England dominate Euros to retain overall title

The tournament got underway last Tuesday with a memorable parade, opening ceremony and two women’s matches featuring the hosts in both the Women’s Open’s and Women’s 27s divisions. France won both, defeating Ireland and Belgium as part of the opening night organised to celebrate women’s participation and performance in Touch Football in Europe.

The biggest ever Euros came to a fitting finale on the Saturday, with 13 finals live streamed across three fields. The excitement continued throughout the final day, with England beating Ireland 8-7 in a nail-biting Men’s Open Grand Final. Whilst England’s Ollie Simon was named Player of the Final, Ireland’s Kiran Byrne was the top scorer with 21 tries. Scotland took their first men’s open medal for 12 years with bronze after a thrilling drop-off win against France.

Meanwhile England dominated the Women’s Open category, scoring 109 tries across their 9 games and beating France 7-1 in the final, with Emily Rona-Roper named Player of the Final. Ireland edged past Scotland for the bronze whilst England’s Carly Wyne and France’s Lea Martin Mendes Lopes shared the title of top try scorer with 14 each.

But England couldn’t claim a hat trick of Open’s golds as the host nation capped off a very strong all-round tournament in front of strong home support to secure their first Open’s gold medal. Astrid Vellet and Maxime Poirier were named female and male Player of the Final whilst France’s Enzo Courtial shared the title of top try scorer with Cayman Islands’, Ria Plunkett who each scored 17. Wales beat Switzerland to claim bronze.

There were also gold medals for England in the Men’s 30s, 35’s, 40’s and 55’s, Women’s 27s, 35s and 40s and the Senior Mixed, where Germany narrowly missed out on gold after topping the pool stage. They went down 7-9 to the English, who backed up their fantastic semi-final win against France in a 3-3 drop-off. France went on to claim the bronze medal.

Special mention to England Men’s 40’s player Dean Bradley who scored 27 tries in their 9 games and to France’s Stephane Chancibot who scored 18 tries in the Men’s 45 division.

FIT would like to thank all players, coaches, support staff, referees, volunteers, and staff from all participating NTOs and organisers Touch France. It was another truly memorable Euros.

Attention now shifts to England and the European Youth Touch Championships taking place at the University of Warwick in Coventry, with the event getting underway with the opening ceremony on Thursday 13 August. You can follow all the action here on the FIT website, and on our YouTube and social media channels.

See below for the 2026 European Championships Medallists by division or visit the FIT website here for the full results and live streaming links.

Men’s 55

🥉 Portugal

🥈 Wales

🥇 England

🏆 Player of the Final:   Martin Reynard (England)

 Referees of the Final: Chris Whimpenny, Matt Emmerson, Chloe Spencer

🏉 Top try scorers: 7 – Andy Brooksbank (England); 7 – Luis Baptista (Portugal); 6 – Hugh Laugharne (Wales); 6 – Mark Isherwood (Wales)

Men’s 50

🥉 England

🥈 France

🥇 Wales

🏆 Player of the Final:   Dylan Adam (Wales)

 Referees of the Final: Dan Fahy, David Strawbridge, Will Gaines

🏉 Top try scorers: 10 – Patrick O’Sullivan (Ireland); 9 – Chris Bromley (Scotland); 9 – Jason Kerr (Jersey)

Men’s 45

🥉 Wales

🥈 England

🥇 France

🏆 Player of the Final:   Marc Lejus (France)

 Referees of the Final: Christophe Rivier, Niklas Niemitz (Grupe)

🏉 Top try scorers: 18 – Stephane Chancibot (France); 16 – Michael Parsons (Wales); 16 – Phil Williams (Wales)

Men’s 40

🥉 Wales

🥈 France

🥇 England

🏆 Player of the Final:   Dean Bradley (England)

 Referees of the Final: Cedric Huguet, Oliver Exton, Brice Mallein

🏉 Top try scorers: 27 – Dean Bradley (England); 16 – Ollie Sills (England); 14 – Stuart Bussell (England)

Women’s 40

🥈 Scotland

🥇 England

🏆 Player of the Final:   Kylie Hutchison (England)

 Referees of the Final: Rachael Kennard, Clare Hammond, Barbara Garcia

🏉 Top try scorers: 11 – Cecile Mas (Eurostars); 9 – Aimee Findlay (England W45); 8 – Sally Seymour (England)

Men’s 35

🥈 Wales

🥇 England

🏆 Player of the Final:   Steve Holland (England)

 Referees of the Final: Siobhan Daly, Julien Martin, Armel Pineau

🏉 Top try scorers: 17 – Steve Holland (England); 11 – Ben Phillips (Wales)

Women’s 35

🥉 France

🥈 Wales

🥇 England

🏆 Player of the Final:   Athena Maria Enderstein (England)

 Referees of the Final: Vincent Lebacq, Martin Vigneron, Ailsa Falconer

🏉 Top try scorers: 20 – Aurelie Elzbach (France); 10 – Abigail Walters (England); 10 – Marine Frelicot (France)

Men’s 30

🥉 France

🥈 Ireland

🥇 England

🏆 Player of the Final:   Ben Meakin (England)

 Referees of the Final: Simon Fau, Julian Edwards, Renat Iskakov

🏉 Top try scorers: 19 – Tom Smith (England); 18 – Stephen Troy 9Ireland); 15 – Brice Kanarek (Belgium)

Senior Mixed

🥉 France

🥈 Germany

🥇 England

🏆 Player of the Final:   Maui Pomare (Germany) & Georgia Blessed (England)

 Referees of the Final: David Cathala, Sylvain Charras, Chris Wrigley

🏉 Top try scorers: 22 Tom Bricknell (England);  16 – Ute Katharina Kohlhelm (Germany); 16 – Agatha Minot (France)

Women’s 27

🥉 Scotland

🥈 France

🥇 England

🏆 Player of the Final:   Jo Devine (England)

 Referees of the Final: Dominic Shaw, Layo Aromire, Mike Davis

🏉 Top try scorers: 17 – Jo Devine (England); 16 – Jess Clarke (England); 15 – Sage Bannister (England)

Mixed Open

🥉 Wales

🥈 England

🥇 France

🏆 Player of the Final:   Astrid Vellet (France) & Maxime Poirier (France)

 Referees of the Final: Phil Holliday, Philippe Tonnelet, Kathy Van De Rijt

🏉 Top try scorers: 17 – Ria Plunkett (Cayman Islands); 17 Enzo Courtial (France); 16 – Colin James Ferugson (Germany)

Women’s Open

🥉 Ireland

🥈 France

🥇 England

🏆 Player of the Final:   Emily Rona-Roper (England)

 Referees of the Final: Jack Harris, Fergal Evans, Nicolas Van De Rijt

🏉 Top try scorers: 14 – Carly Wyne (England); 14 – Lea Martin Mendes Lopes (France); 13 – Ella Loveridge (England)

Men’s Open

🥉 Scotland

🥈 Ireland

🥇 England

🏆 Player of the Final:   Ollie Simon (England)

 Referees of the Final: Kevin Hobbs, Gareth Hinds, Jordi Bitlloch

🏉 Top try scorers: 21 – Kiran Byrne (Ireland); 19 – Harry Richard (England); 18 – Sam Clacher (England); 18 – Cilian Daly (Ireland)

Overall

🏆 Open’s Champions: England

🏆 Seniors / Masters Champions: England

🏆 Overall European Champions: England

🏉 Top try scorer: 21 – Kiran Byrne (Ireland MO)

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