The Final Qualification Tournament for Rugby World Cup 2023 will take place at The Sevens Stadium in Dubai from 6-18 November, 2022.
The tournament will be played in a round-robin format over three match days (6, 12 and 18 November) at The Sevens Stadium. The team with the most competition points after three rounds will qualify for RWC 2023, joining Wales, Australia, Fiji and Georgia in Pool C.
Tournament participants include Hong Kong (Asia/Pacific 2), Kenya (Africa 2), Portugal (Europe 3), and USA (Americas 3) which will determine the 20th and final qualifier for Rugby World Cup 2023 in France.
Portugal secured their place in the Final Qualification Tournament by finishing in third place in in the Rugby Europe Championship 2021 and 2022 combined standings. They were joined by Kenya on 10 July after the Simbas finished as runners-up to Namibia in the Rugby Africa Cup 2022 in France. Kenya also reached this stage in RWC 2019 qualification and are hoping to reach a first Rugby World Cup.
The USA lost 52-51 on aggregate to Chile in the Americas 2 play-off, and have qualified for every Rugby World Cup since their only absence in 1995. Asia Rugby Championship 2022 winners Hong Kong will try to bounce back from their 22-44 defeat against Tonga on Saturday, 23 July to qualify for the first time and complete the RWC 2023 line-up.
