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This article presents thenational team appearances in the Women's Rugby World Cup. The article tracks the appearances, results, and debuts for all national teams that have participated in at least oneWomen's Rugby World Cup.[1]
Tournament appearances by team, up to and including 2025:
| Team | Apps | Record streak | Active streak | Debut | Most recent | Best result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 New Zealand | 9 | 8 | 8 | 1991 | 2025 | Champions (Six times) |
 England | 10 | 10 | 10 | 1991 | 2025 | Champions (1994,2014,2025) |
 United States | 10 | 10 | 10 | 1991 | 2025 | Champions (1994) |
 Canada | 10 | 10 | 10 | 1991 | 2025 | Runners-up (2014,2025) |
 France | 10 | 10 | 10 | 1991 | 2021 | Third place (Seven times) |
 Australia | 8 | 8 | 8 | 1998 | 2025 | Third place (2010) |
 Wales | 9 | 5 | 5 | 1991 | 2025 | Fourth place (1994) |
 Ireland | 8 | 7 | 1 | 1994 | 2025 | Fourth place (2014) |
 Italy | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1991 | 2025 | Quarter-finals (2021) |
 Kazakhstan | 6 | 6 | 0 | 1994 | 2014 | 4 Wins (1998) |
 Spain | 7 | 3 | 1 | 1991 | 2025 | 3 Wins (Three times) |
 Scotland | 7 | 5 | 2 | 1994 | 2025 | Quarter-finals (2025) |
 Netherlands | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1991 | 2002 | 3 Wins (1998) |
 Samoa | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2002 | 2025 | 3 Wins (2002) |
 Sweden | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1991 | 2010 | 2 Wins (1994) |
 Japan | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1991 | 2025 | 2 Wins (2002) |
 South Africa | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2006 | 2025 | Quarter-finals (2025) |
 Russia | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1991 | 1998 | 1 Win (1994) |
 Fiji | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2021 | 2025 | 1 Win (Two times) |
 Germany | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1998 | 2002 | 0 Wins |
 Brazil | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2025 | 2025 | 0 Wins |
 Hong Kong | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2017 | 2017 | 0 Wins |
For each tournament, the number of teams in each finals tournament (in brackets) are shown. Only teams that have played in at least one tournement are shown. Team's that have only participated in qualyfying are not shown.
| Team | 1991 (12) | 1994 (12) | 1998 (16) | 2002 (16) | 2006 (12) | 2010 (12) | 2014 (12) | 2017 (12) | 2021 (12) | 2025 (16) | 2029 | 2033 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Africa | ||||||||||||
| South Africa | 12th | 10th | 10th | 11th | 6th | |||||||
| Asia | ||||||||||||
| Hong Kong | • | • | • | • | 12th | W | • | |||||
| Japan | 11th | 8th | 13th | • | • | • | 11th | 12th | 11th | |||
| Kazakhstan | 9th | 9th | 11th | 11th | 11th | 12th | • | • | ||||
| Europe | ||||||||||||
| England | 2nd | 1st | 3rd | 2nd | 2nd | 2nd | 1st | 2nd | 2nd | 1st | Q | |
| France | 3rd | 3rd | 8th | 3rd | 3rd | 4th | 3rd | 3rd | 3rd | 4th | Q | |
| Germany | W | 14th | 16th | • | ||||||||
| Ireland | 7th | 10th | 14th | 8th | 7th | 4th | 8th | • | 5th | |||
| Italy | 8th | W | 12th | 12th | • | • | 9th | 5th | 10th | |||
| Netherlands | 7th | 13th | 15th | W | • | • | • | • | • | |||
| Russia | 11th[N 1] | 11th | 16th | • | • | • | • | |||||
| Scotland | 5th | 6th | 6th | 6th | 8th | • | • | 10th | 7th | |||
| Spain | 6th | W | 7th | 8th | 9th | • | 9th | 10th | • | 14th | ||
| Sweden | 10th | 10th | 15th | 12th | • | |||||||
| Wales | 9th | 4th | 11th | 10th | 9th | 8th | 7th | 8th | 13th | |||
| North America | ||||||||||||
| Canada | 5th | 6th | 4th | 4th | 4th | 4th | 2nd | 5th | 4th | 2nd | Q | |
| United States | 1st | 2nd | 2nd | 5th | 5th | 5th | 6th | 4th | 7th | 9th | Q | |
| Oceania | ||||||||||||
| Australia | 5th | 7th | 7th | 3rd | 7th | 6th | 9th | 8th | Q | |||
| Fiji | W | • | 9th | 12th | ||||||||
| New Zealand | 3rd | W | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 5th | 1st | 1st | 3rd | Q | |
| Samoa | 9th | 10th | • | 11th | W | 16th | ||||||
| South America | ||||||||||||
| Brazil | • | 15th | ||||||||||
21 nations have thus far qualified for the Women's Rugby World Cup. From 1991 until 2006, each edition featured at least one new country. The 2010 tournament was the first edition with no debutant.
