Rugby World Cup 2027 qualifiers: Belgium misses out after drawing with Samoa 13-13

Belgium narrowly missed out on reaching the Men’s Rugby World Cup for the first time, drawing 13-13 with Samoa, who qualified at their expense.

Samoa’s victory ensured it topped the standings in the final qualifiers for the 2027 World Cup in Australia with 12 points, just one point behind the Belgians.

Belgium led 6-3 with 17 minutes remaining thanks to two penalty kicks from the boot of Mathias Remo at the Sevens Stadium in Dubai.

When Abraham Papalei came on as a substitute to score for Samoa in the 63rd minute, then Jacob Umaga scored and then added a penalty, it seemed the World Cup players had finally got things under control.

But with seven minutes remaining, Jean-Maurice Decouper slotted home from close range after a brilliant move from Toulouse’s Remo, and when Remo scored the equaliser, the Belgian Black Devils were just one point away from their first World Cup appearance.

However, that was not to be the case, as Samoa dominated possession in the last few minutes before Papalei curled the ball into contact to seal the win.

Samoa captain Theo McFarland admitted “it wasn’t pretty” but was happy his team had accomplished the task of qualifying for a 10th World Cup.

Saracens striker McFarland said: “We talked all week about giving Belgium respect and appreciation for them. They stuck to it and gave it to us. It’s a draw, but we’ll take the ticket to the World Cup.”

“All week we talked about trusting the process and supporting each other.”

Belgium captain Decuberre said there was “huge disappointment” after coming so close to qualifying but promised to “come back stronger” to qualify for the 2031 World Cup.

He said: “We’re really sad – I think we deserve it. We worked hard for it in this game and I feel sad for the team.”

“We had a good tournament, and we really believed we could qualify for the World Cup.”