The FIFA World Cup expanded from a 16 team tournament to a 24 team tournament in 1982, and by 2019, the Rugby World Cup should follow suit – but reducing teams is a no no.
The 24 team format could be structured accordingly:
– There will be a total of 52 matches (including the 3rd place playoff).
– Have six pools of four teams. Top two from each pool (12 in total) plus the next best four 3rd placed teams to get 16 in total. Voila, we have a top 16 knockout tournament through to the final.
Hopefully by 2019 there will be more competitive teams at that time but regardless, expansion is the right move to improve the standard of world rugby in the long term.
Based upon the current IRB rankings using the predicted top 12 qualifiers from the 2015 (which would remain as a 20 team tournament, 11 regional qualifiers plus the host nation Japan provides us with 24 teams in total makes 24.
Automatic Qualifiers (Based on top three in current 2011 Pools)
– All Blacks
– France
– Tonga
– England
– Scotland
– Argentina
– Ireland
– Wallabies
– Italy
– Springboks
– Samoa
– Wales
– Japan (host nation)
Regional Qualifiers (11) (Based on current IRB rankings and increasing the number of qualifying spots for some regions)
Africa (2)
– Namibia
– Morocco
Americas (3)
– Canada
– USA
– Uruguay
Asia (1)
– Hong Kong
Europe (3)
– Georgia
– Romania
– Portugal
Oceania (1)
– Fiji
Playoff (1)
-Russia
Predicted Pools (Based on Rankings)
Pool A
– NZ
– Wales
– Japan
– Namibia
Pool B
– South Africa
– Scotland
– Fiji
– Portugal
Pool C
– Australia
– Argentina
– Tonga
– Russia
Pool D
– England
– Italy
– Georgia
– Uruguay
Pool E
– France
– Canada
– USA
– Morocco
Pool F
– Ireland
– Samoa
– Romania
– Hong Kong
Would this work? Who would make up the top 16?
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