It is the beginning of a new era. In 2027 the first 24 -team rugby world championship will be played and with a new formula, the same as the European football championships: 6 groups of 4, the first two of each group and the 4 best thirds pass to the round of 16. At the moment there are 22 qualified teams. The 2023 World Championship assigned the first 12 classified (qualified in the quarterfinals plus the third of the 4 world groups, including Italy) to the right to the first 12 classified, while the others had to overcome the continental qualifications. There are still two tickets for Australia: the first will compete for Chile and Samoa (32-32 the first leg, the return on Sunday 28 September in Vina del Mar), then the loser will end up at the repechage tournament with Namibia, Belgium and the winner of the Brazil-Paraguay playoff. For those who have already qualified, however, the ranking will be fundamental, which will decide the bands of the December draws: the first 6 will be standard heads, from 7th to 12th in the second band and so on. Here are the 22 qualified in order of ranking as of September 22, 2025.
