the Caughnawaga Lacrosse team.[citation needed]

Editions

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2006 Championship

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Canada defeated the United States 15–10 in the gold medal game of the 2006 World Championship in London, Ontario. Geoff Snider of Team Canada was named tournament MVP.

2010 Championship

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The 2010 WLC was held in Manchester, England from July 15 to 24. For the first time, a World Lacrosse Festival was sanctioned to run alongside the world championships.

With more nations entering, the Round Robin stage of the tournament featured 30 nations and was split into 7 divisions, considerably larger than ever before. The Iroquois Nationals were unable to participate because the host nation did not recognize the validity of passports issued by the Iroquois confederacy.[3]

The United States defeated Canada 12–10 in the gold medal game to capture their ninth victory at the World Lacrosse Championship.[4]

2014 Championship

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The 2014 WLC was held on July 10–19, 2014 in Commerce City, Colorado, at Dick's Sporting Goods Park, home of the Colorado Rapids soccer team.[5] 38 nations participated in over 142 games. The countries with the top six rankings - Australia, Canada, England, Iroquois, Japan, and the United States - competed in the Blue Division.

Belgium, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Israel, Russia, Thailand, Turkey, and Uganda all competed in the event for the first time.[6]

Canada defeated the United States 8–5 in the gold medal game to capture their third World Lacrosse Championship

2018 Championship

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The 2018 WLC was held on July 11–21, 2018 in Netanya, Israel, at Netanya Stadium and Wingate Institute. 46 nations participated in tournament games. The countries with the top six rankings - Australia, Canada, England, Iroquois, Scotland, and the United States - competed in the Blue Division.

United States defeated Canada in the gold medal game, dramatically scoring the controversial game-winning goal at the last second.[7]

2023 Championship

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Originally, the championship was scheduled to be held in 2022 in Coquitlam, British Columbia,[8] however due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the games were delayed to 2023 and moved to Los Angeles, California,[9][10][11] but ultimately were relocated to San Diego, California.[12]

The 2023 WLC was held from June 21–July 1, 2023. Pool games and placement games were held at San Diego State University's SDSU Sports Deck and the University of San Diego's Torero Stadium, while playoff games were held at SDSU's Snapdragon Stadium. 30 nations participated in tournament games, marking both the first time qualifiers were used to determine tournament entry and the first time the number of competing teams decreased from the previous tournament.[13][14]

The countries with the top five rankings - Australia, Canada, England, Haudenosaunee, and the United States - competed in Pool A.

After the tournament, the Philippines' standing was demoted to 30th (last place) due to the team's failure to comply with eligibility requirements, the team initially finished in 15th place. [15]

Championship hosts

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Hosting responsibilities for the 12 championships from 1967 to 2014 were evenly divided between four countries, with the United States, Canada, Australia, and England each hosting three times.

The 2018 championship in Israel was the first time the tournament expanded beyond the traditional four hosts. For the 2018 edition, World Lacrosse had originally selected England in 2013, but English Lacrosse withdrew in 2017, citing “unacceptable financial risk”, and Israel was selected instead.

Results

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[16]

Year Host Champions Score Runner-up Number of teams
1967 Canada
Toronto, Ontario

United States
League
Australia
4
1974 Australia
Melbourne, Australia

United States

Australia
4
1978 England
Stockport, England

Canada
17–16 (OT)
United States
4
1982 United States
Baltimore, Maryland

United States
22–14
Australia
4
1986 Canada
Toronto, Ontario

United States
18–9
Canada
4
1990 Australia
Perth, Australia

United States
19–15
Canada
5
1994 England
Bury, England

United States
21–7
Australia
6
1998 United States
Baltimore, Maryland

United States
15–14 (OT)
Canada
11
2002 Australia
Perth, Australia

United States
18–15
Canada
16
2006 Canada
London, Ontario

Canada
15–10
United States
21
2010 England
Manchester, England

United States
12–10
Canada
29
2014 United States
Denver, Colorado

Canada
8–5
United States
38
2018 Israel
Netanya, Israel

United States
9–8
Canada
46
2023 United States
San Diego, California

United States
10–7
Canada
30
2027 Japan
TBD, Japan

Performance by team

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Medal table

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RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 United States113014
2 Canada37414
3 Australia04711
4 Haudenosaunee0033
Totals (4 entries)14141442

