Rugby World Cup qualification

Unlike previous tournaments (where eight teams, the quarter-finalists from the preceding World Cup, qualified automatically and twelve places were available through qualification) the 2011 World Cup would be the first to be contested by twelve automatic qualifiers / seeds (the teams who finished in the top three of the groups at the 2007 World Cup) and eight qualifiers; this format has been retained for future tournaments.

In addition to the eight previous quarterfinalists, hosts South Africa were granted automatic entry.

The 1999 world cup also saw the introduction of a repechage, a second chance for teams that had finished runners-up in each qualifying zone.

The eight quarter-finalists from the previous world cup gained automatic qualification with another twelve berths open to qualifiers.

Teams from five continents, Africa, Asia, Oceania, Europe and the Americas gained entry to the competition.

Teams marked in italics had appeared in a previous world cup (by invitation in 1987 and automatically thereafter).