When the 2018 FIL Schedule for the World Lacrosse Championships gets released, the event gets a lot more real. Well, it’s out, and it’s here! The field has been SET, the 2018 FIL Schedule is all lined up, and medals, glory, and all out competition are coming up quick.

I will run through how this wonderful 2018 FIL Schedule works, because a 48-team tournament structure can be confusing. Then I’ll lay out all the games, after I explain how this all functions. There are a LOT of ways for teams to play their way up, or play their way down, so expect a lot of action and excitement, and more tight games than ever, especially as the tournament wears on.

(Important Links – 48 Teams Announced, National Team Rosters, and our entire International Section!)

2018 FIL Schedule Structure

Blue Division

The Blue is the top group, and the six teams that finished in the top 6 in 2014 make up this group. Canada, the US, the Iroquois, Australia, England, and Scotland are those six teams. Each team will play the other five teams in the Blue, and that will provide a basis of ranking teams in the Blue. There will be 15 total Blue games for pool play. Once group play is over, the top two teams (likely the US and Canada) move into the Top 4 championship bracket directly, while the middle two teams will need to play their way back in to medal contention against the top two finishers from the lower groups. The two bottom Blue teams will need to win a play-in game to re-enter the 5-8 bracket, but that still gives them, and two more finishers from the lower groups, a shot at a Top 6 finish.

This means that the teams that finish in fifth and sixth place in the Blue Division can NOT make it to the Top 4 during the playoffs, but that one or two of the top teams from the lower divisions could. It still allows fifth and sixth place Blue team to finish in 5th or 6th, however. I’d say it’s a pretty fair set up, and promotes the importance of every single pool play game.

Green, Olive, Grey, Red, Gold, Orange, Tan, White, Purple, Bronze, Plum, Turquoise, Yellow, Platinum Divisions

If I have one complaint so far, it’s that colors like Periwinkle, Taupe, and Mauve aren’t included, but that’s such a small issue.

If you count up the colors bolded above, you see there are 14 groups. Each group will have three teams in it. The groups are constructed by taking the country’s 2014 finish, and working backwards. Basically, the groups have been seeded to a certain extent, and if the 2014 pecking order is any indication, we could see some really great games.

Starting with the first group – the 7th place team from 2014 is placed there. The 8th place team is placed in the second group, and this continues through the last of the 14 groups, with the 20th ranked team from 2014. In this last group, the 21st ranked team from 2014 is also included, and then the 15th place team is put in the second to last group, and so on, until you get back to the first group, which now has the 7th place team and the 34th ranked team from 2014. The 35th ranked team from 2014 is then added to the first pool, and the 26th ranked team to the second pool, and so on, until the 48th ranked team is placed in the last pool.

One note here is that since 48 teams did not participate in 2014, the “lowest” ranked teams might not be anywhere near that position when it’s all said and done. For example, Puerto Rico and Jamaica are both “bottom level” teams right now, not because of their talent or expectations, but simply because neither program has ever competed in the FIL men’s lacrosse championships before.

Each of the teams in each of the 14 groups will play each other, which means there will be 3 games per group (A vs B, B vs C, A vs C), and 42 lower groups games in total. There will then be 14 “top finishers”, ONE from each group. The pool winning teams from the first and second groups receive a bye (just like in the Blue), while the next 12 teams will participate in play-in games. The six winners will join the two teams that received a bye, and that will be an 8-team play in group.

The above structure will be duplicated for the second and third place finishers, with the only difference coming from the second place finishers group. Out of those 14 teams, the second place finishers from the last and second to last groups will be given byes, as those groups contained the 19th, 20th, 21st, and 22nd place finishers from 2014. In the third place finisher group, the teams from the first and second groups will receive the byes, as they were the highest remaining finishers from 2014.

Play Ins and Play Offs

Once the play in games have been decided, you will basically have groups of 8, and they will enter a standard 8-team playoff. You will also have groups of six. The bottom four teams will play another play in, and the winners will meet the top two teams. From there, teams will move up and down as they win and lose, with everyone eventually playing a final placement game on the next to last day. Right now the gold medal game will be played on the last day, as a stand alone event. Attendance should be high!

From what I can tell, a team that finishes second in their pool can advance to as high a position as 13th, but that is only if they win the rest of their games. For a team that finishes third in their pool, they can advance as high as 25th, which is pretty amazing considering they’d be 0-2 to start the tournament. Again, that team would have to win out to place that high, but it’s great incentive to play hard the whole way through.

2018 FIL Schedule – FULL SCHEDULE!

FIL World Lacrosse Championship 2018 – Schedule with Game timings and Field Allocations. ALL Times listed below are local Israel time.

