Uruguay have successfully qualified for Rugby World Cup 2027. Uruguay booked their place in the 24-team tournament by defeating Chile by +9 (43-34) on aggregate. Uruguay won 28-16 win in Santiago del Chile last Saturday but fell 21-18 at home in game two.
Rugby World Cup 2027 will be Los Teros’ sixth appearance in a Men’s Rugby World Cup. The Uruguayans previously competed at Rugby World Cups 1999, 2003, 2015, 2019 and 2023. The South Americans recorded wins over Spain, Georgia, Fiji and Namibia.
| AUSTRALIA 2027 – HOW URUGUAY QUALIFIED |
Los Teros began their Rugby World Cup 2017 qualifying campaign earlier this year. Uruguay’s regular participation in Rugby World Cups, results and ranking saw Los Teros not involved in the 2024 qualifiers, unlike Chile, who debuted at Rugby World Cup 2023.
Uruguay faced Paraguay in a home-and-away series. Los Teros won 38-0 in Asunción and 78-10 in Montevideo in advance to the South American Final against Chile who had beaten Brazil in matches in São Paulo and Santiago del Chile.
The South American Final proved to be competitive. Uruguay completed a road win first up to be well-placed in game two. The game two result means Uruguay’s qualification for Australia 2027 came in a match in which Uruguay lost. In fact, Uruguay’s loss to Chile ended a 22 match losing streak against Los Cóndores in Montevideo that dates back to 1971.
 WHO HAS QUALIFIED FOR RUGBY WORLD CUP 2027? |
Uruguay is the second country from the Americas to secure a spot at Australia 2027. The first was Argentina who qualified directly due to results from Rugby World Cup 2023. Uruguay and Argentina are presently the only two countries from the Americas who have qualified for Rugby World Cup 2027.
Argentina’s automatic qualification came at the end of the pool stage in France 2007. Los Pumas defeated Samoa, Chile and Japan to finish second, behind England, in their group. Japan joined Argentina and England in qualifying directly for Australia 2027. The nine other automatic qualifiers from France 2023 are South Africa, Ireland, Scotland, France, New Zealand, Italy, Wales, Fiji, and Australia.
2025 began with 12 slots available. That number is now down to four. The first on-field qualifying teams came from Europe. Georgia qualified as Europe 1. The Lelos overcame the Netherlands before having Switzerland a 110-0 defeat.
Spain qualified as Europe 2. Los Leones were 53-24 winners over the Netherlands and 43-13 winners against Switzerland. Spain then defeated Portugal to book a spot in the European Final. Os Lobos has beaten Germany and Belgium in their group but settled for Europe 4 after losing to Romania who, despite losing earlier to Portugal, qualified as Europe 3.
Results in Europe also saw Belgium becoming the first team confirmed for the global repechage tournament. The winner of that tournament will secure the final place at Australia 2027. The second team confirmed is Namibia who defeated the United Arab Emirates.
The United Arab Emirates reached the Asia vs Africa play-off after. The UAE were Asia 2 behind Hong Kong. Results in the race for Asia 1 saw Hong Kong dominating lowly ranked opposition including the UAE, Malaysia, South Korea and Sri Lanka. Hong Kong officially qualified as Asia 1 with a 70-22 win over South Korea.
The UAE were outmatched by Namibia in the Asia 1 vs Africa 1 play-off. The Welwitschias were sent into the elimination match after falling to Zimbabwe. That result saw the Sables ending a 34-year-wait as Australia 2027 will be Zimbabwe’s third appearance at a Men’s Rugby World Cup and the first since 1991.
Hours before Uruguay sealed their spot in Australia 2027, Tonga qualified via the Pacific Nations Cup. The Ikale Tahi claimed one of three places allocated to PNC teams. The one Pacific team that does not qualify via the PNC will face Chile in a Sudamérica 2 vs Pacific 4 play-off match.
The winner of Sudamérica 2 vs Pacific 4 will qualify for Australia 2023 as the Sudamérica vs Pacific play-off winner. The loser will join Belgium, Namibia and Sudamérica 3 (Brazil or Paraguay) in the final place repechage tournament.
