National team appearances in the Rugby World Cup

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This article presents the national team appearances in the Rugby World Cup. The article tracks the appearances, results, and debuts for all national teams that have participated in at least one Rugby World Cup.

Contents

Number of appearances

Tournament appearances by team, up to and including 2027:

Results by tournament

Map of countries' best results (click to enlarge) Rugby world cup countries best results and hosts rev1.png
Map of countries' best results (click to enlarge)
Legend

For each tournament, the number of teams in each finals tournament (in brackets) are shown.

Debut of national teams

26 nations have thus far qualified for the Rugby World Cup. From 1987 until 2011, each edition featured at least one new debuting country. The 2015 tournament was the first edition with no country making its debut. It simply featured the return of Uruguay after not qualifying for the 2007 and 2011 editions. The 2019 was the same, with Romania disqualified and replaced by Russia.

YearNation(s)Total
1987 Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina
Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
Flag of England.svg  England
Flag of Fiji.svg  Fiji
Flag of France.svg  France
IRFU flag.svg  Ireland
Flag of Italy.svg  Italy
Flag of Japan.svg  Japan
Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand
Flag of Romania (1965-1989).svg  Romania
Flag of Scotland.svg  Scotland
Flag of Tonga.svg  Tonga
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales
Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe 		16
1991 Flag of Samoa.svg  Samoa 1
1995 Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg  Ivory Coast
Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa 		2
1999 Flag of Namibia.svg  Namibia
Flag of Spain.svg  Spain
Flag of Uruguay.svg  Uruguay 		3
2003 Flag of Georgia.svg  Georgia 1
2007 Flag of Portugal (official).svg  Portugal 1
2011 Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 1
2015 (none)0
2019 (none)0
2023 Flag of Chile.svg  Chile 1
2027 Flag of Hong Kong.svg  Hong Kong 1

Result of host nations

The best result by hosts is champions, achieved by New Zealand in 1987 and 2011, and by South Africa in 1995. The worst result was by Wales in 1991 with only one win in pool play, although they did not host the final. The worst result by a country who hosted the final is held by England, being eliminated in the group stage in 2015.

YearHost nationFinish
1987 Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand Champions
Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Fourth place
1991 Flag of England.svg  England Runners-up
Flag of Scotland.svg  Scotland Fourth place
Flag of France.svg  France Quarter-finals
IRFU flag.svg  Ireland Quarter-finals
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales Group stage
1995 Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa Champions
1999 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales Quarter-finals
2003 Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Runners-up
2007 Flag of France.svg  France Fourth place
2011 Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand Champions
2015 Flag of England.svg  England Group stage
2019 Flag of Japan.svg  Japan Quarter-finals
2023 Flag of France.svg  France Quarter-finals
2027 Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia To be determined
2031 Flag of the United States.svg  United States

Results of defending champions

New Zealand and South Africa are the only nations to successfully defend the World Cup as defending champions in 2015 and 2023 respectively. Australia and England achieved runner up in 2003 and 2007, respectively. The worst results were by Australia in 1995 and South Africa in 2011, both exiting in the quarter-finals.

YearDefending championsFinish
1991 Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand Third place
1995 Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Quarter-finals
1999 Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa Third place
2003 Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Runners-up
2007 Flag of England.svg  England Runners-up
2011 Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa Quarter-finals
2015 Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand Champions
2019 Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand Third place
2023 Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa Champions
2027 Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa To be determined

Performance by confederation

This is a summary of the best performances of each confederation in each tournament.

Confederation 1987
(16)		 1991
(16)		 1995
(16)		 1999
(20)		 2003
(20)		 2007
(20)		 2011
(20)		 2015
(20)		 2019
(20)		 2023
(20)		 2027
(24)		 2031
(24)
Africa R1R11st3rdQF1stQF3rd1st1stTBDTBD
Asia R1R1R1R1R1R1R1R1QFR1TBDTBD
Europe 2nd2nd3rd2nd1st2nd2ndQF2nd3rdTBDTBD
North America R1QFR1R1R1R1R1R1R1—TBDTBD
Oceania 1st1st2nd1st2ndQF1st1st3rd2ndTBDTBD
South America R1R1R1QFR13rdQF4thR14thTBDTBD

Number of teams by confederation

This is a summary of the total number of participating teams by confederation in each tournament.

Confederation 1987
(16)		 1991
(16)		 1995
(16)		 1999
(20)		 2003
(20)		 2007
(20)		 2011
(20)		 2015
(20)		 2019
(20)		 2023
(20)		 2027
(24)		 2031
(24)
Africa 1122222222TBDTBD
Asia 1111111111TBDTBD
Europe 7778899889TBDTBD
North America 2212222220TBDTBD
Oceania 4445555555TBDTBD
South America 1112211223TBDTBD

Appearance droughts

This section is a list of droughts associated with the participation of national rugby union teams in the Rugby World Cups.

Longest active droughts

Does not include teams that have not yet made their first appearance or teams that no longer exist.

TeamLast appearanceWC Missed
Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg  Ivory Coast 1995 7
Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 2019 2
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 2019 1
Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2019 1

Longest droughts overall

Only includes droughts begun after a team's first appearance and until the team ceased to exist updated to include qualification for the 2027 Rugby World Cup.

TeamPrev. appearanceNext appearanceWC Missed
Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe 1991 2027 8
Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg  Ivory Coast 1995 active7
Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 1999 2027 6
Flag of Portugal (official).svg  Portugal 2007 2023 3
Flag of Uruguay.svg  Uruguay 2003 2015 2

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Russia handed World Cup place as Romania penalised for ineligible player". The Guardian. 16 May 2018.
  2. ↑ "Independent Appeal Committee decision regarding Spain player eligibility". World Rugby . 27 June 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
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