The listing format below is as follows:

The first number is the game counter for the tournament overall. There are 175 games in total. The second number is the counter for each day. After that, there is a short description of the game, with either a pool game, play off game, or final placement game in each slot. The time is the start time for each game, an the location is the last big of info included here.

Wednesday July 11th

1 1 Hong Kong v Luxembourg 7:30pm Wingate 1

Thursday July 12th

2 1 Germany v Korea 8:30am Wingate 3

3 2 Japan v Uganda 8:30am Wingate 4

4 3 Switzerland v Slovakia 8:45am Wingate 6

5 4 Netherlands v Norway 9:15am Wingate 1

6 5 New Zealand v Spain 9:15am Wingate 5

7 6 Ireland v China 9:30am Wingate 2

8 7 Latvia v Mexico 11:30am Wingate 3

9 8 Italy v Turkey 11:30am Wingate 4

10 9 Sweden v Argentina 11:45am Wingate 6

11 10 Wales v Bermuda 12:30pm Wingate 1

12 11 Finland v Austria 12:30pm Wingate 5

13 12 Czech Republic v Belgium 12:45pm Wingate 2

14 13 Israel v Jamaica 4:30pm Netanya Stadium

15 14 USA v Iroquois Nationals 8:30pm Netanya Stadium

Friday July 13th

16 1 Austria v Colombia 2:15pm Wingate 6

17 2 Uganda v Bulgaria 2:30pm Wingate 1

18 3 Spain v Croatia 2:45pm Wingate 5

19 4 Norway v Haiti 3:15pm Wingate 3

20 5 Poland v Hong Kong 3:15pm Wingate 4

21 6 Mexico v Greece 4:45pm Wingate 2

22 7 China v Denmark 5:30pm Wingate 6

23 8 Scotland v Australia 6:00pm Wingate 1

24 9 Korea v France 6:15pm Wingate 5

25 10 Argentina v Hungary 6:45pm Wingate 3

26 11 Puerto Rico v Wales 6:45pm Wingate 4

27 12 Jamaica v Russia 8:15pm Wingate 2

28 13 Canada v England 9:00pm Wingate 1

29 14 Slovakia v Taiwan 9:15pm Wingate 5

30 15 Turkey v Peru 9:45pm Wingate 3

31 16 Philippines v Czech Republic 9:45pm Wingate 4

Saturday July 14th

32 1 Haiti v Netherlands 11:30am Wingate 5

33 2 Colombia v Finland 11:45am Wingate 3

34 3 Greece v Latvia 11:45am Wingate 4

35 4 Luxembourg v Poland 12:00pm Wingate 6

36 5 Croatia v New Zealand 1:15pm Wingate 2

37 6 Australia v USA 2:30pm Wingate 1

38 7 France v Germany 2:45pm Wingate 5

39 8 Hungary v Sweden 3:15pm Wingate 3

40 9 Denmark v Ireland 3:15pm Wingate 4

41 10 Belgium v Philippines 3:30pm Wingate 6

42 11 Taiwan v Switzerland 4:45pm Wingate 2

43 12 Iroquois Nationals v England 6:00pm Wingate 1

44 13 Bermuda v Puerto Rico 6:15pm Wingate 5

45 14 Peru v Italy 6:45pm Wingate 3

46 15 Canada v Scotland 6:45pm Wingate 4

47 16 Bulgaria v Japan 8:15pm Wingate 2

48 17 Russia v Israel 9:00pm Wingate 1

Sunday July 15th

49 1 Green 1 v Olive 1 9:15am Wingate 5

50 2 Turquoise 1 v Platinum 1 9:30am Wingate 4

51 3 Green 3 v Olive 3 9:45am Wingate 2

52 4 Plum 1 v Bronze 1 11:30am Wingate 1

53 5 Yellow 3 v Purple 3 11:45am Wingate 3

54 6 Platinum 2 v Green 2 12:00pm Wingate 6

55 7 Grey 1 v Gold 1 1:00pm Wingate 4

56 8 Orange 3 v Tan 3 1:15pm Wingate 2

57 9 Orange 1 v Tan 1 2:45pm Wingate 5

58 10 Yellow 1 v Purple 1 3:00pm Wingate 1

59 11 Bronze 2 v White 2 3:15pm Wingate 3

60 12 Gold 2 v Yellow 2 3:30pm Wingate 6

61 13 Scotland v England 4:30pm Wingate 4

62 14 Tan 2 v Red 2 4:45pm Wingate 2

63 15 Grey 2 v Orange 2 6:15pm Wingate 5

64 16 Plum 3 v Bronze 3 6:45pm Wingate 3

65 17 USA v Canada 7:00pm Wingate 1

66 18 Iroquois Nationals v Australia 7:45pm Wingate 4

67 19 Turquoise 3 v Platinum 3 8:15pm Wingate 2

68 20 Turquoise 2 v Plum 2 9:15pm Wingate 5

69 21 Grey 3 v Gold 3 9:45pm Wingate 3

Monday July 16th

Note on the schedule from here on out: Games are defined using W/L, A/C/D, 1/2/3/4/5/6 naming structure. Here are some examples to help you figure it out!

