Chile will welcome some of the world’s best young players as hosts of the World Rugby U20 Challenger Cup 2026, a cross-regional competition featuring a minimum of six teams.
The new tournament will provide a significant boost for rugby in Chile as they continue to build on the men’s national team’s debut at Rugby World Cup 2023 in France, plus the development of their High-Performance Rugby Center (CARR) in Mahuida Park.
With Chile resume their bid to qualify for Men’s Rugby World Cup 2027 against Brazil in July, the U20 Challenger Cup announcement was made by Chile Rugby at the Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos in Santiago on Wednesday.
Joining Raúl Sigren, the Vice-President of Chile Rugby, for the announcement was Minister of Sports Jaime Pizarro, Governor of Santiago Claudio Orrego Larraín, the national director of the Sports Institute Israel Castro, Chile Olympic Committee President Miguel Ángel Mujica and Sudamérica Rugby Vice-President Jorge Pizzaro.
Chile Rugby will provide details on the U20 Challenger Cup participating teams, match schedules and ticket sales in the coming months.
Age-grade rugby remains an important vehicle for global competitiveness. World Rugby continues to consult with national unions and regional associations regarding a possibility to expand the annual World Rugby U20 Championship from 12 to 16 teams from 2026 as part of a wide-ranging review of men’s age-grade competition structures aimed at increasing the competitiveness and sustainability of international rugby.
The World Rugby U20 Championship 2025 will take place in Italy from 29 June to 19 July, but with no U20 Trophy scheduled for this year as the review continues, the U20 Challenger Cup 2026 is being supported by World Rugby to enable teams to access meaningful international competition as regional pathways are finalised.
Nigel Cass, World Rugby’s Chief of Competitions, Performance and Development Manager, said: “We believe this will be an exciting addition to the global U20s calendar in 2026 with some of the world’s best young playing talent assembling in Chile for what promises to be an exciting event in a country that is embracing rugby, growing its fan and player base.”
Raúl Sigren, the Vice-President of Chile Rugby, said: “This is truly a milestone for Chile Rugby and our vision to become the second sport in our country. The confidence and support that World Rugby continuously gives us is vital to achieve this goal. We have an enormous responsibility to deliver a world-class event in 2026 and to consolidate the role that we want to build in this sport.”
Photo: Chile Rugby
