Of the twenty-four teams in the
1997 Rugby World Cup Sevens
The 1997 Rugby World Cup Sevens was the second edition of the Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament and the first to be held in Hong Kong. It was the last major sporting event to be held in the then British dependency before the transfer of soverei ...
, three were automatically qualified:
1993
The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as:
* International Year for the World's Indigenous People
The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...
champions
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, runners-up
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
and hosts
Hong Kong
Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
. The other twenty-one slots were contested by sixty-four national teams in three tournaments:
Lisbon
Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
,
Dubai
Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
and
Punta del Este
Punta del Este () is a seaside city and peninsula on the Atlantic Coast in the Maldonado Department of southeastern Uruguay. Starting as a small town, Punta del Este grew to become a resort for the Latin and North American jet set and tourists. T ...
, with the quarterfinalists of the first two tournaments, then the semifinalists and Plate winner of the third advancing. Through qualifying through their tournaments,
Cook Islands
The Cook Islands is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands whose total land area is approximately . The Cook Islands' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers of ocean. Avarua is its ...
,
Morocco
Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
,
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
and
Zimbabwe
file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map
Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...
all made their first World Cup appearance.
Qualifier 1: Lisbon
Day 1
Pool A
:
Pool B
:
Pool C
:
Pool D
:
Pool E
:
Pool F
:
Pool G
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Pool H
:
Day 2
Pool A
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Pool B
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Pool C
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Pool D
:
Pool E
:
Pool F
:
Pool G
:
Pool H
:
Qualifier 2: Dubai
Day 1
Pool A
:
Pool B
:
Pool C
:
Pool D
:
Pool E
:
Pool F
:
Pool G
:
Pool H
:
Day 2
Pool A
:
Pool B
:
Pool C
:
Pool D
:
Pool E
:
Pool F
:
Pool G
:
Pool H
:
Qualifier 3: Punta del Este
Day 1
Pool A
:
Pool B
:
Pool C
:
Pool D
:
Day 2
Pool A
:
Pool B
:
Plate
Cup
References
{{RWC Sevens
Rugby World Cup Sevens qualification
World Cup Qualifier Sevens