2026 World Rugby Nations Cup
Upcoming international rugby union competition
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2026 World Rugby Nations Cup is the inaugural edition of the World Rugby Nations Cup, a second tier rugby union competition for international men's teams, run by World Rugby, that will take place concurrently with the 2026 Nations Championship. It is due to consist of twelve teams.
| |
| Sport | Rugby union |
|---|---|
| Administrator | World Rugby |
| No. of teams | 12 |
| Website | www |
Although promotion and relegation are intended for a future date, there will be no promotion or relegation in the 2026 edition between the Nations Championship and the Nations Cup.
Background
In December 2024 it was reported that the second division would initially consist of the 12 teams that successfully qualify for the 2027 Men's Rugby World Cup through the qualification process, meaning all the qualified teams for the 2027 tournament will take part in the inaugural edition of either the Nations Championship itself or the second division.[1]
On 17 November 2025, World Rugby confirmed that the second division competition would be called the World Rugby Nations Cup.[2]
At the same time, it was announced that in Rugby World Cup and British & Irish Lions years, when the Nations Championship and Nations Cup are not played, 'cross competition matches' between the Nations Championship teams and the Nations Cup teams will be prioritised.
Participants
Teams that will compete in the 2026 Nations Cup are:[2][3]
| Team | Stadium | Head coach | Captain | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home stadium | Capacity | Location | |||
 Canada |
Clarke Stadium | 6,000[4] | Edmonton |  Steve Meehan |
Lucas Rumball |
| Princess Auto Stadium | 32,343 | Winnipeg | |||
 Chile |
Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos | 48,745 | Santiago |  Pablo Lemoine |
Martín Sigren |
| Estadio Sausalito | 23,423 | Viña del Mar | |||
| Estadio La Portada | 17,134 | La Serena | |||
 Georgia |
TBD |  Marco Bortolami |
Beka Gorgadze | ||
 Hong Kong |
TBD |  Logan Asplin |
Josh Hrstich | ||
 Portugal |
TBD | Simon Mannix |
Tomás Appleton | ||
 Romania |
TBA |  David Gérard |
Marius Simionescu | ||
 Samoa |
No home games | Tusi Pisi |
Theo McFarland | ||
 Spain |
TBA |  Pablo Bouza |
Fernando López | ||
 Tonga |
No home games | Tevita Tuʻifua |
Ben Tameifuna | ||
 United States |
Dick's Sporting Goods Park | 18,061 | Commerce City | Scott Lawrence |
TBD |
| American Legion Memorial Stadium | 10,500 | Charlotte | |||
| WakeMed Soccer Park | 10,000 | Cary | |||
| Uruguay |
Estadio Charrua | 14,000 | Montevideo | Rodolfo Ambrosio |
Andrés Vilaseca |
 Zimbabwe |
No home games | Pieter Benade |
Hilton Mudariki | ||
Format
As with the 2026 Nations Championship the initial competition will consist of two broadly geographic pools:
- an America-Pacific pool, consisting of the four Americas teams plus Tonga and Samoa; and
- a European-African-Asian pool, consisting of the four European sides, Zimbabwe and Hong Kong.
Each team will play all the teams in the opposite pool across the summer and autumn international windows.
For the first two editions in 2026 and 2028, there will not be a finals day, and two champions will be crowned, one in each pool.
In addition, Samoa, Tonga, Zimbabwe and Hong Kong will play their home matches in neutral venues; in the case of Samoa and Tonga, in South and North America respectively and in the case of Hong Kong and Zimbabwe, in Continental Europe and England respectively. However Hong Kong's final match, against Tonga, will be played in Hong Kong as it is a convenient venue for Tonga in their journey back to the island. The Americas series will take place in the northern hemisphere summer, and the European series in the northern hemisphere autumn.[5][6]
Standings
Fixtures
Americas-Pacific Series
Matches will be held in the Americas region, with Samoa playing their matches in South America and Tonga playing their matches in North America. Each of the European visiting teams will play all their matches in either North America or all in South America to reduce travel.[7] Fixtures and venues were announced by World Rugby on 31 March 2026.[6]
Round 1
| 4 July 2026 | Uruguay | v | Georgia | Estadio Charrua, Montevideo |
| 4 July 2026 | Samoa | v | Hong Kong China | Estadio Nacional Julio Martinez Pradanos, Santiago, Chile |
| 4 July 2026 | Chile | v | Romania | Estadio Nacional Julio Martinez Pradanos, Santiago |
| 4 July 2026 | Tonga | v | Zimbabwe | Dick's Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, United States |
| 4 July 2026 | Canada | v | Spain | Clarke Stadium, Edmonton |
| 4 July 2026 | United States | v | Portugal | Dick's Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City |
Round 2
| 11 July 2026 | Uruguay | v | Romania | Estadio Charrua, Montevideo |
| 11 July 2026 | Samoa | v | Georgia | Estadio Sausalito, Vina del Mar, Chile |
| 11 July 2026 | Tonga | v | Spain | Clarke Stadium, Edmonton, Canada |
| 11 July 2026 | Chile | v | Hong Kong China | Estadio Sausalito, Vina del Mar |
| 11 July 2026 | United States | v | Zimbabwe | American Legion Memorial Stadium, Charlotte |
| 11 July 2026 | Canada | v | Portugal | Clarke Stadium, Edmonton |
Round 3
| 18 July 2026 | Samoa | v | Romania | Estadio Charrua, Montevideo, Uruguay |
| 18 July 2026 | Uruguay | v | Hong Kong China | Estadio Charrua, Montevideo |
| 18 July 2026 | Tonga | v | Portugal | Princess Auto Stadium, Winnipeg, Canada |
| 18 July 2026 | Chile | v | Georgia | Estadio La Portada, La Serena |
| 18 July 2026 | United States | v | Spain | WakeMed Soccer Park, Cary |
| 18 July 2026 | Canada | v | Zimbabwe | Princess Auto Stadium, Winnipeg |
European-African-Asian Series
European teams will host all of their matches at home. Zimbabwe will host their games in England. Hong Kong will play their first two matches in Europe, with the third (against Tonga) being held in Hong Kong[8]. Confirmation of venues will come in due course for the second leg of matches played in November.[9]
Round 4
| 7 November 2026 | Georgia | v | Tonga | TBA |
| 7 November 2026 | Hong Kong China | v | Canada | TBA, Europe |
| 7 November 2026 | Portugal | v | Samoa | TBA |
| 7 November 2026 | Romania | v | United States | TBA |
| 7 November 2026 | Spain | v | Chile | TBA |
| 7 November 2026 | Zimbabwe | v | Uruguay | TBA, England |
Round 5
| 14 November 2026 | Georgia | v | Canada | TBA |
| 14 November 2026 | Hong Kong China | v | United States | TBA, Europe |
| 14 November 2026 | Portugal | v | Chile | TBA |
| 14 November 2026 | Romania | v | Tonga | TBA |
| 14 November 2026 | Spain | v | Uruguay | TBA |
| 14 November 2026 | Zimbabwe | v | Samoa | TBA, England |
Round 6
| 21 November 2026 | Georgia | v | United States | TBA |
| 21 November 2026 | Hong Kong China | v | Tonga | TBA |
| 21 November 2026 | Portugal | v | Uruguay | TBA |
| 21 November 2026 | Romania | v | Canada | TBA |
| 21 November 2026 | Spain | v | Samoa | TBA |
| 21 November 2026 | Zimbabwe | v | Chile | TBA, England |