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The 2026 Rugby League World Cup (RLWC2026) 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. However unlike 2021, the men's tournament will feature ten teams only, and the planned expansion of the women's and wheelchair tournament will be delayed keeping team numbers at eight in each. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
Originally due to be staged in the US and Canada in 2025, [6] [7] the offer was withdrawn due to financial concerns. [8] In 2022 hosting was awarded to France. [9] [10] [11] In May 2023 the French organisers pulled out of hosting the games. [12] [13] [14] [15] [16]
On 3 August 2023 the 2025 tournaments were cancelled by the sport's governing body with the announcement that a new reduced-size tournament would take place in the southern hemisphere in 2026. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
10 nations had already qualified for the tournaments:
Australia (M, W, WC)
England (M, W, WC)
Fiji (M)
France (WC)
Lebanon (M)
New Zealand (M, W)
Papua New Guinea (M, W)
Samoa (M)
Tonga (M)
Wales (WC)Note: M=Men's tournament, W=Women's tournament, WC=Wheelchair tournament
As with 2021, the men's, women's, and wheelchair rugby league world cups will be held simultaneously in equal prominence.
With the announcement of the 2026 Rugby League World Cup, International Rugby League also announced a long awaited international rugby league calendar dating from 2023 to 2030, citing the cancellations of the 2025 tournament as "the perfect opportunity" to refresh the international game. The calendar confirmed the already arranged 2023 Tonga tour of England, and also announced a 2025 Lions and Lionesses tour of Australia (which will include the revival of The Ashes), 2027 Kiwi tour of England, 2028 Kangaroo tour of England, and a 2029 tour between England and an unconfirmed Pacific Nation. [1] [5] The announcement also stated a 2024 Samoa tour of England would be likely, as this was already being discussed by the two nations, however Samoa eventually declined the offer. [17] [18] The calendar also announced that the Women's Rugby League World Cup would be a stand alone event starting in 2028. In addition, there would be a renewed focus on regional tournaments to aid in developing lesser rugby league nations. [1] [5] A later announcement confirmed the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup would also be a stand alone event starting in 2029. [19]
The Ashes series, similar to the cricket series of the same name, was a best-of-three series of test matches between Australia and Great Britain national rugby league football teams. It had been contested 39 times from 1908 until 2003 largely with hosting rights alternating between the two countries. Since 1973, Australia has won a record thirteen consecutive Ashes series.
The Royal Moroccan Football Federation is the governing body of football in Morocco. It was established in 1956. It became a member in the FIFA in 1960, and in the same year it also became a member of CAF. It organizes the football league, the Botola, the Morocco national football team and the Morocco women's national football team. It is based in Rabat. it is also a member of the UAFA and UNAF.
The Women's Rugby League World Cup is an international rugby league tournament, contested by the women's national team of the International Rugby League (IRL). The competition has been held since 2000 and was incorporated into the Festival of World Cups in 2008 until 2017 when it became a centrepiece event along with the men's competition. Under the current format, eight teams are separated into two groups of four with the top two in each group qualifying for the semi-finals.
The Rugby League World Cup is an international rugby league tournament contested by the top national men's representative teams. The tournament is administered by the International Rugby League and was first held in France in 1954, which was the first World Cup held for any form of rugby football.
In the United Kingdom, sporting events are broadcast on several national television networks, as well as radio. Many of the sporting events are listed online or in different kind of apps. These apps are mainly designed by sport fans who want to have an easy way to find when a certain game or match is played, as well as when a race starts or which channel is broadcasting the olympic games etc.
The 2008 Festival of World Cups was a series of rugby league world cupss held in Australia during 2008. The festival was staged in concurrence with the 2008 Men's Rugby League World Cup also in Australia and coincided with the centenary of rugby league celebrations in Australia.
The Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup is an international wheelchair rugby league tournament contested by the top national teams. The tournament was first held in Australia as part of the 2008 Festival of World Cups and was upgraded to a centrepiece event in 2021.
The 2013 mid-year rugby union tests were international rugby union matches that were played in June 2013, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere.
The 2021 Men's Rugby League World Cup was the 16th Rugby League World Cup, and one of three major tournaments of the 2021 Rugby League World Cup. The tournament was held in England from 15 October 2022 to 19 November 2022. It was originally due to be held between 23 October 2021 and 27 November 2021, but the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent withdrawals of Australia and New Zealand caused the tournament to be postponed. 16 teams competed in the tournament, an increase of two from the previous two tournaments and the first to feature 16 teams since the 2000 Rugby League World Cup.
Seven countries have hosted and co-hosted the Rugby League World Cup. England, France, Australia and New Zealand have hosted the World Cup on multiple occasions and the tournament has never been played outside its traditional 'heartlands' in these areas. The International Rugby League is responsible for picking hosts.
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 2027 Men's Rugby World Cup is scheduled to be the eleventh edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It is scheduled to take place in Australia from 1 October to 13 November 2027.
The 2021 Women's Rugby League World Cup was the sixth staging of the Women's Rugby League World Cup, and was one of three major tournaments part of the 2021 Rugby League World Cup. The tournament was held in England from 1 November to 19 November 2022. Originally planned for 2021, it was delayed a year along with the men's and wheelchair tournaments due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The tournament featured eight teams, an increase of two from the previous tournament.
The 2021 Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup was the fourth staging of the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup, and was one of three major tournaments part of the 2021 Rugby League World Cup. The tournament was held in England from 3 November to 18 November 2022. It was originally planned to be held in November 2021 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in England. It was the first occasion on which the wheelchair rugby league competition took place concurrently with the men's and women's tournaments. The competition was also the first time that participants in the wheelchair tournament received the same participation fees as players in the other competitions and the first time that prize money was awarded.
The Rugby League World Cup is an international rugby league tournament currently played every four years. The first tournament was held in 1954, hosted by France who had pushed for such a tournament to be approved. Since the first edition, 14 others have been held at sporadic intervals.
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 three major tournaments part of the 2026 Rugby League World Cup.
The 2021 Rugby League World Cup (RLWC2021) was a collection of world cups in the sport of rugby league, held in England from 15 October to 19 November 2022.
The final of the 2021 Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup was one of three finals of the integrated 2021 Rugby League World Cup. It was played at Manchester Central Convention Complex in Manchester on 18 November 2022, the day before the men's and women's finals.
The 2025 Rugby League World Cup (RLWC2025) was a planned collection of world cups in the sport of rugby league which was replaced by 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 part of the 2026 Rugby League World Cup.