LA5 – The “L” means the team in this game lost the game before. The “A” means the team finished as one of the top 3 teams in their pool. The “5” means they played in the 5th of 6 play in games for 12 of the 14 top pool group teams. In this case, LA5 would be the loser of the fifth game in the “A” bracket play in, or the loser of the Yellow 1st place team vs the Purple 1st place team.

LA4 – All of the above is the same, except this team will be the loser of the 4th play in game in the top bracket, which is between the Tan 1st place team and the Orange 1st place team.

WD1 – The “W” refers to the team that won the last game. The “D” means the last game was a play in game between 3rd place finishers in the pool play. The 1 means it was the first “D” game played the day before. This game was between the 3rd place Olive team and the 3rd place Green team.

WC6 – This team won their last game. Their last game was in the second place bracket. Their last game was the sixth game played in the second place bracket the day before. That would be the winner of Turquoise 2 vs Plum 2.

Red 1 – This team received a bye, by virtue of winning the Red pool.

70 1 LA5 v LA4 9:15am Wingate 5

71 2 LC5 v LC4 9:45am Wingate 2

72 3 LC3 v LC6 11:45am Wingate 3

73 4 WA2 v WA3 11:45am Wingate 4

74 5 LA3 v LA6 12:00pm Wingate 6

75 6 LD3 v LD6 1:15pm Wingate 2

76 7 Red 1 v WA6 2:30pm Wingate 1

77 8 LD5 v LD4 2:45pm Wingate 5

78 9 WD1 v WD4 3:15pm Wingate 3

79 10 White 1 v WA5 3:15pm Wingate 4

80 11 Red 3 v WD6 3:30pm Wingate 6

81 12 WD2 v WD3 4:45pm Wingate 2

82 13 England v Australia 6:00pm Wingate 1

83 14 WC2 v WC3 6:15pm Wingate 5

84 15 White 3 v WD5 6:45pm Wingate 3

85 16 WA1 v WA4 6:45pm Wingate 4

86 17 WC1 v WC4 8:15pm Wingate 2

87 18 Canada v Iroquois Nationals 9:00pm Wingate 1

88 19 Olive 2 v WC6 9:15pm Wingate 5

89 20 Purple 2 v WC5 9:45pm Wingate 3

90 21 USA v Scotland 9:45pm Wingate 4

Tuesday July 17th

Note: LA1 still follows the same formula as above, and then winners/losers of above games are named.

91 1 LA1 v Winner LA3 / LA6 9:15am Wingate 5

92 2 LC1 v Winner LC3 / LC6 9:45am Wingate 2

93 3 Winner LC5 / LC4 v LC2 11:45am Wingate 3

94 4 Loser WA2 / WA3 v Loser Red 1 / WA6 11:45am Wingate 4

95 5 Winner LA5 / LA4 v LA2 12:00pm Wingate 6

96 6 Loser WD2 / Loser WD3 v Loser Red 3 / WD6 1:15pm Wingate 2

97 7 Australia v Canada 2:30pm Wingate 1

98 8 Winner Red 3 / WD6 v Winner WD2 / WD3 2:45pm Wingate 5

99 9 Loser White 3 / WD5 v Loser WD1 / WD4 3:15pm Wingate 3

100 10 Loser White 1 / WA5 v Loser WA1 / WA4 3:15pm Wingate 4

101 11 Winner WD1 / WD4 v Winner White 3 / WD5 3:30pm Wingate 6

102 12 LD1 v Winner LD3 / LD6 4:45pm Wingate 2

103 13 England v USA 6:00pm Wingate 1

104 14 Winner Olive 2 / WC6 v Winner WC2 / WC3 6:15pm Wingate 5

105 15 Winner LD5 / LD4 v LD2 6:45pm Wingate 3

106 16 Scotland v Iroquois Nationals 6:45pm Wingate 4

107 17 Winner WC1 / WC4 v Winner Purple 2 / WC5 8:15pm Wingate 2

108 18 Winner Red 1 / WA6 v Winner WA2 / WA3 9:00pm Wingate 1

109 19 Loser WC2 / WC3 v Loser Olive 2 / WC6 9:15pm Wingate 5

110 20 Loser Purple 2 / WC5 v Loser WC1 / WC4 9:45pm Wingate 3

111 21 Winner WA1 / WA4 v Winner White 1 / WA5 9:45pm Wingate 4

Wednesday July 18th

Note: “PI” means play in game. Each of these games helps the tournament narrow six team groups into four team groups. The top two teams in each of these smaller six team groups get a day off. The next four teams play games, and 32 teams will be in action.

