National team appearances in the Rugby World Cup


This article presents the national team appearances in the Rugby World Cup. The article tracks the appearances, results, and debuts for all national teams that have participated in at least one Rugby World Cup.

Number of appearances

Tournament appearances by team, up to and including 2019:
TeamRecord
streak		Active
streak		DebutMost
recent		Best result
99919872019
77719952019
99919872019
99919872019
99919872019
99919872019
99919872019
99919872019
99919872019
86619872019
88819912019
99919872019
99919872019
99919872019
87719872019
55520032019
88019872015
86619872019
42219992019
22019871991
11019951995
66619992019
11019991999
11020072007
21120112019

Results by tournament

;Legend

  • QF — Quarterfinalist
  • R2 — Round 2
  • R1 — Round 1
  • Q — Qualified
  • •• — Invited but declined or qualified but withdrew
  • • — Did not qualify
  • — Not invited / Did not enter or withdrew from qualifying
  • — Hosts

For each tournament, the number of teams in each finals tournament are shown.

Debut of national teams

25 nations have thus far qualified for the Rugby World Cup. From 1987 until 2011, each edition featured at least one new debuting country. The 2015 tournament was the first edition with no country making its debut. It simply featured the return of Uruguay after not qualifying for the 2007 and 2011 editions. The 2019 was the same, with Romania disqualified and replaced by Russia.
YearNationTotal
1987














16
19911
1995
2
1999

3
20031
20071
20111
20150
20190

Result of host nations

The best result by hosts is champions, achieved by New Zealand in 1987 and 2011, and by South Africa in 1995. The worst result was by Wales in 1991 with only one win in pool play, although they did not host the final. The worst result by a country who hosted the final is held by England, being eliminated in the group stage in 2015.
YearHost nationFinish
1987Champions
1987Fourth place
1991Runners-up
1991Fourth place
1991Quarter-finals
1991Quarter-finals
1991Group stage
1995Champions
1999Quarter-finals
2003Runners-up
2007Fourth place
2011Champions
2015Group stage
2019Quarter-finals
2023

Results of defending champions

New Zealand is the only nation to successfully defend the World Cup as defending champions in 2015. Australia and England achieved runner up in 2003 and 2007, respectively. The worst results were by Australia in 1995 and South Africa in 2011, both exiting in the quarter-finals.
YearDefending championsFinish
1991Third place
1995Quarter-finals
1999Third place
2003Runners-up
2007Runners-up
2011Quarter-finals
2015Champions
2019Third place

Performance by confederation

This is a summary of the best performances of each confederation in each tournament.
Confederation1987
1991
1995
1999
2003
2007
2011
2015
2019
2023
AfricaR1R11st3rdQF1stQF3rd1st
AsiaR1R1R1R1R1R1R1R1QF
Europe2nd2nd3rd2nd1st2nd2ndQF2nd
North AmericaR1QFR1R1R1R1R1R1R1
Oceania1st1st2nd1st2ndQF1st1st3rd
South AmericaR1R1R1QFR13rdQF4thR1

Number of teams by confederation

This is a summary of the total number of participating teams by confederation in each tournament.
Confederation1987
1991
1995
1999
2003
2007
2011
2015
2019
2023
Africa112222222
Asia111111111
Europe777889988
North America221222222
Oceania444555555
South America111221122

Appearance droughts

This section is a list of droughts associated with the participation of national rugby union teams in the Rugby World Cups.

Longest active droughts

Does not include teams that have not yet made their first appearance or teams that no longer exist.
TeamLast appearanceWC Missed
19917
19956
19995
20073
20151

Longest droughts overall

Only includes droughts begun after a team's first appearance and until the team ceased to exist updated to include qualification for the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
TeamPrev. appearanceNext appearanceWC Missed
1991active7
1995active6
1999active5
2007active3
200320152