Scotland vs Italy at St Etienne, 2007 World CupMap of nations best results, excluding nations which unsuccessfully participated in qualifying tournaments.
Their best finish was fourth in 1991. In their semi-final on October 26, 1991, Scotland lost 6–9 to England at Murrayfield after Gavin Hastings missed a penalty almost in front of and a short distance from the posts. On October 30 Scotland lost the third-place play-off to New Zealand in Cardiff 13–6.
Since then they have qualified for the quarter-finals in every tournament except in 2011, 2019 and 2023, but have not qualified for the semi-finals.
In 2015 Scotland were defeated in the quarter-final match versus Australia following a number of refereeing decisions that provoked controversy.
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In 2019, they were defeated in the pool stages by Ireland and hosts Japan, becoming the first Tier 1 team since Wales in 2007 to not qualify for the quarter-finals from a pool that only contained two Tier 1 teams.
Scotland has never been the main host of the World Cup, but a number of Rugby World Cup games have been played in Scotland over the years.
1991 World Cup: Britain/Ireland/France
The 1991 Rugby World Cup final was played in England, pool and finals games were played all over the main five European nations. Pool B games, which involved European nations, Scotland and Ireland, had all their games in either Dublin or Edinburgh with one game being played in Ulster.
1999 World Cup: Wales
The 1999 World Cup was hosted by Wales with some games spread across Scotland, England, Ireland and France. All Pool A games were held in Scotland. Second round play-offs and the quarter-finals were held at a variety of European venues.
2007 World Cup: France
The 2007 competition was held in France, with some games played in Wales and Scotland. Two Pool C matches were held at Edinburgh's Murrayfield.[11]