For example, PI1 will be the BLUE 3rd place team vs 1 of the 2 best teams from the bottom groups. PI 2 will be the BLUE 4th place team vs the other best team from the lower groups. PI3 is the 5th place BLUE team vs the 3 seeded team from the lower groups. PI 4 is the 6th place BLUE team vs the 3rd place team from the lower groups, and so on, and so on. It’s a little confusing, but these games are basically used to set up the next day’s game, which will be 12 sets of final placement semifinal for all teams.

112 1 PI15 v 1:15pm Wingate 2

113 2 PI5 v 2:30pm Wingate 1

114 3 PI16 v 2:45pm Wingate 5

115 4 PI9 v 3:15pm Wingate 3

116 5 PI10 v 3:15pm Wingate 4

117 6 PI11 v 3:30pm Wingate 6

118 7 PI12 v 4:45pm Wingate 2

119 8 PI2 v 6:00pm Wingate 1

120 9 PI6 v 6:15pm Wingate 5

121 10 PI7 v 6:45pm Wingate 3

122 11 PI3 v 6:45pm Wingate 4

123 12 PI8 v 8:15pm Wingate 2

124 13 PI1 v 9:00pm Wingate 1

125 14 PI13 v 9:15pm Wingate 5

126 15 PI14 v 9:45pm Wingate 3

127 16 PI4 v 9:45pm Wingate 4

Thursday July 19th

Note: 45th A means this is the semifinal for the teams that are competing for 45th place. 45th B is the other semifinal. The teams that win those two games go on to the finals for 45th place. The losers of those games play for 47th place.

128 1 45th A v 8:30am Wingate 3

129 2 13th A v 8:30am Wingate 4

130 3 45th B v 8:45am Wingate 6

131 4 25th A v 9:15am Wingate 5

132 5 29th A v 9:45am Wingate 2

133 6 29th B v 11:45am Wingate 3

134 7 13th B v 11:45am Wingate 4

135 8 25th B v 12:00pm Wingate 6

136 9 41st A v 1:15pm Wingate 2

137 10 9th A v 2:30pm Wingate 1

138 11 21st A v 2:45pm Wingate 5

139 12 41st B v 3:15pm Wingate 3

140 13 9th B v 3:15pm Wingate 4

141 14 21st B v 3:30pm Wingate 6

142 15 33rd A v 4:45pm Wingate 2

143 16 1st A (2 v 3) v 6:00pm Wingate 1

144 17 17th A v 6:15pm Wingate 5

145 18 33rd B v 6:45pm Wingate 3

146 19 5th A v 6:45pm Wingate 4

147 20 37th A v 8:15pm Wingate 2

148 21 1st B (1 v 4) v 9:00pm Wingate 1

149 22 17th B v 9:15pm Wingate 5

150 23 37th B v 9:45pm Wingate 3

151 24 5th B v 9:45pm Wingate 4

Friday July 20th

152 1 31st place game v 8:45am Wingate 6

153 2 29th place game v 9:15am Wingate 5

154 3 47th place game v 9:45am Wingate 2

155 4 13th place game v 11:00am Wingate 1

156 5 45th place game v 11:45am Wingate 3

157 6 25th place game v 11:45am Wingate 4

158 7 27th place game v 12:00pm Wingate 6

159 8 43rd place game v 1:15pm Wingate 2

160 9 11th place game v 2:30pm Wingate 1

161 10 23rd place game v 2:45pm Wingate 5

162 11 41st place game v 3:15pm Wingate 3

163 12 15th place game v 3:15pm Wingate 4

164 13 21st place game v 3:30pm Wingate 6

165 14 39th place game v 4:45pm Wingate 2

166 15 3rd place game v 6:00pm Wingate 1 – BRONZE MEDAL GAME

167 16 19th place game v 6:15pm Wingate 5

168 17 37th place game v 6:45pm Wingate 3

169 18 9th place game v 6:45pm Wingate 4

170 19 35th place game v 8:15pm Wingate 2

171 20 5th place game v 9:00pm Wingate 1

172 21 17th place game v 9:15pm Wingate 5

173 22 33rd place game v 9:45pm Wingate 3

174 23 7th place game v 9:45pm Wingate 4

Saturday July 21st

GOLD MEDAL GAME – 175 1 W143 v W148 10:00am Netanya Stadium