# 2027 Men's Rugby World Cup – Africa qualification

The qualifying process for the 2027 Men's Rugby World Cup for African teams began in July 2024, with 16 teams competing for one direct qualification spot into the final tournament.

## Format

Qualifying began with the top eight African sides (excluding South Africa) playing in a straight knock-out format to determine seedings (1–7) for the final round of the qualification process, with the bottom placed side of round 1, eliminated from qualification.
Round two, saw the eight development African nations compete in a straight knock-out format over two pools, with the winners of each pool facing each other in a round 2 final. The winner of the final progressed to the third and final round of the regional qualification process as seed 8, whilst the other seven nations were eliminated.
Round three, will see the final eight sides face each other in a straight knock-out format based on their seedings in 2024. The winner of this round will qualify for the Rugby World Cup as Africa 1, whilst the runner-up will face Asia 2 from the Asian qualification process in a play-off series to determine who advances to the Final Qualification Tournament.

## Entrants

Eight teams competed during for the Africa qualifiers for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, with South Africa the only team thus far qualified from the Region. (Rankings as of first qualification match in this region)
| Nation | Rank | Began play | Qualifying status |
| Algeria | 59 | 20 July 2024 | |
| Botswana | 77 | 20 November 2024 | Eliminated by Morocco on 20 November 2024 |
| Burkina Faso | 92 | 20 July 2024 | Eliminated by Ivory Coast on 28 July 2024 |
| Cameroon | 108 | 20 November 2024 | Eliminated by Madagascar on 20 November 2024 |
| Ghana | 87 | 18 December 2024 | Eliminated by Zambia on 18 December 2024 |
| Ivory Coast | 62 | 20 July 2024 | |
| Kenya | 34 | 20 July 2024 | |
| Morocco | 39 | 20 November 2024 | |
| Madagascar | 48 | 20 November 2024 | Eliminated by Morocco on 24 November 2024 |
| Namibia | 26 | 20 July 2024 | |
| Nigeria | 69 | 18 December 2024 | Eliminated by Tunisia on 18 December 2024 |
| Senegal | 56 | 20 July 2024 | |
| South Africa | 1 | N/A | Qualified with Top 12 finish at 2023 World Cup |
| Tunisia | 46 | 18 December 2024 | Eliminated by Morocco on 9 February 2025 |
| Uganda | 43 | 20 July 2024 | |
| Zambia | 68 | 18 December 2024 | Eliminated by Tunisia on 22 December 2024 |
| Zimbabwe | 27 | 20 July 2024 | |

## Round 1: 2024 Rugby Africa Cup

The first round was a straight knock-out tournament held from 20 to 28 July 2024 in Kampala, Uganda.
The final rankings determined seedlings (1–7) to determine the match-ups in the third round.

### Bracket

| Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| Namibia | 38 | | |
| Burkina Faso | 5 | | |
| Burkina Faso | 5 | Namibia | 10 |
| | | Zimbabwe | 32 |
| Zimbabwe | 22 | Zimbabwe | 32 |
| Uganda | 20 | | | | |
| Uganda | 20 | | | Zimbabwe | 29 |
| | | | | Algeria | 3 |
| Kenya | 36 | | | Algeria | 3 |
| Senegal | 17 | | | | |
| Senegal | 17 | Kenya | 12 | | |
| | | Algeria | 20 | Third place | Third place |
| Algeria | 32 | Algeria | 20 | Third place | Third place |
| Ivory Coast | 12 | | | | |
| Ivory Coast | 12 | | | Namibia | 38 |
| | | | | Kenya | 27 |

### Quarter-finals

* 20 July 2024 10:00
| Namibia | 38–5 | Burkina Faso |
| | Report | |
* Mandela National Stadium, Kampala Referee: Precious Pazani (Zimbabwe)
* 20 July 2024 12:00
| Kenya | 36-17 | Senegal |
| | Report | |
* Mandela National Stadium, Kampala Referee: Ben Connor (Wales)
* 20 July 2024 14:00
| Algeria | 32–12 | Ivory Coast |
| | Report | |
* Mandela National Stadium, Kampala Referee: Julien Caulier (France)
* 20 July 2024 16:00
| Zimbabwe | 22–20 | Uganda |
| | Report | |
* Mandela National Stadium, Kampala Referee: Benjamin Beuriot (France)

### Semi-finals

* 24 July 2024 14:00
| Kenya | 12–20 | Algeria |
| | Report | |
* Mandela National Stadium, Kampala Referee: Julien Caulier (France)
* 24 July 2024 16:00
| Namibia | 10–32 | Zimbabwe |
| | Report | |
* Mandela National Stadium, Kampala Referee: Ben Connor (Wales)

### Third place match

* 28 July 2024 14:00
| Kenya | 27–38 | Namibia |
| | Report | |
* Mandela National Stadium, Kampala Referee: Talent Gandiwa (Zimbabwe)

### Final

* 28 July 2024 16:00
| Zimbabwe | 29–3 | Algeria |
| | Report | |
* Mandela National Stadium, Kampala Referee: Julien Caulier (France)

### Ranking matches

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| Uganda | 25 |
| Burkina Faso | 15 | | |
| Burkina Faso | 15 | Uganda | 34 |
| | | Senegal | 31 |
| Senegal | 25 | Senegal | 31 |
| Ivory Coast | 8 | | |
| Ivory Coast | 8 | Third place | Third place |
| | | Ivory Coast | 23 |
| | | Burkina Faso | 10 |

