2027 World Cup: who are the opponents of the French XV? Discover the full draw

The XV of France is fixed. The draw for the 2027 Rugby World Cup (October 1 – November 13, 2027) carried out on Wednesday placed the Blues in Group E alongside Japan, the United States and Samoa. A very affordable group, with the Japanese as their main rival, the weakest nation in hat 2 on paper.

Seeded thanks to their fifth place in the world rankings, the French were assured of avoiding a big chunk from the group stage, like South Africa, double world champion, or, as in 2023, New Zealand.

In Group A, the All Blacks will face hosts Australia in what is likely to be the opening match of the competition in Perth on October 1.

Then, after the three group matches of each team, the World Cup will get to the heart of the matter with, for the first time in history, the round of 16. In the event of qualification in first place in their apparently very easy group, the Blues will face in 8th the 2nd of group D, possibly Scotland if the logic is respected.

Then, a quarter-final would once again be affordable for the XV of France, against the winner of the 8th between the 2nd of groups C and F, which could be Wales or Fiji.

It’s after that that it gets tough, with a semi-final against multiple world champions South Africa and New Zealand. If they finish first in their groups A and B, Springboks and All Blacks will indeed face each other in an explosive quarter-final.

The precise schedule of competition matches and the cities where the French XV and the 23 other qualified nations will play will be revealed on February 3, 2026. For the Blues, the challenge will be to go beyond the quarter-final stage, which they have not managed to do during the last three editions of the World Cup.