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Expansion from 20 teams to a 24-team Rugby World Cup is likely for 2031, writes Jon Newcombe. In an interview with World Rugby CEO Alan Gilpin it has been revealed that expansion is planned for 2031 for the World Cup in the USA.
Click here to see what a 24-team Rugby World Cup could look like.
Gilpin was careful with his words. He said expansion to 24 teams is “under serious consideration.” The World Rugby CEO also pointed out that the organization intends on “going big in Americas in 2031.”
Rugby World Cup 2031 will be the twelve edition of the Men’s Rugby World Cup. The inaugural tournament was held in New Zealand and Australia in 1987. It had 16 teams. The tournament expanded to 20 teams for Rugby World Cup 1999.
Rugby World Cup 2003 was played in Australia and the country will host the tournament again in 2027. USA 2031 will be the first Men’s Rugby World Cup in the Americas.
RWC 2023 will be the first without a North American competitor. The qualifiers were the first since 2003 without automatic qualification for the North American winner. Chile and Uruguay both defeated the USA to qualify. Chile did so after having eliminated Canada.
Canada and the USA are two of the best countries that will not be competing at RWC 2023. Both Canada and the USA are expected to recover; they ought to be considered as realistic for a 24 team World Cup.
An expanded Rugby World Cup will need to see Europe and the Americas allocated more spots. It is difficult to provide justification based on merit for Asia, Oceania, and Africa to obtain additional spots; rather, the fairest route for them is repechage.
24 US cities have been shortlisted for RWC 2031. They are Atlanta, GA; Austin, TX; Houston, TX; Dallas, TX; Baltimore, MD, Birmingham, AL; Boston, MA; Charlotte, NC; Chicago, IL; Denver, CO; Miami, FL; Orlando, FL; Minneapolis, MN; Nashville, TN; New York, NY; Philadelphia, PA; Pittsburgh, PA; Phoenix, AZ; Los Angeles, CA; San Diego, CA; San Francisco, CA; Seattle, WA; Kansas City, MO and Washington, D.C.