| Year | Nation(s) | Total |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Canada England France Italy Japan Netherlands New Zealand Russia[N 1] Spain Sweden United States Wales | 12 |
| 1994 | Ireland Kazakhstan Scotland | 3 |
| 1998 | Australia Germany | 2 |
| 2002 | Samoa | 1 |
| 2006 | South Africa | 1 |
| 2010 | None | 0 |
| 2014 | None | 0 |
| 2017 | Hong Kong | 1 |
| 2021 | Fiji | 1 |
| 2025 | Brazil | 1 |
The best result by the hosts is champions, achieved byNew Zealand in2021 andEngland in2025. The worst result was by theNetherlands in1998.
| Year | Host nation | Finish |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Wales | 9th place |
| 1994 | Scotland | 5th place |
| 1998 | Netherlands | 13th place |
| 2002 | Spain | 8th place |
| 2006 | Canada | Fourth place |
| 2010 | England | Runners-up |
| 2014 | France | Third place |
| 2017 | Ireland | 8th place |
| 2021 | New Zealand | Champions |
| 2025 | England | Champions |
| 2029 | Australia | To be determined |
| 2033 | United States | To be determined |
| Year | Defending champions | Finish |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | United States | Runners-up |
| 1998 | England | Third place |
| 2002 | New Zealand | Champions |
| 2006 | New Zealand | Champions |
| 2010 | New Zealand | Champions |
| 2014 | New Zealand | 5th Place |
| 2017 | England | Runners-up |
| 2021 | New Zealand | Champions |
| 2025 | New Zealand | Third place |
| 2029 | England | To be determined |
This is a summary of the best performances of each confederation in each tournament.
| Confederation | 1991 (12) | 1994 (12) | 1998 (16) | 2002 (16) | 2006 (12) | 2010 (12) | 2014 (12) | 2017 (12) | 2021 (12) | 2025 (16) | 2029 | 2033 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Africa | — | — | — | — | 12th | 10th | 10th | — | 11th | 6th | TBD | TBD |
| Asia | 11th | 8th | 9th | 11th | 11th | 11th | 12th | 11th | 12th | 11th | TBD | TBD |
| Europe | 2nd | 1st | 3rd | 2nd | 2nd | 2nd | 1st | 2nd | 2nd | 1st | TBD | TBD |
| North America | 1st | 2nd | 2nd | 4th | 4th | 4th | 2nd | 4th | 4th | 2nd | TBD | TBD |
| Oceania | 3rd | — | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 5th | 1st | 1st | 3rd | TBD | TBD |
| South America | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 15th | TBD | TBD |
This is a summary of the total number of participating teams by confederation in each tournament.
| Confederation | 1991 (12) | 1994 (12) | 1998 (16) | 2002 (16) | 2006 (12) | 2010 (12) | 2014 (12) | 2017 (12) | 2021 (12) | 2025 (16) | 2029 | 2033 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Africa | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | TBD | TBD |
| Asia | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | TBD | TBD |
| Europe | 8 | 7 | 11 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 7 | TBD | TBD |
| North America | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | TBD | TBD |
| Oceania | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | TBD | TBD |
| South America | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | TBD | TBD |
This section is a list of droughts associated with the participation ofwomen's national rugby union teams in the Women's Rugby World Cups.
Does not include teams that have not yet made their first appearance or teams that no longer exist.
| Team | Last appearance | WC Missed |
|---|---|---|
| Russia | 1998 | 7 |
| Germany | 2002 | 6 |
| Netherlands | 2002 | 6 |
| Sweden | 2010 | 4 |
| Kazakhstan | 2014 | 3 |
| Hong Kong | 2017 | 2 |
Only includes droughts begun after a team's first appearance. Updated to includequalification for the2025 Women's Rugby World Cup. Only teams that have missed a minimum of two world cups are listed.
| Team | Prev. appearance | Next appearance | WC Missed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Russia | 1998 | Active | 7 |
| Germany | 2002 | Active | 6 |
| Netherlands | 2002 | Active | 6 |
| Sweden | 2010 | Active | 4 |
| Japan | 2002 | 2017 | 3 |
| Italy | 2002 | 2017 | 3 |
| Kazakhstan | 2014 | Active | 3 |
| Samoa | 2014 | 2025 | 2 |
| Scotland | 2010 | 2021 | 2 |
| Hong Kong | 2017 | Active | 2 |