#### Semi-finals

* 24 July 2024 10:00
| Senegal | 25–8 | Ivory Coast |
| | Report | |
* Mandela National Stadium, Kampala Referee: Stéphane Rakotonirainy (Madagascar)
* 24 July 2024 12:00
| Uganda | 25–15 | Burkina Faso |
| | Report | |
* Mandela National Stadium, Kampala Referee: Nicardo Pienaar (Namibia)

#### 5th/6th play-off

* 28 July 2024 12:00
| Uganda | 34–31 | Senegal |
| | Report | |
* Mandela National Stadium, Kampala Referee: Zaid Isaaccs (Namibia)

#### Relegation play-off

with this loss for Burkina Faso, they were eliminated from the qualification process.
* 28 July 2024 10:00
| Ivory Coast | 23–10 | Burkina Faso |
| | Report | |
* Mandela National Stadium, Kampala Referee: Benjamin Beuriot (France)

## Round 2: 2024 Rugby Africa Repechage
### Pool A

Pool A was a knock-out tournament held between the 18–22 December 2024 in Jemmal, Tunisia.
| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| Tunisia | 34 |
| Nigeria | 10 | | |
| Nigeria | 10 | Tunisia | 29 |
| | | Zambia | 7 |
| Zambia | 31 | Zambia | 7 |
| Ghana | 22 | | |
| Ghana | 22 | Third place | Third place |
| | | Nigeria | 19 |
| | | Ghana | 24 |

#### Semi-finals

* 18 December 2024 11:00
| Zambia | 31–22 | Ghana |
| | Report | |
* Stade Municipal de Jemmal, Jemmal
* 18 December 2024 14:00
| Tunisia | 34–10 | Nigeria |
| | Report | |
* Stade Municipal de Jemmal, Jemmal

#### Third place match

* 22 December 2024 11:00
| Nigeria | 19–24 | Ghana |
| | Report | |
* Stade Municipal de Jemmal, Jemmal

#### Final

* 22 December 2024 14:00
| Tunisia | 29–7 | Zambia |
| | Report | |
* Stade Municipal de Jemmal, Jemmal

### Pool B

Pool B was a knock-out tournament held between the 20–24 November 2024 in Casablanca, Morocco.
| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| Madagascar | 33 |
| Cameroon | 7 | | |
| Cameroon | 7 | Morocco | 53 |
| | | Madagascar | 37 |
| Morocco | 64 | Madagascar | 37 |
| Botswana | 0 | | |
| Botswana | 0 | Third place | Third place |
| | | Botswana | 36 |
| | | Cameroon | 10 |

#### Semi-finals

* 20 November 2024 13:00 WAT (UTC+1)
| Morocco | 64–0 | Botswana |
| | Report | |
* Stade du COC, Casablanca
* 20 November 2024 15:30 WAT (UTC+1)
| Madagascar | 33–7 | Cameroon |
| | Report | |
* Stade du COC, Casablanca

#### Third place match

* 24 November 2024 10:00 WAT (UTC+1)
| Botswana | 36–10 | Cameroon |
* Stade du COC, Casablanca

#### Final

* 24 November 2024 13:00 WAT (UTC+1)
| Morocco | 53–37 | Madagascar |
* Stade du COC, Casablanca

### Round 2 Final

* 9 February 2025 16:00 WAT (UTC+1)
| Morocco | 26–12 | Tunisia |
* Père Jégo Stadium, Casablanca

## Round 3: 2025 Rugby Africa Cup

The third round will see a straight knockout format, based on final positions in the first round, with the winner qualifying for the World Cup as Africa 1, whilst the runner-up (Africa 2) will progress to an Africa / Asia play-off match against Asia 2 to decide who plays in the Final Qualification Tournament.
Like the first round, Kampala, Uganda will host the tournament between 20 to 28 July 2025.

### Bracket

| Quarter-finals | Final | Final |
| Zimbabwe |
| Morocco |
| Kenya |
| Uganda | | |
| Namibia | | |
| Senegal | | |
| | Third place | Third place |
| Algeria | Third place | Third place |
| Ivory Coast | | |

### Quarter-finals

* 20 July 2025
| Algeria | v | Ivory Coast |
* Mandela National Stadium, Kampala
* 20 July 2025
| Kenya | v | Uganda |
* Mandela National Stadium, Kampala
* 20 July 2025
| Namibia | v | Senegal |
* Mandela National Stadium, Kampala
* 20 July 2025
| Zimbabwe | v | Morocco |
* Mandela National Stadium, Kampala

### Semi-finals

* 24 July 2025
* v
* Mandela National Stadium, Kampala
* 24 July 2025
* v
* Mandela National Stadium, Kampala

### Third place match

* 28 July 2025
* v
* Mandela National Stadium, Kampala

### Final

* 28 July 2025
* v
* Mandela National Stadium, Kampala

### Ranking matches

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| | | Third place | Third place |

#### Semi-finals

* 24 July 2025
* v
* Mandela National Stadium, Kampala
* 24 July 2025
* v
* Mandela National Stadium, Kampala

#### 5th/6th play-off

* 28 July 2025
* v
* Mandela National Stadium, Kampala

#### 7th/8th play-off

* 28 July 2025
* v
* Mandela National Stadium, Kampala