The 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup will be the tenth edition of the women's

Rugby World Cup 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 championship, world champions of the sport. The tournament is administer ...

, the quadrennial world championship for national

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

teams, organised by

World Rugby World Rugby is the 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 competit ...

. It is scheduled to take place in England between 22 August and 27 September 2025. The opening game will take place at the

Stadium of Light The Stadium of Light is an all-seater football stadium in Sunderland, England, and the eighth and current home to Sunderland. With space for 49,000 spectators, the Stadium of Light is the ninth largest football stadium in England. The ...

with the final scheduled to be held at

Twickenham Stadium Twickenham Stadium (; usually known as Twickenham, and for sponsorship purposes known as the Allianz Stadium Twickenham) is a rugby union stadium in Twickenham, London, England. It is owned by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), the English rugby u ...

. It will be the second women's Rugby Union World Cup to be hosted by England, after the 2010 edition. It will be the fifth hosted in the

British Isles The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...

. The tournament will be expanded to 16 teams, from the previous 12 which participated from

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

, and from

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

. It will be the first tournament to be rebranded as the Women's Rugby World Cup since 2021, a change that was announced in October 2023.

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

enter the tournament as defending champions following their victory against in the 2021 Rugby World Cup Final.

Host selection

On 13 August 2020,

announced that the hosting rights to the next two men's and women's world cups would be selected during the same process. These were the

2027 Predicted and scheduled events * May – The 2027 Eurovision Song Contest is scheduled; the location is typically determined by the previous year's winner. * May 15– August 15 – Expo 2027 is scheduled to be held in Belgrade, Serbia. * ...

and

2031 Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 – Assuming no further extensions to the term of copyrights become law in the interim, books, films, and other works published in 1935 will enter the public domain. * January – NASA plans to d ...

men's tournaments and the 2025 and

2029 Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 – Books, films and other works published in 1933 will enter the public domain. * March – The 2029 Special Olympics World Winter Games are scheduled to be held in Switzerland. * April 13 &n ...

women's tournaments. The

RFU The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby (WR) in 1886. It prom ...

confirmed their intent to bid for the 2025 tournament in October 2021. World Rugby awarded England preferred candidate status for the 2025 tournament in November 2021. England were confirmed as hosts on 13 May 2022.

Venues

In August 2023, eight venues were confirmed for the 2025 Rugby World Cup. In December 2023, it was announced that hosts England would open the tournament at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland, and that the final would be held at Twickenham Stadium in London. In June 2024

confirmed that the quarter-finals would be shared between Sandy Park and Ashton Gate, while Ashton Gate would host both semi-finals.

Teams

Qualifying

Sixteen teams will compete. Four teams automatically qualified by reaching the

2021 Rugby World Cup The 2021 Rugby World Cup was the ninth staging of the Rugby World Cup (women), women's Rugby World Cup, as organised by World Rugby. It was held from 8 October to 12 November 2022 in Auckland and Whangārei, New Zealand. It was originally sche ...

semi-finals: New Zealand, England, France and Canada. Six of the remaining twelve spots were decided though the 2024 Six Nations,

2024 Pacific Four Series The 2024 Pacific Four Series was the fourth edition of the Pacific Four Series, an international women's rugby union tournament that serves as one of the principal qualification routes for the top two tiers of the 2024 WXV and the 2025 Women's ...

and regional competitions in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

Oceania Oceania ( , ) is a region, geographical region including Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Outside of the English-speaking world, Oceania is generally considered a continent, while Mainland Australia is regarded as its co ...

, and South America, while the

2024 WXV The 2024 WXV was the second edition of WXV, a Women's international rugby union group tournament for national teams organised by World Rugby. It took place between 27 September and 13 October 2024. The competition featured three divisions of si ...

determined the final six places. In Europe,

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

reached their eighth World Cup after taking the region's qualifying place by defeating Scotland in the final round of the 2024 Women's Six Nations Championship. In Africa,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

qualified for their fifth world cup after beating Madagascar in the final round of the 2024 Rugby Africa Women's Cup. The

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

made their tenth world cup after New Zealand defeated Australia in the final game of the

. In Asia,

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

qualified for their seventh World Cup after beating Kazakhstan in the second game of the

2024 Asia Rugby Women's Championship The 2024 Asia Rugby Women's Championship was the 13th edition of the Asia Rugby Women's Championship, it will take place from 22 May to 1 June 2024 and will be hosted in Hong Kong. The champion will qualify for the 2024 WXV#WXV 2, 2024 WXV 2 and ...

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

qualified as Oceania 1 after winning the 2024 Oceania Rugby Women's Championship.

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

qualified for their debut World Cup after beating Colombia in the South American qualifying, becoming the first South American team to qualify for the Women's Rugby World Cup. In WXV 2,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and

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

qualified for the World Cup.

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

qualified as the top two teams in WXV 3 who had not already qualified via regional competitions. The six teams from the

Women's Six Nations Championship The Women's Six Nations Championship, known as the Guinness Women's Six Nations for sponsorship purposes, is an international rugby union competition featuring six European women's national teams. It started in the 1995–96 season as the Home ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, and

, will compete for the first time since the

2002 Women's Rugby World Cup The 2002 Women's Rugby World Cup was the second World Cup fully sanctioned by the sports governing body the International Rugby Board (IRB). The tournament was held in Barcelona, Spain. The formatThere are 16 teams at the IRB Women's World Cup 20 ...

