2026 Men's Rugby League World Cup qualification
The 2026 Men's Rugby League World Cup qualification was announced on 7 August 2023. It will feature four confederation qualification tournaments for each of the four International Rugby League confederations (Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe, and Middle East-Africa), with the four winners of each tournament facing each other in the 2025 World Series for the final two spots in the 2026 Men's Rugby League World Cup.[1][2][3]
Details of these tournament are yet to be announced, but will be open to all full member nations as of 31 March 2024 who did not qualify via the 2021 World Cup.
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) |
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} 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) |
| TBC | 2025 World Series winners | 2025 | ||||
| TBC | 2025 World Series runners-up | 2025 |
Qualification tournament
Teams
Teams which are eligible to participate in the qualification process are:
Confederation tournaments
At current, Europe is the only confederation with more than one full member nation who has not already qualified. Therefore there will be no qualification tournament for Asia-Pacific, Americas, or Middle East-Africa.
World Series
The 2025 World Series will be played by, at current, Cook Islands, Jamaica, South Africa, and the winner of the European qualification tournament.
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
- https://www.intrl.sport/news/irl-board-update-details-confirmed-for-world-series-world-cups/
- https://www.theroar.com.au/2023/10/07/rugby-league-world-cup-qualification-and-world-series-format-revealed-amid-eligibility-shakeup/amp/
- https://www.sportingnews.com/au/rugby-league/news/rugby-league-world-cup-qualification-process-world-series/