2031 Rugby World Cup
Tournament details
Host nation United States
DatesSeptember – October 2031 (tentative)
No. of nations24
← 2027
2035 →

The 2031 Rugby World Cup is the twelfth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It is scheduled to take place in the United States, tentatively from September to October 2031. This will be the first time the tournament is held in the Americas.

Host nation selection

See also: Rugby World Cup hosts

USA Rugby officially launched their bid to host the 2027 or 2031 editions of the Rugby World Cup in October 2021,[1][2] while in February the same year, England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland had considered a joint bid to host the 2031 edition.[3] At the time, the United States was the only bidder for the 2031 Rugby World Cup and the following month (November 2021) were in an “exclusive targeted dialogue” with World Rugby with regard to hosting the 2031 edition.[4]

In April 2022, President Joe Biden sent a letter of support to World Rugby affirming his support for the bid.[5] On May 12, 2022, World Rugby announced the United States had won the bid to host the 2031 Rugby World Cup.[6][7]

2031 Rugby World Cup
bidding results
Nation Votes
 United States Acclamation

Development and preparations

Expansion & Format

The Rugby World Cup will expand from twenty to twenty-four teams at the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia. The 2031 Rugby World Cup will be the second edition of the Rugby World Cup to include twenty-four teams. There will be six pools consisting of four teams. A round of sixteen will be introduced prior to the quarter-finals. A total of 52 matches will be played during the six week tournament.[8][9][10]

Dates

The Rugby World Cup typically takes place from September to October. In the United States, this would overlap with the 2031 NFL season and the 2031 Major League Soccer season. As many of the proposed venues are NFL stadiums, MLB stadiums and MLS stadiums, there is the possibility of the tournament being held during the summer months (June–September) to minimize clashes with other leagues' schedules, mainly that of the NFL.[11] However, a determination of scheduling is yet to be made.[12][13][a]

Candidate host cities

A total of 25 cities have been shortlisted for the 2031 Rugby World Cup. Shortlisted cities include Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Birmingham, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, Nashville, New Orleans, New York City, Orlando, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C. Most of the proposed venues are NFL stadiums, with a number of MLB and MLS stadiums in the running as well.[14][15][16] Among the 24 cities which are under consideration, 11 of them have been selected as host cities for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

2031 Rugby World Cup is located in the United States
Atlanta
Austin
Baltimore
Birmingham
Boston
Charlotte
Chicago
Dallas
Denver
Houston
Kansas City
Los Angeles
Miami
Minneapolis
Nashville
New Orleans
New York
Orlando
Philadelphia
Phoenix
Pittsburgh
San Diego
San Francisco
Seattle
Washington
Shortlisted locations

Qualifying

The below table shows the qualified teams as of April 28, 2022:

Qualifying teams
Region Team Qualification
method 		Previous
Apps 		Previous
best result 		World
Ranking1
Americas North  United States Hosts TBD Pool stage

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The NFL regular season traditionally starts on the Thursday after Labor Day, a holiday fixed on the first Monday in September. Major League Baseball ends its regular season near the start of October, with playoffs running into early November. Major League Soccer, unlike most European leagues in its sport, holds its season entirely within a calendar year; its regular season ends in October, with playoffs extending into December.

References

  1. ^ "United States Launches Campaign To Host Men's and Women's Rugby World Cup's". usabid.rugby. USA Rugby. October 20, 2021. Archived from the original on May 18, 2022. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
  2. ^ "USA Rugby launches bid to host Rugby World Cup". Associated Press. October 21, 2021. Archived from the original on May 14, 2022. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
  3. ^ Carp, Sam (February 3, 2021). "2031 Rugby World Cup: Home nations consider joint bid to host tournament". SportsPro. Archived from the original on March 24, 2023. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
  4. ^ "World Rugby Apporoves United States For Exclusive Targeted Dialogue On Hosting Rugby World Cup 2031". usabid.rugby. November 24, 2021. Archived from the original on May 23, 2022. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
  5. ^ Pengelly, Martin (April 21, 2022). "Joe Biden supports US Rugby World Cup bid in letter to Bill Beaumont". The Guardian. New York. Archived from the original on May 14, 2022.
  6. ^ "Rugby World Cup Host Locations Confirmed Through To 2033". World Rugby. May 12, 2022. Archived from the original on September 22, 2022. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
  7. ^ Morgan, Amy (May 12, 2022). "The U.S. is named a Rugby World Cup host". NPR. Archived from the original on June 7, 2022. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
  8. ^ "Rugby World Cup 2027 expanded to 24 teams". www.rugbyworldcup.com. Archived from the original on October 25, 2023. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
  9. ^ "Historic rugby calendar reform to supercharge reach and competitiveness". www.rugbyworldcup.com. Archived from the original on October 24, 2023. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
  10. ^ "2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia expanding to 24 teams with shorter schedule". AP News. October 24, 2023. Archived from the original on October 24, 2023. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
  11. ^ Williams, Bob (May 13, 2022). "2031 RWC likely to be staged in summer to avoid NFL clash". sportbusiness.com. Archived from the original on May 14, 2022. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
  12. ^ "United States to host Rugby World Cup and pledges not to 'do a Qatar'". the Guardian. May 12, 2022. Archived from the original on May 13, 2022. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  13. ^ Kelleher, Will. "NFL clash could force 2031 Rugby World Cup into summer slot". Archived from the original on May 13, 2022. Retrieved May 13, 2022 – via The Times.
  14. ^ "US President Biden confirms support for Rugby World Cup bids in 2031 and 2033". www.insidethegames.biz. April 20, 2022. Archived from the original on April 21, 2022. Retrieved April 21, 2022.
  15. ^ "Host Cities From Coast-To-Coast". usabid.rugby. November 8, 2021. Archived from the original on May 14, 2022. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
  16. ^ "United States named host nation for 2031 and 2033 Rugby World Cup - USA Rugby". Archived from the original on January 31, 2023. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
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