The 1999 Rugby World Cup (), was the fourth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial international rugby union championship, the first World Cup to be held in the sport's professional era.
Four automatic qualification places were available for the 1999 tournament; Wales qualified automatically as hosts, and the other three places went to the top three teams from the previous World Cup in 1995: champions South Africa, runners-up New Zealand and third-placed France. 63 nations took part in the qualification process, with 14 nations progressing directly to the tournament. the remaining two qualifiers were determined by a repechage, introduced for the first time in the tournaments history. This was also the first World Cup to feature 20 teams (expanded from 16).
The 20 teams were divided into five pools of four. The winner of each pool progressed to the last eight automatically, with the remining quarter-finalists determined by three play-off matches, played between the runners-up from each pool and the best third-placed team. The tournament began with the opening ceremony in the newly constructed Millennium Stadium, with Wales beating Argentina 23–18, and Colin Charvis scoring the first try of the tournament. Australia won the tournament, becoming the first nation to do so twice and also to date the only team ever to win after having to qualify for the tournament, with a 35–12 triumph over France, who were unable to repeat their semi-final victory over pre-tournament favourites New Zealand. The overall attendance for the tournament was 1.75 million.
Qualifying
The following 20 teams, shown by region, qualified for the 1999 Rugby World Cup. Of the 20 teams, only four of those places were automatically allocated and did not have to play any qualification matches. These went to the champions, runners-up and the third-placed nations at the 1995 and the tournament host, Wales. A record 65 nations from five continents were therefore involved in the qualification process designed to fill the remaining 16 spots.
Venues
Wales won the right to host the World Cup in 1999. The centrepiece venue for the tournament was the Millennium Stadium, built on the site of the old National Stadium at Cardiff Arms Park at a cost of £126 million from Lottery money and private investment. Other venues in Wales were the Racecourse Ground and Stradey Park. An agreement was reached so that the other unions in the Five Nations Championship (England, France, Ireland and Scotland) also hosted matches.
Venues in England included Twickenham Stadium and Welford Road Stadium, rugby union venues, as well as Ashton Gate Stadium in Bristol, which normally hosts football, and the McAlpine Stadium in Huddersfield, which normally hosts football and rugby league. Scottish venues included Murrayfield Stadium, the home of the Scottish Rugby Union; Hampden Park, the home of the Scottish Football Association; and the smallest venue in the 1999 tournament, Netherdale, in Galashiels, in the Scottish Borders. Venues in Ireland included Lansdowne Road, the traditional home of the Irish Rugby Football Union; Ravenhill Stadium; and Thomond Park. France used five venues, the most of any nation, including the French national stadium, Stade de France, which hosted the final of the 1998 FIFA World Cup, and would later go on to host the finals of both the 2007 and 2023 editions of the tournament.
Pools and format
With the expansion of the Rugby World Cup from 16 to 20 teams an unusual and complex format was used with the teams split into five pools of four teams with each team playing each other in their pool once. Pool A was played in Scotland Pool B was played in England Pool C was played in France Pool D was played in the principal host nation Wales Pool E was played in Ireland
Points system
The points system that was used in the pool stage was unchanged from both 1991 and 1995: 3 points for a win 2 points for a draw 1 point for playing
The five pool winners qualified automatically to the quarter-finals. The five pool runners-up and the best third-placed side qualified for the quarter-final play-offs.
Knock-out stage
The five pool runners-up and the best third-placed team from the pool stage (which was Argentina) contested the quarter-final play-offs in three one-off matches that decided the remaining three places in the quarter-finals, with the losers being eliminated. The unusual format meant that two pool winners in the quarter-finals would have to play each other. From the quarter-final stage it became a simple knockout tournament. The semi-final losers played off for third place. The draw and format for the knock-out stage was set as follows.