Australia was confirmed on July 24th as the host for the 2026 Rugby League World Cup which will again feature Men’s, Women’s and Wheelchair competitions – with a number of fixtures to be played in Papua New Guinea (country in Oceania).
With Tonga’s (country in Oceania) emergence as a Pacific powerhouse in 2017, Samoa (country in Oceania) creating history by qualifying for the final of the RLWC2021 at the 74,310-capacity Old Trafford in England (UK), Fiji (country in Oceania) having been semi-finalists in 2008, 2013 and 2017 and losing narrowly to New Zealand in the quarter-final of the last World Cup, and Papua New Guinea being on the rise, the international game has never been more competitive.
‘RUGBY-LEAGUE.COM’ stated that England Wheelchair will defend the title they won in Manchester (UK) in 2022 in an eight-team tournament while England’s Men and Women will be aiming to go two steps better than the Semi Final defeats they suffered two years ago.
The 2026 Rugby League World Cup is a collection of World Cups in the sport of rugby league and is a replacement tournament for the 2025 Rugby League World Cup. Like 2021, the 2026 World Cup will see the Men’s, Women’s and Wheelchair World Cups simultaneously.
The 2026 Men’s Rugby League World Cup will be the 17th staging of the Rugby League World Cup and will be one of the three major tournaments as part of the 2026 Rugby League World Cup.
The 2026 Women’s Rugby League World Cup will be the seventh staging of the Women’s Rugby League World Cup and will be one of the three major tournaments as part of the 2026 Rugby League World Cup.
The 2026 Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup will be the fifth staging of the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup and will be one of three major tournaments as part of the 2026 Rugby League World Cup.
‘RUGBY-LEAGUE.COM’ further stated that the RLWC2026 which has been awarded to the Australian Rugby League Commission by the International Rugby League Board will be contested by a total of 26 teams – comprising of 10 men’s, eight women’s and eight wheelchair teams – in October and November 2026.
Matches will be staged at the first-class Rugby League venues in Australia and Papua New Guinea.
Sydney (Australia)-based the Australian Rugby League Commission Limited (ARLC), formerly the Australian Rugby Football League Limited known as the Australian Rugby League, is an Australian rugby league football competition operator.
The International Rugby League (IRL) is the global governing body for the sport of rugby league football. The IRL organizes the Rugby League World Cup, the oldest international rugby World Cup, as well as the Women’s and Wheelchair equivalent. The International Rugby League’s headquarters are in London, England (UK) and is currently made of 32 members.
The schedule is expected to include double-headers and triple-headers to give the fans added value for the ticket prices.
First held in France in 1954, the Rugby League World Cup is the second oldest sporting World Cup after the FIFA World Cup™ and has followed a variety of formats with the number of teams ranging from four to 10 in 2008, 14 in 2013 and 16 in 2017 and 2022.
Maintained Troy Grant, IRL Chair, “The Rugby League World Cup is the pinnacle of the sport and RLWC2026 promises to be the best and most competitive ever staged. On behalf of the IRL Board, I would like to congratulate the ARLC Chair Peter V’landys, the ARLC Board, the National Rugby League (NRL) head honcho Andrew Abdo and his team on the quality of their bid and I have every confidence that they will deliver the best World Cup on record. We have all been impressed by the ARLC’s ventures into Las Vegas (US) led by Peter and Andrew and have no doubt that they will elevate the Rugby League World Cup to a new level.”
Added Grant, The Rugby League has never been stronger in Australia and the Pacific with soldout stadiums, record television ratings and much excitement about the Pacific expansion. The 2026 World Cup in Australia, with matches to played in Papua New Guinea, will see the rise of the game in the Pacific reach greater heights and ensure Rugby League is the No.1 sport in the region. The condensed format at the RLWC2026 will mean that every single match is competitive while the possibility of some games being played as double or triple headers represents great value for the fans wanting to see the best Rugby League talent on the planet. The culture, diversity and competitiveness of the nations involved will capture the attention of the global audiences and grow the game ever further.”
Sydney (Australia)-based the National Rugby League (NRL) is a professional rugby league competition in Australasia which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory, and New Zealand.
Australia has a proud history of hosting successful World Cups in 2008 and 2017 which featured the Women’s tournament being played alongside the Men’s tournament for the first time.
The Wheelchair World Cup was also played simultaneously with the Men’s and Women’s World Cups at the RLWC2021 in England and generated huge interest due to the skill, speed and intensity of the game and the players.
Road to RLWC2026
Australia, Samoa, New Zealand, England, Lebanon, Tonga, Fiji, and Papua New Guinea have already qualified for the men’s tournament after reaching the quarter-final stage of the last World Cup in England in 2022.
The remaining two berths are set to be decided at the inaugural IRL World Series in 2025 between Cook Islands (Asia-Pacific), Jamaica (Americas), South Africa (Middle East Africa), and the winner of the European qualifying tournament later this year featuring France, Serbia, Wales (UK), and Ukraine.
The Women’s IRL 2026 World Cup qualifying process is underway with France and Wales securing berths alongside Australia, England, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea after winning their pools in the recent European RLWCQ (Rugby League World Cup Qualification) tournament.
A seventh team will come from the Pacific with Cook Islands, Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga to play an RLWC2026 qualifying tournament to coincide with the end-of-season Pacific Championships.
A second team from the Pacific qualifiers will receive entry to the 2025 World Series along with the winners of:
- A two-match series between Kenya and Nigeria for the Middle East Africa berth;
- The Americas RLWCQ tournament featuring Canada, Jamaica and the United States of America; and
- A European playoff between Greece and Ireland.
The winner of the World Series 2025 will secure the eighth and final women’s RLWC2026 berth.
The format for deciding RLWC2026 wheelchair qualification is yet to be finalized. Australia, England, France, Ireland, Scotland, Spain, Wales, and the US were the nations to compete at the Wheelchair World Cup in England in 2022.
Details of the Women’s Pacific qualifiers and the Men’s European qualifying tournament will be confirmed soon.
The hosts of World Series 2025 are expected to be announced later this year with a tender process to commence in August.
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