Canada's Nic Benn (11) loses control of the ball as Romania's Yanis Horvat (4) tackles him during the first half of men's rugby action in Ottawa on Friday, July 12, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Patrick Doyle

By The Canadian Press

Canadian men slip to No. 25 in World Rugby rankings after loss to Portugal

Nov 24, 2025 | 10:53 AM

Canada has dropped one place to No. 25 in World Rugby’s new rankings, matching its career low after November losses to Romania, Georgia and most recently Portugal.

Overtaken by Zimbabwe, the Canadian men are now the lowest-ranked team in the field of 24 for the 2025 Rugby World Cup in Australia.

Stephen Meehan’s side will learn its World Cup opponents at the Dec. 3 draw in Sydney.

The Canadian men sat out the World Cup for the first time in 2023 after losing two-legged qualifying series to the United States (by an aggregate score of 59-50) and Chile (54-46).

The 2027 tournament has been expanded from 20 to 24 teams.

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The field will be divided into four pots, based on world rankings, for the draw.

Twelve teams qualified by finishing in the top three of their pools at the 2023 tournament. They are No. 1 South Africa, No. 2 New Zealand, No. 3 England, No. 4 Ireland, No. 5 France, No. 6 Argentina, No. 7 Australia, No. 8 Fiji, No. 9 Scotland, No. 10 Italy, No. 11 Wales and No. 12 Japan.

Canada, No. 13 Georgia, No. 14 Uruguay, No. 15 Spain, the 16th-ranked U.S., No. 17 Chile, No. 18 Tonga, No. 20 Portugal, No. 22 Romania, No. 23 Hong Kong and No. 24 Zimbabwe all booked their places through qualifying tournaments.

No. 19 Samoa was the last team to qualify, topping the four-team Final Qualification Tournament that also featured No. 21 Belgium, No. 27 Namibia and No. 34 Namibia.

The Canadian men wrapped up their three-game European tour on Saturday with a 33-27 loss to Portugal, extending their run of losses to six in a 1-8-0 campaign in 2025. They previously lost 38-17 to Georgia and 31-21 to Romania on the November tour.

Canada’s lone win this year was a 34-20 decision over the U.S. in Calgary in Pacific Nations Cup play in August.

All the 2025 losses were to higher-ranked sides.

Canada first dropped to No. 25 following a 24-23 loss to Spain on July 18. It remained there until the Aug. 22 win over the U.S. resulted in a move up to No. 24.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 24, 2025.

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press