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2031 Rugby World Cup

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

USA Rugby officially launched their bid to host the 2027 or 2031 editions of the Rugby World Cup in October 2021, while in February the same year, England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland had considered a joint bid to host the 2031 edition. 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.

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

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.

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. However, a determination of scheduling is yet to be made.

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. Among the 24 cities which are under consideration, 11 of them have been selected as host cities for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.