2026 Men's Rugby League World Cup
| 2026 Rugby League World Cup | |
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| File:Https://pbs.twimg.com/profile images/1579752311743725569/i6-cYvVn 400x400.jpg | |
| Number of teams | 10 |
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< 2021
2030 >
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The 2026 Men's Rugby League World Cup will be the seventeenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup, and will be one of three major tournaments part of the 2026 Rugby League World Cup.
The competition was to be held in during October and November 2025,[1] but was moved to 2026 following the withdrawal of France as the host nation.[2][3][4][5] The competition will run in parallel with the women's and wheelchair tournaments.[6][7][8]
Due to the rescheduling, the competition will feature 10 teams only.[2][3][4][5]
Contents
Host selection
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The International Rugby League (IRL) originally decided in 2016 to have the tournaments hosted in the United States and Canada.[9][10] In December 2019 however, the IRL withdrew the hosting rights due to the promoters, Moore Sports International, being unable to guarantee the staging of the tournaments.[11][12]
After re-opening the bidding to host the tournaments, the IRL awarded the hosting rights to France.[13][14][15] On 15 May 2023, the France 2025 organising committee was forced to withdraw from hosting the tournament, due to financial concerns from the new French government elected in May 2022.[16][17][18][19][20]
On 3 August 2023 it was confirmed that the tournament would be moved to 2026 and held in the Southern Hemisphere.[2][3][4][5]
Qualification
As of 3 August 2023, the qualified teams for the 2026 tournament are the quarter-finalists of the 2021 World Cup.[21] Two spots remain via qualifying series.[22]
Qualified teams
| Team | Method of qualification |
Date of qualification |
Total times qualified |
Last time qualified |
Current consecutive appearances |
Previous best performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 New Zealand |
2021 Group C winners | 28 October 2022 | 17 | 2021 | 17 | Winners (2008) |
 England |
2021 Group A winners | 29 October 2022 | 8[lower-alpha 1] | 2021 | 8 | Runners-up (1975, 1995, 2017) |
 Australia |
2021 Group B winners | 29 October 2022 | 17 | 2021 | 17 | Winners (12 times) |
 Fiji |
2021 Group B runners-up | 29 October 2022 | 7 | 2021 | 7 | Semi-finals (2008, 2013, 2017) |
 Lebanon |
2021 Group C runners-up | 30 October 2022 | 4 | 2021 | 3 | Quarter-finals (2017, 2021) |
 Tonga |
2021 Group D winners | 30 October 2022 | 7 | 2021 | 7 | Semi-finals (2017) |
 Samoa |
2021 Group A runners-up | 30 October 2022 | 7 | 2021 | 7 | Runners-up (2021) |
 Papua New Guinea |
2021 Group D runners-up | 31 October 2022 | 9 | 2021 | 9 | Quarter-finals (2000, 2017, 2021) |
| To be determined. | ||||||
| To be determined. | ||||||
Controversy
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The reduction of teams for the 2026 World Cup from 16 to 10 gained criticism from players and associations of lower ranked nations for whom it would now be much harder to qualify for the competition and claims that this would stagger growth of rugby league in these countries.[23][24] On 22 August 2023, it was reported that a letter signed by 16 member association was sent to International Rugby League protesting against the reduction of teams and ban on affiliate members.[25]
International Rugby League claimed the reduction to increase the competitiveness of game thus showcasing the sport better. The IRL claimed having lower ranked nations at the 2021 tournament came at a "significant cost" and did not bring "commercial benefits".[26]
See also
Notes
- ↑ Competed as part of Great Britain in nine previous tournaments, finishing as champions on three occasions (1954, 1960, 1972). The squads largely consisted of English players, but also featured Welsh players in every tournament. Scotland (1954, 1968, 1977, 1989–92) and Ireland (1957) were represented by native-born players in some tournaments.
References
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- ↑ https://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/exclusive-16-countries-hit-out-at-reduced-2026-world-cup-format-with-official-letter-sent-to-international-rugby-league
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
