Rugby League World Cup 2021 (Postponed to 2022)

The next Rugby League World Cup takes place in England from October 15 to November 19, 2022 having been postponed from 2021

A key feature on the representative Rugby League schedule, the Rugby League World Cup is an international footy tournament contested by 14 Rugby League teams from around the globe.

2021 Rugby League World Cup (Postponed To 2022)

• Rugby World Cup Edition: 16th
• Host Nation: England
• Dates: October 15 – November 19, 2022 (Postponed from 2021)
• Number of Teams: 16
• Scheduled Matches to Play: 31

Rugby League World Cup Draw

Seeded	Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3
England (A)  Australia (B)  New Zealand (C)  Tonga (D)	Fiji  Lebanon  Papua New Guinea  Samoa	France  Jamaica  Scotland  Wales	Cook Islands  Greece  Ireland  Italy

2021 Rugby League World Cup Qualified Teams

Region	Team	Qualification method	Previous apps	Previous best result	World ranking
Americas	Jamaica	Americas winner	0	Debut	20
Asia-Pacific	Australia	Automatic	15	Champions (11 times)	2
	Cook Islands	Repechage play-off	2	Group stages (2000, 2013)	23
	Fiji	Automatic	5	Semi-finals (2008, 2013, 2017)	5
	Tonga	Automatic	5	Semi-finals (2017)	4
	New Zealand	Automatic	15	Champions (2008)	1
	Papua New Guinea	Automatic	7	Quarter-finals (2000, 2017)	6
	Samoa	Automatic	5	Quarter-finals (2000, 2013, 2017)	7
Europe	England[a]	Hosts	6	Runners-up (1975, 1995, 2017)	3
	France	European winners	15	Runners-up (1954, 1968)	8
	Wales[a]	European runners-up	5	Semi-finals (1995, 2000)	14
	Scotland[a]	Europe play-off 1	4	Quarter-finals (2013)	9
	Ireland[a]	Europe play-off 2	4	Quarter-finals (2000, 2008)	12
	Greece	Europe play-off 3	0	Debut	11
	Italy	Europe play-off 4	2	Group stages (2013, 2017)	13
Middle East-Africa	Lebanon	Automatic	2	Quarter-finals (2017)	10

*Table courtesy of Wikipedia. 

Including the 2017 Rugby League World Cup there have been 15 tournaments since 1954 and Australia have dominated the results with 11 title wins, most recently in 2013 and 2017.

The only other winning nations to win the Rugby League World Cup competition are Great Britain (3) and New Zealand (1).

Australia are the most successful team in the Rugby League World Cup competition. Photo Credit: ABC.

Betting on the Rugby League World Cup is a popular spring – summer option for footy fans missing the regular NRL season action that finishes up with the NRL Grand Final in early October.

The previous Rugby League World Tournaments took place in the years: 1954, 1957, 1960, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1975, 1977, 1985-1988, 1995, 2000, 2008, 2013 and 2017.

The upcoming Rugby League World Cup dates are set for 2022 (postponed 2021 edition) and 2025.

The only teams to have played in all Rugby League World Cups to date are Australia, France and New Zealand.

In 1995 the Rugby League World Cup format was expanded and follows a similar system to other World Cup sporting competitions including the Football World Cup and Rugby Union World Cup.

Rugby League World Cup Finals

The final Rugby League World Cup tournament system has been in place since 2013 with the 14 teams divided into four groups. The Rugby League World Cup Final Tournament follows the qualifying stage of the competition, with the hose team the only one assured of a spot in the finals.

The first stage of the finals is the group stage and from that a total of eight teams make it through to the knockout Rugby League World Cup knockout quarter finals.

The four quarter-final winners face off in the Rugby League World Cup semi-finals to earn a spot in the World Cup Final.

Rugby League World Cup Host Nations

Past Rugby League World Cup Winners