Performance by tournament

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[16]
Team Appearances Highest
Finish
1967
Canada
(4)
1974
Australia
(4)
1978
England
(4)
1982
United States
(4)
1986
Canada
(4)
1990
Australia
(5)
1994
England
(6)
1998
United States
(11)
2002
Australia
(15)
2006
Canada
(21)
2010
England
(29)
2014
United States
(38)
2018
Israel
(46)
2023
United States
(30)
2027
Japan
TBD
 Argentina 3 28th 28th 36th 39th
 Australia 14 2nd 2nd 2nd 3rd 2nd 3rd 3rd 2nd 3rd 3rd 3rd 3rd 4th 4th 4th
 Austria 4 21st 21st 28th 24th 27th
 Belgium 2 27th 27th 30th
 Bermuda 4 18th 21st 18th 24th 37th
 Bulgaria 0 •• ••
 Canada 14 1st 3rd 3rd 1st 3rd 2nd 2nd 3rd 2nd 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 2nd
 China 2 33rd 33rd 42nd
 Colombia 2 37th 37th 45th
 Costa Rica 1 38th 38th
 Croatia 1 43rd 43rd
 Czech Republic 7 9th 9th 10th 15th 13th 14th 26th 22nd
 Denmark 4 16th 16th 26th 34th 28th
 England 14 4th 4th 4th 4th 4th 4th 4th 4th 5th 6th 5th 5th 5th 5th 6th
 Finland 4 9th 9th 12th 13th 15th ••
 France 4 17th 27th 31st 33rd 17th
 Germany 7 6th 6th 8th 8th 6th 9th 9th 11th
 Greece 1 19th 19th
 Haiti 0 •• ••
 Haudenosaunee 8 3rd 5th 5th 4th 4th 4th •• 3rd 3rd 3rd
 Hong Kong 6 13th 14th 20th 22nd 21st 27th 13th
 Hungary 1 28th 28th
 Ireland 6 7th 13th 7th 9th 10th 12th 12th
 Israel 3 7th 7th 7th 7th
 Italy 5 9th 10th 19th 18th 16th 9th
 Jamaica 2 8th 13th 8th
 Japan 8 4th 6th 8th 5th 6th 4th 8th 6th 5th
 Latvia 5 14th 14th 20th 19th 18th 20th
 Luxembourg 1 46th 46th
 Kenya 0
 Mexico 4 15th 29th 23rd 38th 15th
 Netherlands 4 8th 12th 8th 16th 22nd 14th
 New Zealand 6 12th 15th 19th 15th 12th 21st 24th
 Norway 3 17th 24th 25th 17th
 Peru 2 21st 39th 21st
 Philippines 2 10th 10th 30th
 Poland 4 14th 14th 20th 32nd 19th
 Portugal 0
 Puerto Rico 2 8th 8th 10th
 Russia 2 32nd 32nd 36th
 Scotland 7 6th 7th 7th 11th 7th 6th 11th 16th
 Slovakia 3 17th 17th 26th 23rd
 Slovenia 0
 South Korea 6 11th 11th 18th 25th 35th 35th 25th
 Spain 4 16th 17th 16th 30th 31st
 Sweden 6 9th 10th 9th 10th 11th 25th 23rd
  Switzerland 4 15th 23rd 15th 20th 26th
 Chinese Taipei 1 41st 41st
 Thailand 1 29th 29th
 Turkey 2 22nd 22nd 44th
 Uganda 3 29th 34th 40th 29th
 United States 14 1st 1st 1st 2nd 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 1st
 U.S. Virgin Islands 0
 Wales 7 11th 11th 12th 13th 11th 17th 14th 18th
Legend
1st Champions
2nd Runners-up
3rd Third Place
Did not qualify
•• Withdrew
Hosts
Did not enter

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "About World Lacrosse".
  2. ^ a b "Men's History and Results". World Lacrosse. Retrieved July 14, 2019.
  3. ^ "Iroquois Lacrosse Team Faces Hardships by Traveling on Their Own Passports". Cultural Survival. Retrieved November 12, 2017.
  4. ^ "FIL World Championships: USA Takes Gold With 12-10 Win Over Canada". Inside Lacrosse. Archived from the original on July 28, 2010. Retrieved July 27, 2010.
  5. ^ "Schedule Released for FIL World Championship". March 4, 2014. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
  6. ^ "Record Field for 2014 FIL World Championship". March 4, 2014. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
  7. ^ "Schreiber's controversial goal lifts U.S. over Canada in field worlds final | National Post". National Post. July 21, 2018. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
  8. ^ "Field lacrosse world championship coming to Coquitlam". Tri-City News. June 26, 2018. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
  9. ^ "2022 World Championship Pulled Out of Coquitlam". Lacrosse Bucket. October 18, 2019. Archived from the original on June 18, 2020. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  10. ^ "2022 World Championships Moving to California". Lacrosse Bucket. November 11, 2019. Archived from the original on December 15, 2019. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  11. ^ "WORLD LACROSSE MEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP PUSHED TO 2023, WILL BE IN L.A." US Lacrosse. June 3, 2020. Archived from the original on June 19, 2020. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  12. ^ "The World is Coming to San Diego - WORLD LACROSSE AWARDS 2023 MEN'S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TO SAN DIEGO". 2022.
  13. ^ "Automatic Qualifiers Set to Compete in San Diego". World Lacrosse. 2022.
  14. ^ "New Championship Format & Qualification System". World Lacrosse. 2022.
  15. ^ Lacrosse, World (July 2, 2023). "2023 World Lacrosse Men's Championship concludes after 11 days". World Lacrosse. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
  16. ^ a b "History". World Lacrosse. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
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