World Rugby announces qualification process for RWC 2027 in Australia

NEW PROCESS: World Rugby has announced the qualification process for the Men's Rugby World Cup taking place in Australia in 2027 and it will be the first time the tournament will feature 24 nations. 

World Rugby has announced the qualification process for the Men's Rugby World Cup taking place in Australia in 2027 and it will be the first time the tournament will feature 24 nations. 

The new process will open new avaneues for more teams to reach the pinnacle of rugby with the core priciple of qualifying on merit and simplified qualificaiton process for fans and teams, raising global standards along the way.

Qualification will be set to conclude by the end of 2025, a first for the Men's RWC, with all teams known for the RWC 2027 draw which will take place ahead of the Men's Six Nations in 2026.

In the new format the RWC will see six pools of four teams with a round of 16 added ahead of the quarter-finals. The tournament will be reduced from seven to six weeks to promote a rhythm that builds momentum across the pool phase and respects the same minimum number of rest days as between games during RWC 2023.

Ireland are among the 12 teams who have qualified for the tournament directly having finished in the top three of their pool at the RWC in France 2023 alongside Champions South Africa, France, New Zealand, Italy, Scotland, Wales, Fiji, Australia, England, Argentina and Japan. The remaining 12 teams will be determined through the RWC 2027 global qualification process

All six regions will have at least one direct qualification spot and the new process features a blend of existing regional competitions, a pathway through the new Pacific Nations cup, a cross-continential play-off and one final qualifcation tournament. 

In each region the teams will qualify as follows - top four teams will qualify from the 2025 Rugby Europe Championship, the winners of the 2025 Rugby Africa Cup, the 2025 champions of Asia Rugby Men's Championship, the Sudamerica Rugby Championship 2025 champions and the top three teams (excluding Fiji and Japan who have already qualified) from the Pacific Nations Cup 2025.

The Sudaamerica Rugby Championship 2025 runners-up will play the Pacific Nations bottom team with the winner progressing and one team will qualify from the Final Qualification Tournament.

The Final Qualification Tournament will be made up of one pool of four teams who will play in a round-robin format with the winner on competition points playing all other teams qualifying for Australia 2027. The four teams will be the third placed team in the Sudamerica Rugby Championship 2025, loser of the South America / Pacific Play-off, fifth place team from the Rugby Europe Championship 2025, and the winner of the Africa / Asia Play-off (Rugby Africa Championship 2025 runner-up v Asia Rugby Championship runner-up).

The new qualification process came after extensive consultation between World Rugby's six Regional Associations and was underpinned by the World Rugby Council decision to expand the tournament from 20 to 24 teams in October 2023 reflecting the sport's mission to enhance global growth.

World Rugby Chairman Bill Beaumont said: “This qualification process is on the side of growth and sustainability for the game as a whole. We are fully committed to respecting the fundamental principle of expanded opportunity, and the blend of existing regional competitions, new cross-region competitions and a final qualification process reflects that ambition as well as the desire to deliver teams on merit.

“Providing certainty to the unions in pursuit of the Australian dream will help teams fine tune their preparations and provide fans with an exciting road to Rugby World Cup 2027 next year where all places will be up for grabs."

“It is our desire for the process to qualify teams into the first iteration of the Nations Championship Division 2, which begins in 2026. This has the major advantage of ensuring that all teams will have strong, high-level competition and preparation ahead of Rugby World Cup 2027, raising standards globally.”