This weekend the Belgian Gryffins will head to Florence in order to participate in the Quidditch World Cup. They will face teams from all around the globe. In order to reach their goal in becoming the world champions, they will have to be able to beat them all.

The tournament starts on Saturday in the group-stage. The opponents waiting there are France, Poland, Finland and South-korea. On Sunday, they will either advance to the upper bracket or fall down to the lower bracket, depending on their performance on Saturday.

If they want to advance to the upper bracket and have a shot for the title of world champion, they have to get through day one. To do that they need to win as many games as possible. Then a ranking will be made with all the teams. Once the ranking has been made, the top 16 teams will advance to the upper bracket. Another factor that can impact the standings is beating the equal seated teams. This means if they win against France, they can have an easier sunday and better chances of making it to the final.In theory this all sounds nice, BUT that means the Gryffins will have to beat France and all the other teams in the group stage.

The hardest game is clearly France, who are also in the running for the title. The French players all have experience play on a level this high. So beating them would really be a  confidence booster for our Gryffins. Especially for those who are part of Antwerp, who lost to the Paris Titans in the finale at the European Quidditch Cup. The others shouldn’t be too hard for the Gryffins to beat.. Poland, Finland and South Korea are still areas where quidditch as a sport is relatively new. South Korea has a total of 2 teams. Finland has only one team. Poland is the only country that has previous experience on the international stage. However they shouldn’t be a threat to the Gryffins.

Day 2 will have a lot more stronger teams. Depending on the performance of the other teams they might have to face a lot more strong opponents. Such as United Kingdom, United States Of America, Australia or Canada. These teams all are hungry for the title. Facing these opponents will be a lot harder. Last time the Gryffins played the United States of America or Australia they lost. So beating them will be a necessity if they want to win the title for themselves.

Belgium’s 21 best Quidditch players, will be representing our country. They have been working very hard and are ready to become world champions.

They were selected and trained by coach and player Louis Lermytte, who has founded Antwerp Quidditch club five years ago and became European champion with Antwerp A in 2017.

Lermytte is assisted by three experienced co-coaches. These are Nick De Leu, coach for Ghent Gargoyles, Nathan Wilputte, the only player who has been a Gryffin for all five years, and Seppe De Wit, who has been at coach Louis’ side from the very first Antwerp-practice.

Next to many returning Gryffins, there are also many players who will be making their national team debut. Amongst them are Suzanne Fischer (Ghent Gargoyles), Savinien Massin (Brussels Qwaffles), Gloria Roelants (Ghent Gargoyles), Katrien De Doncker (Antwerp Quidditch)  ,Hanne Hermans (Antwerp Quidditch) and more.

In a week’s time, we’ll know which team may call itself Quidditch World Champion.

Will it be our Gryffins? We know they’ll do their utmost.

They could use all support from the fans in Florence and at home.

We’re counting on you too.

Written by Hanne Van Tichelt & Matthias Haenebalcke.