2027 Men's Rugby World Cup qualifying
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|
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 30 April 2024 – November 2025 |
| No. of nations | 44 |
← 2023 2031 → | |
The qualification process for the 2027 Men's Rugby World Cup in Australia began during the pool stages of the 2023 tournament in France, where the top three teams from each of the four pools qualified automatically for the 2027 event.
With an expansion to twenty-four teams from 2027, a further twelve teams will qualify through regional, cross-regional play-offs and the Final Qualification Tournament.[1][2]
Unlike previous years, the qualification process will take place over two years (previously three), so that the qualified teams have a longer preparation time in the run-in to the World Cup in October 2027.[2]
Qualified teams
[edit]| Region | Automatic qualifiers |
Continental qualifiers |
Play-off / FQT qualifiers |
Total teams | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Africa |  South Africa (holders)
|
 Zimbabwe (Africa 1)
|
TBD | 2 or 3 | |
| Europe | TBD | 10 or 11 | |||
| Pacific | Asia |  Japan
|
 Hong Kong (Asia 1)
|
TBD | 2 |
| Rugby Americas North | — |
|
TBD | 1 or 2 | |
| Oceania |
|
TBD | 4, 5 or 6 | ||
| Sudamérica |  Argentina
|
TBD (Sudamérica 1) | TBD | 2, 3 or 4 | |
| Totals | 12 | 10 | 2 | 24 | |
Regional qualification process
[edit]Following confirmation of the twelve automatically qualified teams from the 2023 Rugby World Cup, World Rugby confirmed the qualification format for the twelve remaining places in August 2024. Of the twelve spots available, ten are decided by regional tournaments, one by a cross-regional playoff and the last one via a final qualification tournament.[2]
Africa
[edit]Rugby Africa was granted one place at the World Cup via qualification, which was awarded at the conclusion of the third round of the African qualification process; the 2025 Africa Cup, where the winners, Zimbabwe qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 36 years as Africa 1. The runner-up, Namibia (Africa 2), advanced to an Asia / Africa play-off match against Asia 2, the United Arab Emirates, to decide who progresses to the Final Qualification Tournament.[2]
Asia
[edit]For the first time since 2015, Asia Rugby, was granted one place at the World Cup through the qualification process, and with Japan already qualified, a new team from Asia was guaranteed a spot in the World Cup. The team was decided through a three-round phased process, with the winner of the third round; the 2025 Asia Rugby Championship, Hong Kong China, qualifying for the World Cup for the first time as Asia 1. The runner-up, the United Arab Emirates (Asia 2), advanced to an Asia / Africa play-off match against Africa 2, Namibia, to decide who progresses to the Final Qualification Tournament.[2]
Europe
[edit]Rugby Europe gained four World Cup spots through a one-round competition; the 2025 Rugby Europe Championship, where the top four teams qualified for the World Cup as Europe 1, 2, 3 and 4, with those respectively being Georgia, Spain, Romania, and Portugal. The fifth placed team, Belgium, advanced to the Final Qualification Tournament.[2][3]
Pacific
[edit]With the recreation of the World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup from 2024 across the Pacific and North America, and with the Tier 3 sides in Oceania Rugby not invited, the qualification process for Oceania and North America will be merged for the 2027 Men's Rugby World Cup qualification process to create a one-round qualification process. Three places will decided during the 2025 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup, with the top three teams outside of Fiji and Japan, qualifying for the World Cup as Pacific 1, 2 and 3. The sixth remaining team in the competition will advance to a Pacific / Sudamérica qualifying play-off series against Sudamérica 2, for a chance to qualify for the World Cup as the Pacific / Sudamérica qualifying play-off winner. The loser of the South America / Pacific play-off advances to the Final Qualification Tournament.[2]
South America
[edit]In a first, Sudamérica will gain an automatic place in the World Cup through the qualification process, which will be awarded at the conclusion of the third round of the South American qualification process. The winners of the final round will qualify for the World Cup as Sudamérica 1, whilst the runner-up (Sudamérica 2) advances to a Pacific / Sudamérica play-off series against Pacific 4, for a chance to qualify for the World Cup as the Pacific / Sudamérica play-off winner. The loser of the play-off advances to the Final Qualification Tournament. The third placed team (Sudamérica 3) advances to the Final Qualification Tournament.[2]
Play-offs and Final Qualification Tournament
[edit]Following the regional tournaments, the next qualification stage will be two cross regionals play-off matches.
The first cross-regional play-off was an Asia / Africa play-off match, which was contested between the United Arab Emirates (Asia 2) and Namibia (Africa 2). The winner of the play-off (Namibia) advanced to the Final Qualification Tournament, whilst the loser was eliminated.
The second cross-regional play-off will be a Pacific / Sudamérica play-off series between Pacific 4 and Sudamérica 2, where the winner will qualify for the World Cup as the Pacific / Sudamérica play-off winner. The runner-up will advance to the Final Qualification Tournament as the Pacific / Sudamérica play-off loser.
The final stage of the qualification process will take place in Dubai from 8 to 18 November 2025, with a four-teamed round-robin competition will form the Final Qualification Tournament.[2][4]
The first team to qualify for the FQT was Belgium (Europe 5) after finishing in fifth spot in Europe. Namibia (Asia / Africa play-off winner) were the next team to qualify for the FQT after initially advancing to a play-off as Africa 2, before beating the United Arab Emirates to earn a spot in the FQT. The final two sides will be Sudamérica 3 (decided in October 2025) and the winner of the Pacific / Sudamérica play-off series held after the Sudamérica and Pacific finals in September 2025.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Rugby World Cup 2027 expanded to 24 teams". Rugby World Cup. World Rugby. 24 October 2023. Archived from the original on 25 October 2023. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Qualification process confirmed for expanded Men's Rugby World Cup 2027 in Australia". Women's and Men's Rugby World Cup. 13 August 2024.
- ^ "2025 Rugby Europe Championship Calendar Confirmed". Rugby Europe.
- ^ "Dubai to host final qualifier for Men's Rugby World Cup 2027 in November". Women's and Men's Rugby World Cup. 22 May 2025.