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One country from the Americas has already qualified for Rugby World Cup 2027. In what was double celebration in Nantes, Argentina qualified for the Quarter Finals of Rugby World Cup 2023 while also qualifying for the next Rugby World Cup.
By finishing in the top three of their pool, Argentina booked their spot in the next Rugby World Cup. Chile finished bottom of the same pool while Uruguay were fourth in their pool. As such, Chile and Uruguay will feature in Rugby World Cup 2027 qualifiers as will others from throughout the Americas and worldwide.
The twelve automatic qualifiers for Rugby World Cup 2027 are unchanged from the previous World Cup. That is to say that the same three teams who finished first, second and third in Japan 2019 also did so in France 2023.
From Group A France, New Zealand and Italy have qualified for Rugby World Cup 2027. From Pool B the teams are Ireland, South Africa and Scotland. From Pool C they are Wales, Fiji and Australia. From Pool D they are England, Argentina and Japan.
Rugby World Cup 2027 is set to expand from twenty to twenty-four teams. The incoming expansion will mean two more pools; the teams will play in six pools or four. This will see the introduction of a round-of-16 for the first time in Rugby World Cup history.
The Americas are looking to gain from the expansion. More places ought to indeed be allocated to the region. Qualifiers for France 2023 did not see the champions from North America nor South America qualifying. Instead, there were subsequent regional qualifies. This model was not universal. Namibia only faced African opposition and qualified as Africa 1.
With the USA and Canada both having been notably absent from Rugby World Cup 2027 there is a case to be made that North America and South America should both have the same qualifying structure as Africa. Expansion to 24 teams will justify such a change.
