Canada men draw Argentina, Fiji and Spain at 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia

Canada, ranked 25th in the world, has been drawn in Pool C with No. 6 Argentina, No. 8 Fiji and No. 15 Spain at the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia.

Wednesday’s draw in Sydney also paired the host Wallabies, ranked seventh in the world, with No. 2 New Zealand in Pool A. The two rivals have never faced each other in pool play before.

As the lowest-ranked side in the expanded 24-team tournament, the Canadian men were always going to get a tough draw. Still, it’s safe to say it could have been worse for Stephen Meehan’s side.

In Argentina, Canada drew the lowest-ranked side in Pot No. 1, albeit one that upset the British and Irish Lions 28-24 in June in Dublin. Fiji was the second-highest-ranked side in Pot 2 while Spain was third-highest in Pot 3. 

Based on the rankings, a worst-case scenario would have seen Canada draw defending champion South Africa (ranked No. 1), No. 7 Australia and No. 13 Georgia.

But Pool C still promises to be a tough neighbourhood with Argentina and Fiji both combining physicality and flair. 

While Canada has not played the full Argentina side since 2005, when it lost 22-15 in Calgary, the Canadians have lost six subsequent meetings with a second-string Argentina XV side. Fiji thumped Canada 63-10 when they met in September in Pacific Nations Cup play in Commerce City, Colo.

The Canadians will target Spain at the tournament, having pushed the European side to the limit in a 24-23 loss in June in Edmonton in a game decided on a last-second penalty kick.

The expanded tournament comes with a new format featuring six groups of four teams. The top two from each pool plus the four-best third-place finishers move on to the knockout rounds, starting with the new round of 16.

The Canadian men, who failed to qualify in 2023, will hope to snap an 11-game winless run (0-9-2) at the tournament since a 25-20 victory over Tonga in 2011. Canada has only got out of the pool stage once, in 1991, when it lost 29-13 to the All Blacks in the quarterfinal.

The 2027 World Cup is scheduled to run Oct. 1 to Nov. 13 in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Newcastle, Perth, Sydney and Townsville. The host Wallabies will feature in the tournament opener in Perth, with the full schedule slated for release Feb. 3.

It marks the fourth time the Canadian men have been drawn in a pool with Fiji at the tournament. Canada won 13-7 when they met in 1991 in France, but lost subsequent games in 1999 (38-22) in France and 2007 (29-16) in Wales.

Canada had never previously drawn Argentina or Spain at the World Cup.

Canada missed out in 2023 after losing two-legged qualifying series to the U.S. (59-50 on aggregate) and Chile (54-56).

The 2027 field includes 12 teams that qualified automatically by virtue of finishing in the top three of their pools at the 2023 tournament. They are France, New Zealand, Italy, Ireland, South Africa, Scotland, Wales, Fiji, Australia, England, Argentina and Japan.

The 12 remaining entries booked their ticket through various regional tournaments, with Canada qualifying via the Pacific Nations Cup. The other teams that went that route are Georgia, Spain, Romania, Portugal, Tonga, the U.S., Uruguay, Chile, Samoa, Zimbabwe and Hong Kong.

Spain qualified as runner-up at the 2025 Rugby Europe Championship, losing 46-28 to Georgia in the final.

In 2019 in Japan, the Canadians drew marquee matchups with New Zealand and South Africa as well as dates with Italy and Namibia.

Canada, then ranked 22nd in the world, opened with a 48-7 loss to No. 14 Italy then ran into two buzzsaws, beaten 63-0 by No. 1 New Zealand and 66-7 by No. 5 South Africa. The final Pool B game, against No. 22 Namibia in Kamaishi, was called off due to typhoon Hagibis.

(Because the Canada-Namibia match was cancelled, it does not count as a draw in the tournament record book, although both teams were awarded points for a draw in the standings as per the tournament rules).

Canada’s all-time World Cup record is 7-23-2, with the other wins coming in 2003 (24-7 over Tonga), 1999 (72-11 over Namibia), 1995 (34-3 over Romania), 1991 (13-3 over Fiji and 19-11 over Romania) and 1987 (37-4 over Tonga).

The teams that finish first in Pools A, B, C and D in Australia will face one of the third-place sides in the round of 16, but could run into another pool winner in the quarterfinals. In contrast, the Pool E and F winners will face runners-up in other groups until the semifinal. 

Given the advanced timing of the draw, the tournament bracket could look a lot different in terms of world rankings when it comes time to play. 

At the 2023 tournament, the five top-ranked teams — Ireland, France, New Zealand, South Africa and Scotland — ended up on the same side of the draw because of their rankings at the time of the draw in December 2020.

2027 Rugby World Cup Draw

Pool A: No. 2 New Zealand, No. 7 Australia, No. 17 Chile, No. 23 Hong Kong. 

Pool B: No. 1 South Africa, No. 10 Italy, No. 13 Georgia, No. 22 Romania.

Pool C: No. 6 Argentina, No. 8 Fiji, No. 15 Spain, No. 25 Canada.

Pool D: No. 4 Ireland, No. 9 Scotland, No. 14 Uruguay, No. 20 Portugal.

Pool E: No. 5 France, No. 12 Japan, No. 16 U.S., No. 19 Samoa.

Pool F: No. 3 England, No. 11 Wales, No. 18 Tonga, No. 24 Zimbabwe.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 3, 2025