Argentina at the Rugby World Cup  Argentina have competed in all the Rugby World Cup tournaments, starting with the inaugural 1987 tournament. Their best result was finishing in third place in the 2007 tournament, played in France. They defeated the host side France in their opening game, then beat the other teams in Pool D, finishing top of the pool. In the knockout stage, they defeated Scotland in the quarter finals, before losing in the semi finals to eventual champions South Africa. In the Bronze Final they once again faced France, whom they defeated for a second time to attain third place. Their second best result was fourth place in 2015. They also progressed past the pool stage in 1999 and 2011. In 1999 they defeated Ireland in the quarter final play-offs, but lost in the quarter-finals to France. In 2011 they lost to host team New Zealand in the quarter-finals. Argentina has yet to host the World Cup. The Argentina national team is the most successful of any national side from the Americas at the tournament. Pool 3 games -  Pool B games -  Pool D games  Quarter final place offs - Quarter finals -  Group A games -  "Los Pumas" began their final preparation for the 2007 World Cup with a two-test series against visiting Ireland, who was grouped against them in France. In the first test on 26 May at Santa Fe, they scored a 22–20 win on a last-minute drop goal by Felipe Contepomi. Both teams were heavily experimental, especially the Irish, with stars such as Brian O'Driscoll, Ronan O'Gara, Paul O'Connell and Gordon D'Arcy missing from the touring squad. The Pumas were themselves missing many stars who were playing that weekend in the final round of the 2006–07 Top 14 season in France. The second test against Ireland was a 16-0 Pumas win at Vélez Sársfield on 2 June. On 9 June, "Los Pumas" completed a clean sweep of their mid-year tests with a 24–6 win over in Mendoza. They split their final warmup tests, defeating neighbours 70-14 at CASI in Buenos Aires on 4 August and losing to Wales at Millennium Stadium 27–20 on 18 August. At the World Cup, "Los Pumas" were drawn into the so-called pool of death, featuring two other teams ranked in the top six in the IRB rankings—Ireland and the hosts France. On top of this, they opened the World Cup at Stade de France against the French, marking the third consecutive World Cup in which they played against the host nation in the World Cup opener.