Uruguay and the USA will join Argentina in competing in the 2026 World Rugby u20 Championship. The competition will be expanded from 12 in 2025 to 16 in 2026. The four expansion teams will be Uruguay, the USA, Fiji and Japan.
The 2026 World Rugby U20 Championship will take-place in Georgia. It will be the second edition of the tournament to be played in the country. It was previously played in Georgia in 2017. Argentina completed a 37-26 win over the home side, doing so with Marcos Kremer scoring the opening try.
Kremer was not the only Puma involved in the match. He was joined by Tomás Albornoz, Bautista Delguy, Gonzalo García, Rodrigo Martínez, and Lucas Paulos. Albornoz and García are now the first-choice Pumas halves duo. They were the formation that tamed the British & Irish Lions in Dublin, Ireland in June.
The 2026 World Rugby u20 Championship tournament will, like the 2017 event, be played in Tbilisi and Kutaisi. It will not involve relegation. World Rugby has no plans to resume the Junior World Trophy. Indeed, the expansion from 12 to 16 comes following the cutting of the eight team trophy.
The new is mixed for the global game and this is also true of the Americas. While Uruguay and the USA joining Argentina in the global elite is a boost for the region, there is no pathway for Canada nor Chile. Neither team will have a competition to compete in and both are former competitors in the Junior World Trophy. Chile hosted the tournament in 2008 and 2013 while Brazil is also a former host.
Canada competed in the 2019 Junior World Trophy in Brazil. Canada were 78-26 winners over Hong Kong in São José dos Campos. Tyler Duguid, pictured below, featured for Canada. He is now capped by France.
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