Belgium wins first European quadball world title over Germany

Belgium turned a home final into a breakthrough, beating Germany 170-90 on July 13 in Tubize to win the 2025 IQA World Cup and become the first European nation to claim the quadball world title. About 2,000 spectators watched Belgium close out the championship at Proximus Basecamp, where the final gave the host country its first gold after near-misses in the last two editions.

The result carried extra weight because Belgium had already established itself as a contender before this run. The Belgian national quadball team finished second in 2018 and third in 2023, then took the last step in a tournament that brought 31 teams to Brussels and Tubize from July 11-13. Germany, meanwhile, reached the final for the second time after losing to the United States in 2023, but Belgium controlled the title match and left no doubt about the new balance at the top of the sport.

For Belgian player Seppe De Wit, who has played since age 12, the win landed with personal force. “One of the best days of my life,” he said after the final, a line that fit the scale of a championship Belgium had chased for seven years.

The title also says something bigger about quadball itself. The sport was officially renamed from quidditch in 2022, part rights decision and part break from J.K. Rowling, and the governing body says it is now played in more than 40 countries. What began with the inaugural IQA World Cup in Oxford in 2012 has grown into a six-edition international event with enough depth to produce a final between Belgium and Germany in front of a real crowd, not just a niche following.

That matters for the post-rebrand era. Belgium’s victory was not just a new name on an old game. It was proof that quadball’s international order has widened, with European programs now capable of taking the sport’s biggest title from the traditional powers and doing it in front of a global field that keeps expanding.