World Cup 2027: one year out, France’s road

The countdown has begun. Exactly one year before kick-off in Australia, the French federation gathered its partners on the Seine and the France players started answering questions about the World Cup.

The 11th Rugby World Cup runs from 1 October to 13 November 2027 in seven Australian cities: Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Newcastle, Perth, Sydney and Townsville. The opening match pits Australia against Hong Kong in Perth, and the semi-finals and final will be played in Sydney.

A manageable Pool E

France open on Saturday 2 October in Melbourne against the United States. They then face Eddie Jones’s Japan on Saturday 9 October and Samoa on Sunday 17 October. With the time difference, all their pool matches will be played on French mornings.

The format is changing. The tournament grows from 20 to 24 teams, split into six pools of four instead of four pools of five, and a round of 16 is introduced. According to Sud Ouest, if France top their pool they would meet the runner-up of Pool D, Ireland or Scotland, in the round of 16.

Eight Tests before Australia

France go into this final year as 2026 Six Nations champions, after a summer tour that ended with two wins, 42-26 in Australia and 42-15 in Japan, following a 34-32 defeat in New Zealand.

They have eight official matches left before the build-up: Fiji on 7 November, South Africa on the 13th and Argentina on the 21st to finish the Nations Championship, then the five games of the 2027 Six Nations. Fabien Galthié will gather 42 players on 26 July 2027, and the squad will be cut to 33 on 12 September, L’Équipe reports.

“We all want to be there,” Matthieu Jalibert admitted at the Nuit du Rugby awards. Fabien Brau-Boirie, named revelation of the season, is thinking of Pau first: “Of course it’s in the back of my mind. But for now I’m very focused on my club,” he told La Dépêche.

The federation plans for breakfast kick-offs

French federation president Florian Grill called it “the last great challenge of French sport”. “We are determined to push behind the team to go and win this Holy Grail,” he said. The federation unveiled a “Pack France Rugby” supporters’ programme, launching at France v South Africa at the Stade de France, a supporters’ academy at Marcoussis and a “Maison Bleue” fan venue in Paris during the tournament. Thanks to a deal with TF1, matches can be shown in the clubhouses of around 2,000 clubs.

On the ticketing side, World Rugby says 1.3 million tickets have already been booked out of around 2.6 million, and expects 250,000 international fans in Australia.