U.S. Rugby Team Fails to Qualify for World Cup

In a stinging setback for American rugby, the U.S. men failed to qualify for the 2023 World Cup in France, after a hard-fought 16-16 tie with Portugal in Dubai on Friday.

The World Cup is one of the few times that rugby gets mainstream attention in the United States, and now the event will go on without the American team.

Although the U.S. has never fared that well at a World Cup — its overall record is 3-22 — it has almost always managed at least to get there. The United States had qualified for the past six World Cups and eight of nine in total. Portugal had only qualified for the Cup once before, in 2007.

Going into the game, Portugal was ranked 18th in the world and the U.S. 19th, so a close contest seemed likely. And so the first half proved. The game went into the break 10-9 to Portugal. The American points came from three penalty kicks by the team captain and fly half, A.J. MacGinty. Portugal’s came from a penalty plus the half’s lone try, by Raffaele Storti, scored while the Americans had a man in rugby’s equivalent of the penalty box, the “sin bin.”