Women's Rugby World Cup - all you need to know

England won the 2025 Women's Six Nations thanks to a 43-42 win over France in a thrilling Grand Slam decider at Twickenham

The 10th edition of the Women's Rugby World Cup takes place in England from 22 August to 27 September, with coverage of every match live on the BBC.

Host nation England are the favourites to lift the trophy at Twickenham, but defending champions New Zealand, as well Canada, France and Australia, will fancy their chances of denying England a home victory.

Scotland, Wales and Ireland will all seek to impress, while global superstar Ilona Maher of the United States will look to leave her mark on the tournament.

The competition has been expanded from the 12 teams that took part in 2022, with 16 sides participating, including debutants Brazil.

How to follow the World Cup on the BBC

BBC Sport has coverage of the tournament across network TV, iPlayer, digital platforms, radio, BBC Sounds and @BBCSport social media channels.

Every match involving England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland will be shown live on either BBC One or BBC Two, while every game will be live on the BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and BBC Sport app.

There will also be live radio commentary of every England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland match on Radio 5 Live or Sport Extra, as well as live text coverage, highlights and reports on the BBC Sport website and app.

Sara Orchard and Ugo Monye will also be hosting regular editions of the Rugby Union Weekly podcast.

Alongside regular editions of the podcast fans can also tune in to a special weekly series throughout the World Cup, Barely Rugby, hosted by comedian Harriet Kemsley and featuring England stars Hannah Botterman and Meg Jones.

In addition, there will be further coverage on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru, BBC Radio Ulster, BBC Radio Foyle and BBC Radio Scotland.

Who plays who in the pool stage?

Pool A: England, Australia, United States, Samoa

Pool B: Canada, Scotland, Wales, Fiji

Pool C: New Zealand, Ireland, Japan, Spain

Pool D: France, Italy, South Africa, Brazil

The top two teams from each pool qualify for the knockout stage.

Going on seedings that would mean England (1), Canada (2), New Zealand (3), France (4), Australia (5), Ireland (6), Scotland (7) and Italy (8) would all advance to the last eight.

Who are the likely semi-finalists?

If top seeds England win Pool A they would face a quarter-final against the runners-up from Pool B, who are likely to be either Scotland or Wales.

France are England's likeliest semi-final opponents, with Canada expected to face New Zealand in the other last-four tie, although Ireland will be aiming to force their way into the reckoning.

The quarter-finals are on 13 and 14 September in Exeter and Bristol.

The semi-finals are on 19 and 20 September in Bristol.

When is the final?

The third-place play-off and the World Cup final both take place on 27 September at Twickenham, with the final kicking off at 16:00 BST.

The match will be shown live on BBC One and BBC iPlayer and there will also be live commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live and the BBC Sport website and app.

The winning team will get to lift a new trophy. Weighing 4.5kg and standing 38cm tall, the 2025 trophy is bigger than previous incarnations and is crafted in sterling silver with 24-carat gold.

Who are the stars to watch?

Canada number eight Sophie de Goede, France scrum-half Pauline Bourdon Sansus and New Zealand wing Portia Woodman-Wickliffe all featured in our Global XV to watch out at the World Cup.

As did social sensation Ilona Maher.

In terms of the home nations, England full-back Ellie Kildunne is World Rugby's women's player of the year and Wales' Jasmine Joyce-Butchers also possesses game-breaking ability.

Powerful centre Emma Orr has been a standout performer for Scotland, while Ireland's injured number eight Aoife Wafer, this year's Women's Six Nations player of the championship, is one to watch when back to full fitness.

Where are the matches being played?

Matches take place at eight venues:

• Twickenham Stadium in London (third-place play-off and the final)

• Ashton Gate in Bristol (two quarter-finals and both semi-finals)

• Sandy Park in Exeter (pool games and two quarter-finals)

• Stadium of Light in Sunderland (hosts England v USA in the tournament's opening game)

• Brighton and Hove Albion Stadium

• Salford Community Stadium

• Franklin's Gardens in Northampton

• York Community Stadium

How are ticket sales going?

The final at Twickenham has sold out making it likely to be the biggest ever crowd for a one-off women's rugby match.

The current record was also set at Twickenham's 82,000 capacity Allianz Stadium when 58,498 watched England beat France in the 2023 Six Nations.

At Paris 2024, 66,000 watched the opening day of the women's rugby sevens at Stade de France.

Across the 32-match tournament, which starts on Friday 22 August, 375,000 of the 470,000 tickets have already been sold, three times the number sold at the last World Cup in New Zealand.

