WORLD RUGBY HAS confirmed that the draw for the 2027 World Cup will take place in January 2026.
The draw for the current World Cup took place three years before the tournament and led to the unpopular situation of the top-five-ranked teams all being on the same side of the draw in France.
That meant that the top four teams in the world – South Africa, New Zealand, France, and Ireland – met in two of the recent quarter-finals, with hosts France and Ireland knocked out before the semi-finals.
For the next World Cup in Australia, World Rugby will do the draw closer to the tournament but still 20 months out from the competition getting underway, meaning there will still be scope for the rankings to change notably before the World Cup.
The 2027 World Cup will see the tournament expanded from 20 to 24 teams for the first time, with the new format involving six pools of four before a round of 16 ahead of the quarter-finals. The competition will start later on 1 October and run until 13 November in a reduced window of six weeks.
Speaking in Paris today, World Rugby CEO Alan Gilpin addressed the timing of the draw for the 2027 World Cup and the frustrations around the reality of the draw for the current tournament.
“Is it a recognition this one was too early? I understand that there was frustration with the timing of the draw for this World Cup,” said Gilpin.
“I think the reality, and sometimes this is a bit lost, is that we were in the middle of a global pandemic. Nobody was playing international rugby when the draw was made for this tournament so we were using, effectively, the rankings that existed from the end of the last tournament.
“That was really important in order to get a plan for the great tournament that we’ve now had. You give teams and fans and those investing in this tournament the opportunity move that plan forward but, of course, it leads to the challenges or frustrations that we’ve had here.
“There’s always been a recognition that we want to change that and have the draw closer to the tournament.
“When you actually drill down into that, what you quickly realise is that if you’re going to have a draw that’s based on the integrity of world rankings in World Cups there’s a relatively narrow window between the end of the November internationals and the start of the next Six Nations in the men’s rankings when everybody has played.
“The moment you go beyond that, some nations have had the opportunity to improve their rankings and some haven’t until the end of the next November internationals.
“We had taken the view for the 2027 World Cup that waiting until after the November internationals in 2026 would be too late. I think it would put ticket sales at risk and that puts financing of the tournament at risk.
“I think fans would be very frustrated at that outcome, not being able to plan with any certainty with less than a year until the World Cup.
“It would also mean a real challenge, particularly with the expansion to 24 teams, to plan for the infrastructure that’s needed for that expansion.
“So we’ve taken the decision not to go later, 10 months before the World Cup, so we went back to January 2026. It’s a compromise but hopefully a better one than we’ve had until now.”
I don’t understand why after the ‘26 November Internationals is too late. It’s 10 months before the World Cup. FIFA manage to organise a bigger tournament in less time…..
@Marcus: one is football, most popular sport in world, the other is rugby, played seriously in about 5 or 6 countries……comparing apples and oranges
@Marcus: absolutely….. as you said, even FIFA can do it. If you plan on travelling you will be saving, no matter if you are going to Sydney or Perth. After November would be the logical thing, but you can never accuse them of being logical
@Kevin Bury: true – rugby is much smaller and so should be easy to organise in less time.
Another incredible move by World Rugby. Why not just do it the December beforehand?
@Paddy Kennedy: Would be nice but operators need at least 18 months to create and sell tour packages which bring in most of the money for the tournament
@Andrew Slazenger: BS. FIFA manage it in less time.
@Marcus: fifa are one of the biggest if not the biggest sports organisation in the world, wr is a minnow compared to it
@J M: yes, and the tournament they organise is much bigger too. And they still manage in 7 months.
This is about right, never a perfect time to do it but this gives lots of time for organisation but also should reflect the strength of the teams going into the WC way more. 2025 6 Nations and Autumn Internationals crucial but then means we can experiment/ build depth in the 2026 six nations/ autumn internationals
@Andrew Slazenger: we have France and England at home in 2025
@brian o’leary: Beautiful
Slightly better than the farce which has resulted in the hugely unbalanced draw of this year. But still, making a draw based on the seeds in January 2026, 20 months prior to a ball being struck is a nonsense. FIFA and UEFA can do it 7 months before a tournament and there are no issues regarding seeding.
@Sean H: I have a really good answer to this, but when I come back to see what your thoughts are my 5hrs will be up, so I not going to post it. Sorry.
So the November Internationals 2025 will be critical , let’s hope our best are still available and fully fit after the lions tour.
@brian o’leary: can australia gain ranking points for a lions tour? Are countries not involved in a lions tour at an advantage or disadvantage, in terms of ranking points?
@brian o’leary: neednt worry, Eddie Jones is staying apparently
Too early !
still a whole two six nations before WC. Absolute nonsense so
Be nice to get england dont think we ever met them at a world cup
@Sèan: it will be the two teams that qualify from the other group that counts. hopefully not France and New Zealand. Oh sweet lord, did i just say that out loud
It’s all about ticket sales. The earlier that supporters know when and where their teams are playing, the more tickets and associated travel packages will be sold.
Yo better than it was, onward and upward
@J M: Evolution, not revolution.
Rub salt into the wound why dont ye
As far as I can see the decision to expand to 24 teams and then put the top 16 into a straight knock-out tournament means that the seeding for the pools may not matter that much. All the Tier 1 nations should qualify for the knock-outs anyway. Unlike the Champions Cup there is no carrot of home advantage for doing well in the pools, while we don’t know how (if at all) seeding will work for the knock-out stage. Therefore this could mean that the knockout draw is pre-ordained, so that Tier 1 nations can treat most of the pool games as warm-up matches, resting their frontliners; or that it is important to knock up big scores in one sided matches against the minnows. I’d also be concerned that the knock-out stage takes place in a very crowded period – 4 matches in 2 weeks if you get thru?
@Kevin Ryan: six pools of four will be messy. Like the old heineken cup, with nations drawn in easier pools at an advantage
@brian o’leary: It would be more of a first order problem if we were going direct from the groups to quarter finals, as was the case with the old cup. The extra last 16 round, as with the more recent Champions Cup, means that anyone who is any good will get through the group stage anyway. So the penalty for being in a tough group is less obvious
If there’s a radical change in the rankings World Rugby should have the remit to revise the schedule if things change. There’s no point in having the same debacle as this year repeated anytime soon. So go with the 20 months with the remit that if there is a radical change that the draw gets revised to reflect the change.
Travel plans might be a problem but I don’t believe any airlines sell tickets 20 months out, unless to a business customer and I don’t mean travel agencies. The risk of costs soaring due to petrol shortage, war, etc. is just too high. I’m not in the travel business but I’ve never seen a ticket for sale that long out to Joe Public (at least not in recent history).
@Con Cussed: define radical?