[2][3] The qualification system for the remaining eight places is region-based, with a total eight teams allocated for Europe, five for Oceania, three for the Americas, two for Africa, and one for Asia.

If a match in the knockout stages ends in a draw, the winner is determined through extra time.

[10][11][a] The idea of a Rugby World Cup had been suggested on numerous occasions going back to the 1950s, but met with opposition from most unions in the IRFB.

[12][13] The inaugural tournament, jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand, was held in May and June 1987, with sixteen nations taking part.

[16] The subsequent 1991 tournament was hosted by England, with matches played throughout Britain, Ireland and France.

[18] In 1992, eight years after their last official series,[b] South Africa hosted New Zealand in a one-off test match.

[21] After upsetting Australia in the opening match, South Africa continued to advance through the tournament and met New Zealand in the final.

[25] The 1999 tournament was hosted by Wales with matches also being held throughout the rest of the United Kingdom, Ireland and France.

The tournament included a repechage system,[26] alongside specific regional qualifying places.

[29] The combination of the sport turning professional after 1995 and the increase in teams from sixteen to twenty led to a number of remarkably lopsided results in both the 1999 and 2003 tournaments, with two matches in each tournament resulting in teams scoring over 100 points; Australia's 142–0 win over Namibia in 2003 stands as the most lopsided score in Rugby World Cup history.

[30] In 2003 and 2007, the qualifying format allowed for eight of the twenty available positions to be automatically filled by the eight quarter-finalists of the previous tournament.

The 2011 tournament was awarded to New Zealand in November 2005, ahead of bids from Japan and South Africa.

The All Blacks reclaimed their place atop the rugby world with a narrow 8–7 win over France in the 2011 final.

[36] The opening weekend of the 2015 tournament, hosted by England, generated the biggest upset in Rugby World Cup history when Japan, who had not won a single World Cup match since 1991, defeated heavily favoured South Africa.

The tournament saw South Africa claim their third trophy to match New Zealand for the most Rugby World Cup titles.

[40][41] The trophy is restored and repaired by fellow Royal Warrant holder Thomas Lyte at the completion of each tournament or at any given time in the intervening years between each competition[42][43] The words 'The International Rugby Football Board' and 'The Webb Ellis Cup' are engraved on the face of the cup, and Thomas Lyte are responsible for engraving the name of the victorious teams on the plinth of the trophy.

[58] However, independent reviews have called into question the methodology of those growth estimates, pointing to factual inconsistencies.

[59] The event's supposed drawing power outside of a handful of rugby strongholds was also downplayed significantly, with an estimated 97 percent of the 33 million average audience produced by the 2007 final coming from Australasia, South Africa, the British Isles and France.

[60] Other sports have been accused of exaggerating their television reach over the years; such claims are not exclusive to the Rugby World Cup.

While the event's global popularity remains a matter of dispute, high interest in traditional rugby nations is well documented.

The 2003 final, between Australia and England, became the most watched rugby union match in the history of Australian television.

[62] Notes: Twenty-five nations have participated at the Rugby World Cup (excluding qualifying tournaments).

The record for most points overall is held by English player Jonny Wilkinson, who scored 277 during his World Cup career.

[77] Lomu (in 1999) and Habana (in 2007) also share the record, along with All Black Julian Savea (in 2015) and Will Jordan (in 2023), for most tries in a tournament, with 8 each.

[77] South Africa's Jannie de Beer kicked five drop-goals against England in 1999 – an individual record for a single World Cup match.

The most points scored in a game is 145, by the All Blacks against Japan in 1995, while the widest winning margin is 142, held by Australia in a match against Namibia in 2003.