2026 Rugby Europe Championship

2026 Rugby Europe Championship
Date	7 February – 15 March 2026
Countries	Belgium   Georgia   Germany   Netherlands   Portugal   Romania   Spain    Switzerland
Tournament statistics
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The 2026 Rugby Europe Championship will be the tenth Rugby Europe Championship, the annual rugby union competition for the top European national teams outside the Six Nations Championship, and the 55th edition of the competition (including all its previous incarnations as the FIRA Tournament, Rugby Union European Cup, FIRA Nations Cup, FIRA Trophy, and European Nations Cup).

Eight teams took part in the 2024 championship. The championship was contested by Belgium, Georgia, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Switzerland.

Georgia entered the tournament as defending champions. They won the final against Spain in the 2025 tournament, claiming their 17th title. The serpentine system was applied to allocate each team to their respective groups. ^[1] Each team played a total of five games (three round robin group matches to determine the team's path and two play-off matches). ^[1] Seeding (for a group) and relegation are calculated over a two-year cycle, as is the promotion from the Trophy competition. ^[1]

All matches on the final day will be staged at the same venue in Madrid. ^[2]

Participants

Nation	Stadium			Head coach	Captain
	Home stadium	Capacity	Location
Belgium	Stade Charles Tondreau	8,000	Mons	Laurent Dossat	Jens Torfs
Georgia	Avchala Stadium	3,500	Tbilisi	vacant	Vasil Lobzhanidze
Germany	Auestadion Paul Greifzu Stadium	18,737 20,000	Kassel Dessau-Roßlau	Mark Kuhlmann	Jörn Schröder
Netherlands	NRCA Stadium	7,000	Amsterdam	Lyn Jones	Hugo Langelaan
Portugal	Estádio Nacional	37,593	Oeiras	Simon Mannix	Tomás Appleton
Romania	Stadionul Arcul de Triumf	8,207	Bucharest	David Gérard	Ovidiu Cojocaru
Spain	Estadio Nueva Balastera	8,100	Palencia	Pablo Bouza	Jon Zabala
Switzerland	Stade Municipal Yverdon	6,600	Yverdon-les-Bains	Olivier Nier	Cyril Lin

2025–26 Rugby Europe Championships

Pos	Event  Team	2025	2026	Points total
1	Georgia	10
2	Spain	8
3	Romania	6
4	Portugal	5
5	Belgium	4
6	Netherlands	3
7	Switzerland	2
8	Germany	1

Tables and fixtures

Pool A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts	Qualification
1	Georgia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Grand Finals Semi-Finals
2	Netherlands	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Spain	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Ranking Finals Semi-Finals
4	Switzerland	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

First match(es) will be played: unknown. Source: Rugby Europe ^[3]
Rules for classification:
If two teams have the same number of points the best ranked will be: 1) match points in the games played between the tied Unions; 2) tries in the games played between the tied Unions; 3) match points difference in all pool games; 4) tries difference for in all pool games; 5) match points for in all pool games.
If three or more teams have same number of points, the best ranked will be: 1) match points difference in all pool games; 2) tries for in all pool games; 4) match points for in all pool games.
Points were awarded to the teams as follows: Win – 4 points, Draw – 2 points, At least 3 more tries than opponent – 1 point, Loss within 7 points – 1 point ^[4]

Week 1

7 February 2026 13:00 CET (UTC+1)

Netherlands	v	Spain

NRCA Stadium, Amsterdam Referee: TBA

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8 February 2026 13:00 CET (UTC+1)

Switzerland	v	Georgia

Stade Municipal, Yverdon-les-Bains Referee: TBA

Week 2

14 February 2026 20:00 CET (UTC+1)

Spain	v	Switzerland

Estadio Nueva Balastera, Palencia Referee: TBA

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15 February 2026 13:00 CET (UTC+1)

Netherlands	v	Georgia

NRCA Stadium, Amsterdam Referee: TBA

Week 3

21 February 2026 15:00 GET (UTC+4)

Georgia	v	Spain

Avchala Rugby Stadium, Tbilisi Referee: TBA

---

22 February 2026 13:00 CET (UTC+1)

Switzerland	v	Netherlands

Stade Municipal, Yverdon-les-Bains Referee: TBA

Pool B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts	Qualification
1	Belgium	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Grand Finals Semi-Finals
2	Germany	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Portugal	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Ranking Finals Semi-Finals
4	Romania	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

