The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union world championship inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament hosted by France from 7 September to 20 October. France won the hosting rights in 2003, beating a bid from England. The competition consisted of 48 matches over 44 days; forty-two matches were played in ten cities throughout France, as well as four in Cardiff, Wales and two in Edinburgh, Scotland.
The eight quarter-finalists from 2003 were granted automatic qualification, while 12 other nations gained entry through the regional qualifying competitions that began in 2004 - of them, Portugal is the only World Cup debutant. The top three nations from each pool at the end of the pool stage will qualify automatically for the 2011 World Cup.
The competition opened with a match between hosts France and Argentina on 7 September at the Stade de France in St-Denis. The stadium was also the venue of the final match between England and South Africa on 20 October, which South Africa won by 15 points to 6, granting them their second World Cup title.
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