Rugby League World Cup 2025

The next Rugby League World Cup takes place in France in 2025 

A key feature on the representative Rugby League schedule, the Rugby League World Cup is an international footy tournament contested by 16 Rugby League teams from around the globe.

2025 Rugby League World Cup

• Rugby World Cup Edition: 17th
• Host Nation: France
• Dates: October November 19, 2025
• Number of Teams: 16

Rugby League World Cup Draw

TBD

2025 Rugby League World Cup Qualified Teams

Team	Method of qualification	Date of qualification	Total times qualified	Last time qualified	Current consecutive appearances	Previous best performance
France	Hosts	11 January 2022	17	2021	17	Runners-up (1954, 1968)
New Zealand	2021 Group C winners	28 October 2022	17	2021	17	Winners (2008)
England	2021 Group A winners	29 October 2022	8	2021	8	Runners-up (1975, 1995, 2017)
Fiji	2021 Group B runners-up	29 October 2022	7	2021	7	Semi-finals (2008, 2013, 2017)
Australia	2021 Group B winners	29 October 2022	17	2021	17	Winners (12 times)
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)
TBA	2023 Americas Rugby League Championship winners	2023
TBA	2023 Americas Rugby League Championship runners-up	2023
TBA	2023 European Championship two highest ranked teams outside of France and England.	2023
TBA		2023
TBA	Playoff winner between 2023 European Championship B two highest ranked teams and 2023 European Championship third and fourth highest ranked teams outside of France and England.	2024
TBA		2024
TBA	Winner of:  Cook Islands vs winner of 2023 MEA Rugby League Championship	2024

*Table courtesy of Wikipedia. 2025 Rugby League qualification correct as of 14/01/2022. 

Including the 2021 Rugby League World Cup (postponed and played in 2022) there have been 16 tournaments since 1954 and Australia have dominated the results with 12 title wins, most recently in 2013, 2017 and 2021 (played in 2022).

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, 2017 and 2022 (which was officially the rescheduled 2021 Rugby League World Cup).

The upcoming Rugby League World Cup dates are set for October – November 2025 in France.

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