| points = { { #expr: + 27 + 13 + 52 + 8 + 27 + 12 + 71 + 3 + 38 + 17 + 96 + 0 + 36 + 26 + 96 + 17 + 73 + 0 + 60 + 7 + 82 + 8 + 18 + 3 + 59 + 16 + 76 + 0 + 8 + 13 + 45 + 17 + 84 + 0 + 49 + 18 + 36 + 14 + 45 + 24 + 35 + 15 + 32 + 26 + 28 + 8 + 15 + 22 + 18 + 18 + 40 + 6 + 17 + 12 + 34 + 14 + 43 + 19 + 23 + 24 + 27 + 10 + 42 + 12 + 43 + 10 + 34 + 12 + 19 + 10 + 71 + 0 + 28 + 22 + 59 + 5 + 18 + 17 + 27 + 39 + 17 + 29 + 24 + 28 + 30 + 24 + 28 + 29 + 6 + 44 + 15 + 16 + 23 + 26 + 11 + 12 }} | attendance = { { #expr: + 78680 + 35515 + 48821 + 31996 + 28627 + 63486 + 49342 + 57083 + 57672 + 58102 + 41170 + 63586 + 31673 + 38789 + 78542 + 33189 + 46516 + 60387 + 78459 + 45042 + 75770 + 41274 + 28700 + 41294 + 31889 + 55296 + 39862 + 41342 + 33580 + 32223 + 63118 + 30187 + 39291 + 30500 + 38358 + 44315 + 31794 + 33963 + 47891 + 33624 + 62576 + 78845 + 61863 + 79486 + 77653 + 78098 + 77674 + 80065 }} | apm = | top_scorer = Owen Farrell (75) | most_tries = Will Jordan (8) | best player = | prev = 2019 | next = 2027 }} The 2023 Rugby World Cup () was the tenth men's Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national rugby union teams. It took place in France from 8 September to 28 October 2023 in nine venues across the country. The opening game and final took place at the Stade de France, north of Paris. The tournament was held in the bicentenary year of the purported invention of the sport by William Webb Ellis.
The tournament was scheduled to last six weeks, but in February 2021 World Rugby added a week to provide additional rest days for player welfare. This meant that teams had a minimum of five days' rest for all matches. It was the fourth time France has hosted the Rugby World Cup, having previously done so in 2007 and co-hosted the 1991 Rugby World Cup and 1999 Rugby World Cup with England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. This was the last tournament to feature 20 teams taking part, as the tournament will be expanded to include 24 teams in 2027.
The defending champions were South Africa, who defeated England in the 2019 Rugby World Cup final. South Africa successfully retained their title by defeating New Zealand in the final. In doing so, they became the first team to win the tournament four times and the only nation to ever win the World Cup after losing a match in the pool stage. The result also marked their second victory over New Zealand in a final, and also their second victory in a final on French soil (following their respective victories in 1995 and 2007).
Chile made their first appearance in the tournament. Portugal returned for their second appearance, 16 years after their debut in 2007, also in France.
Host selection
World Rugby requested that any members wishing to host the 2023 event were to submit an expression of interest by June 2015. A total of six unions responded. The Italian Rugby Federation were among the members interested, but withdrew from their bid on 28 September 2016. The Argentine Rugby Union and USA Rugby both expressed their interest in hosting the event but ultimately decided against a formal bid. Three bids were officially submitted to World Rugby by the June 2017 deadline.
On 15 November 2017, the French Rugby Federation bid was chosen ahead of bids by the South African Rugby Union and the Irish Rugby Football Union. France had launched its bid on 9 February 2017.
Venues
Stadia
On 17 March 2017, twelve host cities were selected. This list was later reduced to nine cities (excluding Paris, Montpellier, and Lens):
Team base camps
Source:
Teams
Qualification
Twenty teams competed. A total of 12 teams gained automatic qualification for the tournament after finishing in the top three of their pool at the 2019 Rugby World Cup, which included France already automatically qualified as host. The remaining eight spaces were decided by regional competitions followed by a few cross-regional play-offs.
Two berths were reserved to the European region. Spain originally qualified as Europe 2, but Romania lodged an official complaint that Spain had fielded an ineligible player during the qualifying tournament. After a controversial investigation, it was concluded that the player in question had falsified his passport: Spain received a deduction of 10 points, resulting in them being effectively ejected from the competition, with Romania replacing them as Europe 2 behind Georgia, unaffected as Europe 1. Portugal then took Romania's spot in the repechage tournament as Europe 3.