Canada women unbeaten, men fall to Japan ahead of flag football quarterfinals

Canada's women completed a perfect preliminary round at the world flag football championships Friday, rallying for a 34-20 victory over Japan to improve to 3-0.

Quarterback Sara Parker threw four touchdown passes, including two to Caroline Moquin-Joubert.

Alexane Fournier and Marianne Quirion also caught TD passes, while Frédérique Morneau scored a rushing touchdown as Canada erased a 20-13 halftime deficit with 21 unanswered points in the second half.

Canada will face Austria in Saturday's quarterfinals. A victory would send the Canadians into a semifinal against the winner of Mexico and Spain.

Canada's men finished second in Group A at 2-1 after suffering their first loss of the tournament Friday, falling 37-28 to unbeaten Japan.

Japan quarterback Take Taniguchi threw five touchdown passes, while former CFL quarterback Michael O'Connor threw three TD passes for Canada.

Japan finished atop the group at 3-0. The Canadians will play American Samoa (2-1) on Saturday.

The top two finishers in each tournament will qualify for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. If the United States, already qualified as host, reaches the final, the top three finishers will qualify.