Expansion and format The tournament will use the 24-team format adopted for the
2027 tournament in Australia, with six pools consisting of four teams, and a round of 16 prior to the quarter-finals. A total of 52 matches will be played over the course of six weeks.
Dates The Rugby World Cup typically takes place from September to October. In the United States, this would overlap with the 2031
National Football League season and the 2031
Major League Soccer season. As many of the proposed venues are
NFL stadiums,
MLB stadiums and
MLS stadiums, there is the possibility of the tournament being held during the summer months (June–September) to minimize clashes with other leagues' schedules, mainly that of the NFL. However, a determination of scheduling is yet to be made. Additional scheduling conflicts will arise as a result of the United States co-hosting the
2031 FIFA Women's World Cup in the summer.
Candidate host cities A total of 27 cities have been shortlisted for the 2031 Rugby World Cup. Shortlisted cities include
Atlanta,
Baltimore,
Birmingham,
Boston,
Charlotte,
Chicago,
Cincinnati,
Denver,
Houston,
Kansas City,
Los Angeles,
Miami,
Minneapolis,
Nashville,
New Orleans,
New York/New Jersey,
Orlando,
Philadelphia,
Pittsburgh,
Phoenix,
Salt Lake City,
San Diego,
San Francisco Bay Area,
Seattle,
St. Louis, and
Washington, D.C. in the United States as well as
Vancouver in Canada. Most of the proposed venues are
NFL stadiums, with a number of
MLB and
MLS stadiums in the running as well. Among the 27 cities which are under consideration, 11 of them have been selected as host cities for the
2026 FIFA World Cup. World Rugby chief
Brett Robinson has said they expect to select 12-14 cities from which they can base matches in. ==Qualifying==