Four Rugby Europe Championship teams secured qualification for the 2027 Rugby World Cup this weekend, including Spain who end a 36-year wait.
Wins for Georgia, Spain, Romania and Portugal in round two of the tournament secured not only their places in the semi-finals of the REC but also their place at Australia 2027.
That takes the total qualified teams for the World Cup to 16 as they follow the likes of Argentina, Australia, England, Fiji, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa and Wales who all qualified directly by finishing top three in their pool at France 2023.
In August last year, World Rugby announced a “reimagination of the qualification process” for the Men’s Rugby World Cup in Australia with the tournament expanding to feature 24 nations up from 20 in 2023.
After 12 teams qualified through their performances in France, a further 12 spots were up for grabs this year through regional competitions with the four in the REC now taken by Georgia, Spain, Romania and Portugal.
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The remaining eight spots are available through the following tournaments:
Africa (1) – Rugby Africa Cup 2025 champions
Asia (1) – Asia Rugby Men’s Championship 2025 champions
South America (1) – Sud America Rugby Championship 2025 champions
Pacific (3) – Pacific Nations Cup 2025 top three teams (minus Fiji and Japan already qualified)
South America / Pacific Play-off (1) – Sud America Rugby Championship 2025 runners-up against Pacific Nations Cup’s bottom team (excluding qualified teams)
Final Qualification Tournament (1)
The Final Qualification Tournament will comprise one pool of four teams, playing in round-robin format with the winner on competition points after playing all other teams qualifying for Australia 2027. The four teams will be from:
Sud America Rugby Championship 2025 third
South America / Pacific Play-off loser
Rugby Europe Championship 2025 fifth
Africa / Asia Play-off winner (Rugby Africa Championship 2025 runner-up v Asia Rugby Championship runner-up)
Georgia have continued their impressive streak, securing their place at rugby’s pinnacle event for the seventh consecutive time. Their journey comes 24 years after making their Rugby World Cup debut in Australia in 2003.
Meanwhile, Spain have qualified for the 2027 World Cup after being disqualified for France 2023. They clinched a World Cup spot for the first time in 24 years in March in 2022 but were stripped of their place after World Rugby deemed that they had used an ineligible player – Gavin van den Berg – during the qualification process.
Unless an issue arises of the same nature, they will finally make their first appearance in the tournament in the 21st century after competing at RWC 1999.
