The 2031 Rugby World Cup is scheduled to be the twelfth edition of the

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

, the quadrennial world championship for men's

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

teams. It is scheduled to take place in the

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, tentatively from September to October of 2031. This will be the first time the tournament is held in the

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Host nation selection

The

officially launched their bid to host the

2027 Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 – In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1931 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. * February 6 – Annular solar e ...

or 2031

in October 2021, while in February the same year,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

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 World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international rug ...

with regard to hosting the 2031 edition. In April 2022,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Joe Biden sent a letter of support to

affirming his support for the bid. On May 12, 2022,

announced the United States had won the bid to host the 2031 Rugby World Cup.

Development and preparations

Possible expansion

The possibility of expanding the number of teams from twenty to twenty-four has been proposed. A final decision of expansion will be up to

Dates

The Rugby World Cup typically takes place from September to October. In the United States, this would overlap with the 2031

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

season and the 2031

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

season. As many of the proposed venues are NFL stadiums and

Major League Soccer stadiums Major League Soccer (MLS) is the premier professional Association football, soccer league in the United States and Canada. The league has 29 teams in 29 stadiums as of the 2023 season: 26 in the United States and 3 in Canada. At the time of the l ...

, there is the possibility of the tournament being held during the summer months (June–September) to avoid clashing with the both leagues' schedules. However, a determination of scheduling is yet to be made.

Candidate host cities

A total of 28 cities expressed interest in hosting and the list was later narrowed down to 24 cities, with

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

and

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

(Canada) eliminated. Shortlisted cities including

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

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Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

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Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...

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Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

and

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

have all expressed interest. Most of the proposed venues are NFL stadiums, with a number of 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 The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the 23rd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international men's soccer championship contested by the national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament will be jointly hosted by 16 cities in three No ...

Qualifying

The below table shows the qualified teams as of 28 April 2022:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:World Cup 2031 in rugby union

2031 The 2030s (pronounced "twenty-thirties"; shortened to the '30s) is the next decade in the Gregorian calendar that will begin on 1 January 2030, and will end on 31 December 2039. Plans and goals * NASA plans to execute a crewed mission to Mars be ...

World Cup 2031 2031 in the United States Rugby union in the United States International rugby union competitions hosted by the United States