The Rugby World Cup player ineligibility curse has struck again, with Paraguay barred from taking part in next month\u2019s final qualifier for the 2027 finals in Australia.<\/p>\n
Romania and Spain were banished from the 2019 final in Japan after it was revealed they had used ineligible players in the qualifiers, and that same misfortune affected the Spanish four years later<\/a> after they had qualified for 2023 in France.<\/p>\n Whereas those teams had already qualified for the tournament before their tickets were revoked, Paraguay\u2019s issue emerged ahead of the final qualification competition \u2013 providing officials with sufficient time to call-up Brazil to play at the event and see if they have what it takes to qualify.<\/p>\n Paraguay were set to battle Belgium, Namibia and Samoa<\/a> in the round-robin qualifier tournament that commences on November 8, but their place has now gone to Brazil, whom they easily beat this month on an aggregate two-match score of 70-43.<\/p>\n \u201cDifficult moment for our team and our community\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n World Rugby have confirmed that Paraguay fell foul of regulation eight which governs player eligibility, an oversight which they self-reported to officials.<\/p>\n A statement read<\/a>: \u201cWorld Rugby can confirm that Brazil will replace Paraguay at the Final Qualification Tournament for men\u2019s Rugby World Cup 2027<\/a> in Dubai (November 8-18) as a consequence of Paraguay withdrawing from the competition, having discovered that they fielded an ineligible player in the recent play-off matches between the two teams.<\/p>\n \u201cWorld Rugby welcomes Paraguay\u2019s voluntary admission of fault and accepts the explanation that an administration oversight led to the fielding of an ineligible player for both qualifiers against Brazil.\u201d<\/p>\n WRU confirm \u2018landmark decision\u2019 to cut one region by 2028<\/a><\/p>\n