. Notes:

Draw

The pool draw took place on 17 October 2024, shown live on

The One Show ''The One Show'' is a British television magazine and chat show programme. Broadcast live on BBC One weekdays at 7:00 pm, it features topical stories and studio guests. It is currently co-hosted by Alex Jones, Roman Kemp, Ronan Keating ...

in the

Broadcasting House London Broadcasting House is the headquarters of the BBC, in Portland Place and Langham Place, London. The first radio broadcast from the building was made on 15 March 1932, and the building was officially opened two months later, on 15 May. T ...

, London in the United Kingdom and on RugbyPassTV worldwide.

Gabby Logan Gabrielle Nicole Logan (''née'' Yorath; born 24 April 1973) is a Welsh television and radio presenter, and a former rhythmic gymnast who represented Wales and Great Britain. She hosted '' Final Score'' for BBC Sport from 2009 until 2013. She h ...

Maggie Alphonsi Margaret Omotayo Sanni Alphonsi (born 20 December 1983) is an English former rugby union player who played as a flanker for Saracens W.R.F.C. and England before retiring in 2014. She was Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year in 2010, and was i ...

, and

Roman Kemp Roman Kemp (born 28 January 1993), is an American-born British podcast host, television personality and former radio host. From 2017 to 2024, he presented the national radio network Capital FM breakfast show. Kemp presents ''The One Show'' on B ...

, a presenter from The One Show, hosted the draw. A seeding system was used for the draw, with all 16 allocated a seed based on their World Rugby Women's World Rankings as of 14 October 2024. The top four teams in the world rankings were placed into band 1 and prepopulated into the first position in each pool. The remaining 12 teams were drawn into bands 2, 3, and 4 based on their rankings and drawn one by one. The bands are: * Band 1: Seeds 1 to 4 * Band 2: Seeds 5 to 8 * Band 3: Seeds 9 to 12 * Band 4: Seeds 13 to 16 This meant the 16 qualified teams, qualified were seeded thus (world ranking as of 14 October 2024):

Match officials

On 15 May 2025,

announced the team of 22 officials from 12 unions for the World Cup, including an "all-female team of referees". From the panel, nine of the officials will be returning to the World Cup having served in the previous World Cup, whilst English official

Sara Cox Sara Joanne Cyzer ( born 13 December 1974), better known as Sara Cox, is an English broadcaster and author. A presenter on BBC Radio 2, she has been hosting the station's drivetime show since January 2019. She previously presented BBC Radio 1's ...

will be serving her fifth World Cup. Referees (10) * Aimee Barrett-Theron (

) * Maggie Cogger-Orr (

) *

(

) *

Hollie Davidson Hollie Davidson (born 19 September 1992) is a Scottish professional rugby union referee who is contracted with the Scottish Rugby Union. She was given a Scotland referee cap in February 2025. Playing career Davidson began playing competitiv ...

(

) * Ella Goldsmith (

) * Natarsha Ganley (

) *

Aurélie Groizeleau Aurélie Groizeleau (born 27 February 1989) is a French rugby union referee and former player, who has officiated at international level since 2018. As a player, she made five appearances for the France women's national rugby union team and fiv ...

(

) * Lauren Jenner (

) * Clara Munarini (

) * Kat Roche (

) Assistant referees (6) * Maria Heitor (

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

) * Jess Ling (

) * Amelia Luciano (

) * Precious Pazani (

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

) * Amber Stamp-Dunstan (

) * Holly Wood (

) Television Match Officials (6) * Leo Colgan (

) * Rachel Horton (

) * Quinton Immelman (

) * Matteo Liperini (

) * Andrew McMenemy (

) * Ian Tempest (

)

Preparation

A series of warm up matches are due to be played in the run-up to the tournament.

Pool stage

Competing countries will be divided into four pools of four teams (pools A to D). Teams in each pool will play one another in a round-robin format, with the top two teams advancing to the

knockout stage A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

Pool A

Pool B

Pool C

Pool D

Knockout stage

The knockout stage will consist of three

single-elimination A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

rounds, culminating in a final and a third-place playoff. In the case of a tie in regulation time, two 10-minute periods of

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

will be played to determine a winner. If the scores are tied at the end of extra time, an additional 10-minute "sudden death" period would be played, with the first team to score any points being the winner. If the score still remains tied, a kicking competition will ensue. Quarter-finals will be split between Exeter's Sandy Park, and Bristol's Ashton Gate, while the latter will host both Semi-Finals. It was decided to have a double-header Bronze Final and World Cup Final at Twickenham for the final day, as was the case in the previous World Cup.

Bracket

Quarter-finals

---- ---- ---- ----

Semi-finals

----

Bronze final

Final

Broadcasting rights

Notes:

Marketing

Sponsorship

External links

Official website

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:World Cup 2025 rugby union tournaments for national teams 2025 in women's rugby union

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