The Men's Rugby World Cup is a rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams, the winners of which are recognised as the world champions of the sport.
The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb Ellis Cup, named after William Webb Ellis who, according to a popular legend, invented rugby by picking up the ball during a football game and running with it.<!-- Not association football, which came after this alleged event -->
The tournament was first held in 1987 and was co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia. Four countries have won the trophy; South Africa four times, New Zealand three times, Australia twice, and England once. South Africa is the current champion, having defeated New Zealand in the final of the 2023 tournament.
Sixteen teams participated in the tournament from 1987 until 1995; in 1999, the tournament expanded to twenty teams. Japan hosted the 2019 Rugby World Cup and France hosted the 2023 Rugby World Cup. The tournament will expand again to twenty-four teams when it is held in Australia in 2027.
Starting in 2021, the women's equivalent tournament was officially renamed the Rugby World Cup to promote equality with the men's tournament. However, the 2021 event was the only one to use this naming convention as at the end of the 2023 World Cup, World Rugby announced that all future tournaments would include the words "Men's" or "Women's" in their titles. The first event to use this convention was the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup, while the 2027 Men's Rugby World Cup will be the first to include "Men's" in its title.
Format
Qualification
Under the current format, 24 teams qualify for each Rugby World Cup. Twelve teams qualified automatically for the 2027 edition, as a consequence of finishing top three in their 2023 pool. The qualification for the remaining 12 spots was allocated regionally; with a total of ten teams allocated for Europe, seven for the Pacific, two for South America - an additional space for a play-off between South America and the Pacific - two for Africa, one for Asia. The last place is determined by an intercontinental play-off.
Tournament
The tournament involves twenty-four nations competing over six weeks in October and November. There are two stages—a pool, followed by a knockout round. Nations are divided into four pools, A through to F, of four nations each. The teams are seeded based on the World Rankings. The six highest-ranked teams are drawn into pools A to F. This process is repeated down the seeding order, with a caveat to ensure the host country shall always be in Pool A.
Nations play three pool games, playing their respective pool members once each. a tournament between England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. It expanded to the Five Nations in 1910, when France joined the tournament. France did not participate from 1931 to 1939, during which period it reverted to a Home Nations championship. In 2000, Italy joined the competition, which became the Six Nations.
Rugby union was also played at the Summer Olympic Games, first appearing at the 1900 Paris games and subsequently at London in 1908, Antwerp in 1920, and Paris again in 1924. France won the first gold medal, then Australasia, with the last two being won by the United States. However rugby union ceased to be on Olympic program after 1924.