National team appearances in the Rugby World Cup

This article lists the début of national teams that have so far qualified for the Rugby World Cup and their number of appearances.

Début of national teams

25 nations have thus far qualified for the Rugby World Cup. After the inaugural 16 made their debut in 1987, at least one side has been new to every subsequent world cup.

Year	Nation(s)
1987	Argentina, Australia, Canada, England, Fiji, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Romania, Scotland, Tonga, United States, Wales and Zimbabwe
1991	Samoa
1995	Ivory Coast and South Africa
1999	Namibia, Spain and Uruguay
2003	Georgia
2007	Portugal
2011	Russia

By number of appearances

Team	# of appearances	Record streak	Active streak	Debut	Most recent	Best result
South Africa	5	5	5	1995	2011	Champions (1995, 2007)
Australia	7	7	7	1987	2011	Champions (1991, 1999)
England	7	7	7	1987	2011	Champions (2003)
New Zealand	7	7	7	1987	2011	Champions (1987)
France	7	7	7	1987	2011	Runners-up (1987, 1999)
Argentina	7	7	7	1987	2011	Third place (2007)
Wales	7	7	7	1987	2011	Third place (1987)
Scotland	7	7	7	1987	2011	Fourth place (1991)
Ireland	7	7	7	1987	2011	Quarterfinals (1987, 1991, 1995, 2003)
Fiji	6	4	4	1987	2011	Quarterfinals (1987, 2007)
Samoa	6	6	6	1991	2011	Quarterfinals (1991, 1995)
Canada	7	7	7	1987	2011	Quarterfinals (1991)
Italy	7	7	7	1987	2011	Round 1
Japan	7	7	7	1987	2011	Round 1
Romania	7	7	7	1987	2011	Round 1
United States	6	4	4	1987	2011	Round 1
Tonga	6	4	4	1987	2011	Round 1
Namibia	4	4	4	1999	2011	Round 1
Georgia	3	3	3	2003	2011	Round 1
Zimbabwe	2	2	0	1987	1991	Round 1
Uruguay	2	2	0	1999	2003	Round 1
Ivory Coast	1	1	0	1995	1995	Round 1
Spain	1	1	0	1999	1999	Round 1
Portugal	1	1	0	2007	2007	Round 1
Russia	1	1	1	2011	2011	Round 1

Comprehensive team results

Map of countries' best results (click to enlarge)

Legend

• 1st — Champions
• 2nd — Runners-up
• 3rd — Third place
• 4th — Fourth place
• QF — Quarterfinals (knockout round of 8)
• R2 — Round 2 (1999: quarterfinal playoffs)
• R1 — Round 1 (pool stage)
•  ••  — Invited or qualified but declined or withdrew
•  •  — Did not qualify
•     — Not invited (1987) / Did not enter / Withdrew
• Q — Qualified for upcoming tournament
•    — Hosts

For each tournament, the number of teams in each finals tournament (in brackets) are shown.

Team	1987 (16)	1991 (16)	1995 (16)	1999 (20)	2003 (20)	2007 (20)	2011 (20)
Argentina	R1 13th	R1 14th	R1 13th	QF 8th	R1 9th	3rd	Q
Australia	4th	1st	QF 5th	1st	2nd	QF 6th	Q
Canada	R1 9th	QF 8th	R1 10th	R1 12th	R1 14th	R1 17th	Q
England	QF 5th	2nd	4th	QF 5th	1st	2nd	Q
Fiji	QF 8th	R1 13th	•	R2 10th	R1 10th	QF 7th	Q
France	2nd	QF 7th	3rd	2nd	4th	4th	Q
Georgia	••(2)		•	•	R1 19th	R1 13th	Q
Ireland	QF 7th	QF 6th	QF 8th	R2 9th	QF 6th	R1 11th	Q
Italy	R1 12th	R1 10th	R1 11th	R1 20th	R1 12th	R1 12th	Q
Ivory Coast(1)		•	R1 15th	•	•	•	•
Japan	R1 15th	R1 9th	R1 16th	R1 17th	R1 17th	R1 16th	Q
Namibia			•	R1 19th	R1 20th	R1 20th	Q
New Zealand	1st	3rd	2nd	4th	3rd	QF 5th	Q
Portugal		•	•	•	•	R1 19th	•
Romania	R1 11th	R1 12th	R1 14th	R1 14th	R1 15th	R1 15th	Q
Russia	••(2)		•	•	•	•	Q
Samoa(3)		QF 7th	QF 7th	R2 11th	R1 11th	R1 14th	Q
Scotland	QF 6th	4th	QF 6th	QF 6th	QF 8th	QF 8th	Q
South Africa(4)			1st	3rd	QF 5th	1st	Q
Spain		•	•	R1 18th	•	•	•
Tonga	R1 14th	•	R1 12th	R1 15th	R1 18th	R1 10th	Q
United States	R1 10th	R1 15th	•	R1 16th	R1 13th	R1 18th	Q
Uruguay			•	R1 13th	R1 16th	•	•
Wales	3rd	R1 11th	R1 9th	QF 7th	QF 7th	R1 11th	Q
Zimbabwe	R1 16th	R1 16th	•	•	•	•	•

¹ The team representing Côte d'Ivoire (also known as Ivory Coast) is recognised as Ivory Coast by the International Rugby Board.

² Georgia and Russia were part of the Soviet Union in 1987, whose national team declined an invitation to the inaugural World Cup on political grounds.

³ Samoa was known as Western Samoa until 1997.

⁴ South Africa did not compete in 1987 and 1991 as a result of being subject to an international sporting boycott; this was in opposition to the country's apartheid regime.

External links

• Rugbyworldcup.com
• IRB.com