England finish 4th at Box Euros after defeat to Germany

England Men’s finished fourth at the 2026 European Box Lacrosse Championships as their campaign came to an end with a 17-9 defeat against Germany in the third-place game.

Despite six goals from top goalscorer Michael Blaymires, the performance wasn’t quite enough to see England back up their 2022 title win with a bronze medal in 2026.

As with so many games in this Euros, this third place game was tight from the start but it was Germany who drew first blood through Justin Wismer after almost three minutes.

England were able to hit back thanks to Blaymires but neither team could truly get a foothold in the match with a back and forth quarter ending with two more goals for Germany either side of a George Bascom strike.

Germany, whose domestic programme has gone from strength to strength since reaching the 2022 Euros final, effectively blew England away with clinical and efficient performances in the second and third quarters both won by a 5-2 scoreline.

Although Tom Roper levelled the scores early in the second quarter, Germany went on a five-goal run with the only reply coming through Will Prescott just five seconds from the break.

If 8-4 felt like a hill England needed to overcome then going down 10-4 early in the third was a mountain.

England kept plugging away but two more Blaymires’ goals were met with three Germany strikes to see the scoreline at 13-6 going into the final 15 minutes.

As Germany tired and eased off, England were able to claw back a couple of goals but ultimately fell to a strong Germany team who finished with a 17-9 win and the bronze medals.

England Men Scorers | Michael Blaymires (6G), Zack Gignac (5A), Will Prescott (1G, 2A), Ollie Allsop (3A), George Bascom (1G, 1A), Tom Roper (1G), Jack Bucknell (1A), Matt Tatton (1A).