2026 Women's Rugby League World Cup
Seventh staging of the Women's Rugby League World Cup
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
| 2026 Women's Rugby League World Cup | |
|---|---|
| Number of teams | 8 |
| Host countries |  Australia Papua New Guinea New Zealand |
| Matches played | 15 |
The competition was to be held in during October and November 2025,[1] but was moved to 2026 following the withdrawal of France as hosts nation.[2][3][4][5] The competition will run in parallel with the men's and wheelchair tournaments.[6]
Due to the rescheduling, the competition will feature 8 teams only. An expansion was planned to double the number of teams for the original 2025 tournament.[2][3][4][5]
Host selection
The International Rugby League (IRL) originally decided in 2016 to have the tournaments hosted in the United States and Canada.[7][8] In December 2019 however, the IRL withdrew the hosting rights due to the promoters, Moore Sports International, being unable to guarantee the staging of the tournaments.[9][10]
After re-opening the bidding to host the tournaments, the IRL awarded the hosting rights to France.[11][12][13] On 15 May 2023, the France 2025 organising committee was forced to withdraw from hosting the tournament, due to financial concerns from the new French government elected in May 2022.[14][15][16][17][18]
On 3 August 2023 it was confirmed that the tournament would be moved to 2026 and held in the Southern Hemisphere.[2][3][4][5] On 24 July 2024, the IRL announced that Australia would host the 2026 tournament, with a number of games played in Papua New Guinea.[19][20]
Teams
Qualification
On 3 August 2023, the date the tournament was announced, the only qualified teams for the 2026 tournament were the semi-finalists of the 2021 World Cup. The qualification process for the remaining teams was announced 15 December 2023.[21]
Two teams would qualify directly via the European qualifications group stages on 22 June 2024,[22] and one team would qualify directly via the 2024 Women's Pacific Bowl on 2 November 2024.[23]
The 2025 World Series determined the final team to qualify, with one team from each confederation qualifying for the World Series.[24]
| Team | Method of qualification |
Date of qualification |
Total times qualified |
Last time qualified |
Current consecutive appearances |
Previous best performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 England |
2021 Group A winners | 5 November 2022 | 4[a] | 2021 | 4 | Semi-finals (2008, 2013, 2017, 2021) |
| Papua New Guinea |
2021 Group A runners-up | 5 November 2022 | 2 | 2021 | 2 | Semi-finals (2021) |
| Australia |
2021 Group B winners | 6 November 2022 | 6 | 2021 | 6 | Winners (2013, 2017, 2021) |
| New Zealand |
2021 Group B runners-up | 6 November 2022 | 6 | 2021 | 6 | Winners (2000, 2003, 2008) |
 Wales |
Europe Group A winners | 22 June 2024 | 1[a] | N/a | 1 | First appearance |
 France |
Europe Group B winners | 22 June 2024 | 5 | 2021 | 2 | Semi-finals (2013) |
 Samoa |
Asia-Pacific winners | 2 November 2024 | 3 | 2008 | 1 | Fifth-place (2003, 2008) |
 Fiji |
World Series winners | 29 October 2025 | 1 | N/a | 1 | First appearance |
Draw
The draw was announced on 23 November 2025.[25]
| Group A | Group B |
|---|---|
Venues
| Stadium | Location | Games | Capacity | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Original Name | Sponsored Name | Image | City | Region | ||
| 1 | PNG Football Stadium | Santos National Football Stadium |  | Port Moresby |  NCD | 2 | 14,800 |
| 2 | Te Kaha | One New Zealand Stadium |  | Christchurch | Canterbury | 1 | 30,000 |
| 3 | Perth Rectangular Stadium | HBF Park |  | Perth |  WA | 2 | 20,500 |
| 4 | Lang Park | Suncorp Stadium |  | Brisbane |  QLD | 1 | 52,500 |
| 5 | Robina Stadium | Cbus Super Stadium |  | Robina, Gold Coast | QLD | 2 | 27,690 |
| 6 | Newcastle International Sports Centre | McDonald Jones Stadium |  | Newcastle |  NSW | 2 | 33,000 |
| 7 | Sydney Football Stadium | Allianz Stadium |  | Sydney | NSW | 1 | 42,500 |
| 8 | Western Sydney Stadium | CommBank Stadium |  | Parramatta, Sydney | NSW | 3 | 30,000 |
| 9 | Wollongong Showground | WIN Stadium |  | Wollongong | NSW | 1 | 23,750 |
Rule changes
Contrary to the international laws of the game,[26] matches of the 2026 women's world cup will be 70 minutes long, matching Australia's domestic competition – the NRLW. This was done to "ensure consistency and familiarity for fans, broadcasters and key tournament stakeholders, as well as coaches and players".[27]
Group Stage
Group A
Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fiji |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | France |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 3 | New Zealand |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 4 | Papua New Guinea |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Knockout stage
See also
Notes
- Plus two as Great Britain