RugbyWorldCup.com
World Rugby
English
  • English
  • Français
  • Español
  • 日本語
Rugby World Cup 2023 - Symbol
Listen Live
  • News
  • Video
  • Tickets
  • Live Draw
  • News
  • Video
  • Tickets
    • Tickets
    • SIGN UP
    • OFFICIAL TRAVEL
  • Qualifiers
  • Draw
  • Official Travel Agents
  • Brand
  • Documents
  • Jobs
  • Public Tenders
World Rugby
English
  • English
  • Français
  • Español
  • 日本語
← RugbyWorldCup Neutral
Rugby World Cup 2023 - Symbol
  • Official Travel Agents
  • Brand
  • Documents
  • Jobs
  • Public Tenders

News

RWC 2023
Monday 08 June, 2020

Qualification process set for Rugby World Cup 2023

World Rugby has announced details of the qualification process for Rugby World Cup 2023 in France.
  • label.share.via_facebook_messenger
  • label.share.via_whatsapp
  • label.share.via_facebook
  • label.share.via_twitter
  • label.share.via_copy
    URL Copied

Following the most competitive and widely-acclaimed Rugby World Cup to date in Japan, the qualification process is designed to deliver the top teams in the world to rugby's showcase tournament, while promoting a genuine opportunity for all unions.

With 12 teams having secured their place at France 2023 courtesy of finishing in the top three of their respective pools at RWC 2019, the remaining eight places will be determined by a process of regional and cross-regional qualifiers. The process will conclude with a four-team round-robin Final Qualification Tournament in November 2022 to determine the final qualifier.

The dates for events in 2021 will be announced in due course and will be subject to an anticipated easing of the COVID-19 situation.

The announcement follows consultation with unions and regions in January 2020 and a full review of performance at Rugby World Cup 2019, where rankings upsets and the impressive performances in particular of Japan, Fiji, Uruguay, Tonga and Georgia cut the performance gap, with the average winning margin between established and emerging unions decreasing in comparison with 2015 benchmarks.

The Americas will deliver two direct places, while Oceania will deliver a direct qualifier with a further direct place available following a play-off with Asia. The Rugby Europe Championship (two direct places), Rugby Africa Cup (one direct place) and Final Qualification Tournament (one direct place) will provide the other qualifiers. Further details are provided below.

RWC 2023 qualification principles >>

  • Americas: the Americas will qualify two teams by September 2022. The third best team in the region will enter the Final Qualification Tournament – Americas 1 and Americas 2
  • Europe: the existing Rugby Europe Championship will have two qualifying places, with the two best teams across the combined 2021 and 2022 editions qualifying directly and the third placed entering the Final Qualification Tournament – Europe 1 and Europe 2
  • Africa: the Rugby Africa Cup 2022 winner will qualify directly and the runner-up team will go to Final Qualification – Africa 1
  • Oceania: a home and away play-off between Tonga and Samoa in 2021 will determine the direct qualifier for the Oceania region. – Oceania 1
    The loser will then play the Oceania Rugby Cup 2021 winner in the highest ranked team’s country with the eventual winner contesting Asia / Pacific (see below) as Oceania 2
  • Asia / Pacific: the winner of the Asian Rugby Men’s Championship 2021 will play Oceania 2 home and away. The winner on aggregate will determine the qualifier and the loser will go to Final Qualification – Asia / Pacific 1
  • Final Qualification Tournament: the tournament in November 2022 will feature four teams playing in a round-robin format with the winner qualifying for RWC 2023 – Final Qualification winner

Teams already qualified: South Africa, England, New Zealand, Wales, Japan, France (host), Australia, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, Argentina, Fiji

World Rugby Chairman Sir Bill Beaumont said: “With the global pandemic having halted most rugby activity, confirmation of the global qualification process for Rugby World Cup 2023 provides a beacon of excitement for all, including players and fans.

“The process has been developed via full consultation with our regional associations and member unions will provide a genuine opportunity for full member unions to qualify for our showcase men’s 15s event. Maximising existing regional competitions, the process is good for regions and unions in managing costs for organisers and participants alike, which is important as we all recover from the global pandemic.

“On behalf of World Rugby, I’d like to wish all teams involved the best of luck on their journey to France 2023.”

Rugby World Cup France 2023 CEO Claude Atcher added: “This qualification process gives emerging unions an opportunity to take part in our sport’s biggest competition.

“The success of Rugby World Cup 2019 in Japan and performances by the host nation is a testimony of rugby’s expansion globally. As the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic is about to be won, I welcome this optimistic prospect of reconnecting with the excitement of our sport. This is the start of our journey towards France 2023, which will be the best tournament ever delivered.”

Final details of the regional competition formats and dates will be announced in due course.

Rugby World Cup 2023 - Logo
Follow Rugby World Cup on social
  • Rugby World Cup Limited © 2007 - 2021. All Rights Reserved.
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies Policy

Managing Cookies on the Rugby World Cup 2023 website

We use cookies to help make our sites function properly. We would also like to use cookies to continually improve our sites, offer you a better experience and deliver personalised content to you. Our use of cookies is described further in our Cookies Policy.

You can enable all optional cookies by clicking “Accept All Cookies”. You can also choose to adjust your cookie settings and select to have only necessary cookies and the cookies you wish to be deployed to be used.

Using this tool will set a cookie on your device to remember your preferences.

Necessary Cookies

Necessary cookies enable basic functionality on our sites such as page navigation, access to secure areas, authenticating logins, and the delivery of other core functions. This category of cookies cannot be disabled on our sites. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of these sites will not then work.

Cookie Consent: Analytics

We would like to use Analytics cookies provided by Google to help us to improve our website by collecting and reporting information on how you use it. The cookies collect information in a way that does not directly identify anyone. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited these sites and will not be able to monitor their performance.

Cookie Consent: Advertising

We would also like to use advertising cookies, which collect information, and combine it with previously collected information, to select and deliver advertisements for you, and to measure the delivery and effectiveness of such advertisements. This includes using previously collected information about your interests to select ads, processing data about what advertisements were shown, how often they were shown, when and where they were shown, and whether you took any action related to the advertisement, including for example clicking an ad. These cookies may be on-site cookies or third party cookies.