Find out who has booked their spot in Cape Town and who is battling to join them
Sevens World Cup men’s qualifying process
The Sevens World Cup men’s qualifying format is well underway ahead of the 2022 tournament in Cape Town this September. There will be 24 nations at the main event, with representatives guaranteed from all six continental confederations.
Here is the lowdown on the battle to make it to the Mother City.
Who has already qualified?
There are 12 nations that have already booked their spot in Cape Town.
Automatic qualifiers: The eight quarter-finalists from the 2018 World Cup qualified automatically. They were: South Africa (who would have qualified regardless as hosts), New Zealand, Fiji, England, Scotland, France, USA and Argentina.
Continental qualifiers: South America, Oceania and Asia have each completed their qualifying process.
Chile and Uruguay emerged from South America by virtue of finishing as the top two of the 2021 Sudamerica Rugby Sevens.
In Oceania, the three remaining spots were determined by a combination of past performances in the World Sevens Series and Oceania Sevens, with Australia, Samoa and Tonga qualifying.
Similarly, Hong Kong and South Korea emerged from Asia courtesy of being the top two sides at the 2021 Asia Rugby Sevens Series.
South Korea have already qualified for the World Cup (Getty Images)
The remaining qualification battles
Europe: The 2022 Rugby Europe Sevens Championship in July will determine the final European spots, with the top four from the tournament qualifying. Last year’s competition saw Spain, Germany, Lithuania finish in the top four, with Georgia, Portugal and Italy close behind. Russia finished third, but were suspended from all international and cross-border rugby last February following the country’s invasion of Ukraine, and will not participate in World Cup qualifying.
Africa: The 2022 Rugby Africa Sevens Championship, to be held on 23-24 April in Uganda, will decide which three African nations will join South Africa in Cape Town. Kenya are the defending champions and the tournament’s most successful nation, while Uganda, Zimbabwe and Madagascar are among those set to battle for the final two places.
North America: The two-step qualification process in North America begins with the Rugby Americas North Super Sevens in Nassau, Bahamas this April. The region’s main qualifying event is scheduled for June. Alongside USA, Canada and Mexico made it to the 2018 World Cup.
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