Recent Red Roses matches have pulled in large numbers of supporters. Crowds of 48,778 and 41,523 attended England wins over Ireland and New Zealand at Twickenham last year.

The 2021 Rugby World Cup final, where England narrowly lost to New Zealand 34-31, was played in front of 42,579 at Eden Park.

Previous World Cup finals

There have been nine Women's World Cups but only three nations have won it.

New Zealand have won the tournament a record six times and have beaten England in five of the past six finals.

England have lifted the trophy twice - in 1994 and most recently in 2014.

The United States won the inaugural tournament in Cardiff.

2021: New Zealand 34-31 England, Eden Park, Auckland*

*competition postponed to 2022 because of Covid pandemic

2017: New Zealand 41-23 England, Ravenhill Stadium, Belfast

2014: England 21-9 Canada, Stade Jean-Bouin, Paris

2010: New Zealand 13-10 England, Twickenham Stoop, London

2006: New Zealand 25-17 England, Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton

2002: New Zealand 19-9 England, Olympic Stadium, Barcelona

1998: New Zealand 44-12 USA, National Rugby Centre Stadium, Amsterdam

1994: England 38-23 USA, Raeburn Place, Edinburgh

1991: USA 19-6 England, Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff

Pool fixtures, kick-off times and BBC coverage

All times are BST and subject to change. The BBC cannot take any responsibility for any late changes.

Saturday 30 August

Pool B: Canada v Wales (12:00), Salford Community Stadium - BBC Two from 11:45 and BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra from 11:50

Pool B: Scotland v Fiji (14:45), Salford Community Stadium - BBC Two from 14:15

Pool A: England v Samoa (17:00), Franklin's Gardens - BBC Two from 16:30 and BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra from 16:55

Pool A: USA v Australia (19:30), York Community Stadium - iPlayer, BBC Sport website and BBC Sport app

Sunday 31 August

Pool C: Ireland v Spain (12:00), Franklin's Gardens - BBC Two and BBC Radio Ulster and Foyle from 11:45, plus BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra from 11:50

Pool C: New Zealand v Japan (14:00), Sandy Park - iPlayer, BBC Sport website and BBC Sport app

Pool D: Italy v South Africa (15:30), York Community Stadium - iPlayer, BBC Sport website and BBC Sport app

Pool D: France v Brazil (16:45), Sandy Park - iPlayer, BBC Sport website and BBC Sport app

Saturday 6 September

Pool B: Canada v Scotland (12:00), Sandy Park - BBC Two from 11:45

Pool A: USA v Samoa (13:30), York Community Stadium - iPlayer, BBC Sport website and BBC Sport app

Pool B: Wales v Fiji (14:45), Sandy Park - BBC Two from 14:15

Pool A: England v Australia (17:00), Brighton & Hove Albion Stadium - BBC Two from 16:40

Sunday 7 September

Pool C: Japan v Spain (12:00), York Community Stadium - iPlayer, BBC Sport website and BBC Sport app

Pool D: Italy v Brazil (14:00), Franklin's Gardens - iPlayer, BBC Sport website and BBC Sport app

Pool C: New Zealand v Ireland (14:45), Brighton & Hove Albion Stadium - BBC Two from 14:30 and and BBC Radio Ulster and Foyle from 14:00,

Pool D: France v South Africa (16:45), Franklin's Gardens - iPlayer, BBC Sport website and BBC Sport app

Quarter-final fixtures, kick-off times and BBC coverage

Saturday 13 September

Quarter-final 1: Winner Pool C v Runner-up Pool D (13:00), Sandy Park - BBC Two from 12:30

Quarter-final 2: Winner Pool B v Runner-up Pool A (16:00), Ashton Gate - BBC Two from 15:30

Sunday 14 September

Quarter-final 3: Winner Pool D v Runner-up Pool C (13:00), Sandy Park - BBC Two from 12:30

Quarter-final 4: Winner Pool A v Runner-up Pool B (16:00), Ashton Gate - BBC One from 15:30

Semi-final fixtures, kick-off times and BBC coverage

Friday 19 September

Winner QF1 v Winner QF2 (19:00), Ashton Gate - BBC Two from 18:30

Saturday 20 September

Winner QF3 v Winner QF4 (15:30), Ashton Gate - BBC One from 14:45

Final, kick-off time and BBC coverage

Saturday 27 September

Third-place play-off final (12:30), Twickenham - BBC Two from 11:45

World Cup final (16:00), Twickenham - BBC One from 15:00