First match(es) will be played: unknown. Source: Rugby Europe ^[3]
Rules for classification:
If two teams have the same number of points the best ranked will be: 1) competition points; 2) match points difference; 3) match tries difference; 3) match points difference in all pool games; 4) tries for in all pool games; 5) match points for in all pool games.
If three or more teams have same number of points, the best ranked will be: 1) competition points; 2) tries for in all pool games; 3) match points for in all pool games.
Points were awarded to the teams as follows: Win – 4 points, Draw – 2 points, At least 3 more tries than opponent – 1 point, Loss within 7 points – 1 point ^[4]

Week 1

7 February 2026 20:00 CET (UTC+1)

Belgium	v	Portugal

Stade Charles Tondreau, Mons Referee: TBA

---

8 February 2026 16:00 CET (UTC+1)

Germany	v	Romania

Auestadion, Kassel Referee: TBA

Week 2

14 February 2026 13:00 CET (UTC+1)

Germany	v	Portugal

Paul Greifzu Stadium, Dessau-Roßlau Referee: TBA

---

15 February 2026 19:00 EET (UTC+2)

Romania	v	Belgium

Stadionul Arcul de Triumf, Bucharest Referee: TBA

Week 3

21 February 2026 20:00 CET (UTC+1)

Belgium	v	Germany

Stade Charles Tondreau, Mons Referee: TBA

---

22 February 2026 17:30 WET (UTC+0)

Portugal	v	Romania

Estádio Nacional, Oeiras Referee: TBA

Ranking Finals

Semi-finals

7-8 March 2026 TBA

3rd POOL A	v	4th POOL B

TBA Referee: TBA

---

7-8 March 2026 TBA

3rd POOL B	v	4th POOL A

TBA Referee: TBA

Seventh-place final

15 March 2026 TBA

Loser SF1	v	Loser SF2

TBA, Madrid Referee: TBA

Fifth-place final

15 March 2026 TBA

Winner SF1	v	Winner SF2

TBA, Madrid Referee: TBA

Grand Finals

Semi-finals

7-8 March 2026 TBA

1st POOL A	v	2nd POOL B

TBA Referee: TBA

---

7-8 March 2026 TBA

1st POOL B	v	2nd POOL A

TBA Referee: TBA

Bronze Final

15 March 2026 TBA

Loser SF1	v	Loser SF2

TBA, Madrid Referee: TBA

Final

15 March 2026 TBA

Winner SF1	v	Winner SF2

TBA, Madrid Referee: TBA

Final standings

Pos.	Team	Points
1	TBA	10
2	TBA	8
3	TBA	6
4	TBA	5
5	TBA	4
6	TBA	3
7	TBA	2
8	TBA	1

International broadcasters

Country	Broadcaster [5]	Summary
Belgium	VRT LN24	Belgium games shown live via VRT and LN24.
Georgia	Rugby TV Imedi TV	Georgia games shown live via Rugby TV and Imedi TV. Also Georgia games are streamed and free on Rugby TV Facebook page.
Germany	ProSieben Maxx Joyn Ran	Germany games shown live via ProSieben Maxx, other games are streamed and free on Joyn and Ran.
Netherlands	Ziggo	Selected games live on Ziggo Sport.
Portugal	Sport TV	Portugal games shown live on Sport TV.
Romania	TVR1 TVR Sport	Romania games shown live via TVR1 and TVR Sport.
Spain	Teledeporte RTVE Play	Spain games shown live via Teledeporte and .RTVE Play digital platform.
Switzerland	RTS 2 SRI digital	Switzerland games shown live via RTS 2 channel and SRI digital platforms.
North America	FloRugby	All games available through streaming via FloSports.
Rest of the World	Rugby Europe	All games available through streaming via Rugby Europe (registration required). Some games are streamed and free on Rugby Europe Youtube channel

See also

• Rugby Europe International Championships
• Antim Cup

References

1. "New Format for Rugby Europe Championship". Rugby Europe. 2023. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
2. "Men's Championship 2026 Calendar confirmed, Madrid to host Finals Day". Rugby Europe. Retrieved 5 November 2025.
3. "2026 Rugby Europe Championship Standings".
4. "September 2025 Edition (2025-2026 season v1) Rugby Europe International XV Championships Men & Women 2025-2026 Tournament Manual" (PDF). Rugby Europe. Retrieved 1 October 2025.
5. "Unprecedented Coverage for 2025 Men's Rugby Europe Championship". Rugby Europe.