RLWC 2026 Details soon per official account

[titoelcolombiano]

Are we really mocking another world cup for having teams with a few too many grandparent-rules that are gonna get flogged
Good lord the self awareness

There's a huge difference. Rugby League is realistic about where it's at as an international game. We have a handful of nations that play the game and a handful of others which rely almost entirely on heritage players. We don't really hide it.

Union on the other hand makes grandiose statements like 3rd biggest sporting event in the world (world cup), global sport, players are global stars etc. so they deserve all the ridicule they get for squads like Hong Kong, Japan, USA, Scotland, Wales etc.

 

[Perth Red]

Great to see England get two games in Perth and the Eng v Aus womens game. Be a nice tourist boost of fans coming over and staying a week.
Format is a bit meh, would rather have had a more simple two groups of 5 with 4 games for everyone then semis of top 2 from each group but its Rl so why make things simple?

 

[adamkungl]

Great to see England get two games in Perth and the Eng v Aus womens game. Be a nice tourist boost of fans coming over and staying a week.
Format is a bit meh, would rather have had a more simple two groups of 5 with 4 games for everyone then semis of top 2 from each group but its Rl so why make things simple?

I'm guessing it just doesn't add up commercially.
You get 5 additional pool games, none of which are exactly blockbusters.
And they have to either pay to accommodate 10 teams for an extra week or have them playing the entire tournament on short turnarounds, which probably doesn't fly with the RLPA these days.

 

[Perth Red]

I'm guessing it just doesn't add up commercially.
You get 5 additional pool games, none of which are exactly blockbusters.
And they have to either pay to accommodate 10 teams for an extra week or have them playing the entire tournament on short turnarounds, which probably doesn't fly with the RLPA these days.

Cants say Ive ever seen a WC format in any sport where you are in a group but dont play your group lol

 

[titoelcolombiano]

Aus, PNG, Lebanon
NZ, Fiji, Cook Islands
Eng, France, Ireland
Samoa, Tonga, Wales

For the World Cup, I think 12 nations is about right, Ireland, Wales, Cook Islands and Lebanon would be considered the minnows in this scenario, but can at least put together decent enough squads to not disgrace the tournament. After that you have only maybe Italy and Scotland that could scrape together enough some heritage talent to be worth admitting but then you've just got too many minnows and too many of the nations living almost entirely off heritage players.

 

[Usain Bolt]

So in theory if Samoa, England and Lebanon won all their games.. one team would miss out of the semi finals? Lol

 

[i0Nic]

I understand what they’re trying to achieve with this World Cup. It’s setting a new baseline from which to grow. A baseline that has a higher standard than previous world cups - more competitive games, full stadiums, good tv ratings, commercially viable, and hopefully a few cracking games and a surprise story nation that exceeds expectations.

its a good spread of cities with a mix of league loving regional areas and bigger cities, right sized stadiums, and games in new growth areas like Perth and Christchurch. 1 Melbourne game would’ve been good but none the less.

if we can really focus on growing international league with lower tier competitions over the years, I’m sure we can get back to 12 - 16 - 20 team world cups in the years to come - while still keeping it competitive and desirable to watch.

 

[Wb1234]

I understand what they’re trying to achieve with this World Cup. It’s setting a new baseline from which to grow. A baseline that has a higher standard than previous world cups - more competitive games, full stadiums, good tv ratings, commercially viable, and hopefully a few cracking games and a surprise story nation that exceeds expectations.

its a good spread of cities with a mix of league loving regional areas and bigger cities, right sized stadiums, and games in new growth areas like Perth and Christchurch. 1 Melbourne game would’ve been good but none the less.

if we can really focus on growing international league with lower tier competitions over the years, I’m sure we can get back to 12 - 16 - 20 team world cups in the years to come - while still keeping it competitive and desirable to watch.

Less teams to save costs too so it makes money

 

[marlins2.0]

Are we really mocking another world cup for having teams with a few too many grandparent-rules that are gonna get flogged
Good lord the self awareness

Pointing out the irony is all.
There's only one real world cup and even that gets mickey mouse beginning next year.

 

[adamkungl]

I think they'll take a conservative approach, for better or for worse.
If RLWC2030 is in an non-heartland location (eg. USA) I can see arguments for and against expansion.
Against expansion - keeping a low cost high intensity tournament is more commercially viable.
For expansion - allows the hosts to join without deleting someone else more deserving on-field.

Good signs for sustainable expansion would be:
-PNG and Fiji winning occasional games against Samoa + Tonga
-France winning occasional games against any top 6 Pacific nation
-Next tier European teams capable of challenging France
-More full members eligible for qualifiers in Americas and MEA
-Someone, literally anyone, beating Cook Islands for the last spot. Please.
-Benchmarks for traveling fans to WCs and major events (5000+ for Australia and England, 2000+ for PIs, 1000 for others)

I'd like 12 just because its more varied and easier to format, but beyond that I think most or all of the above need to be reached.

 

[Hellwege]

how would you format 12 teams
4 groups with three teams organized like the pools B and C next year?

 

[Perth Red]

Was hoping to see the Jamaican boys in. Hopefully they can keep growing over the next few years.

 

[Taking The Two]

Ten is about right, for me. It provides enough competition and games of relative closeness and avoids sticking amateurs and plumbers onfield against State of Origin level players. It’s a good base to build on and if nations know what they’ve got to do to achieve World Cup status, and they actually go and grow, it’s only a good thing.

2x5’s is a simple and easy format, I think it would work well if it was held in the UK and France and priced properly, unlike ‘21.

 

[Coastbloke]

Was hoping to see the Jamaican boys in. Hopefully they can keep growing over the next few years.

I would have liked Jamaica, South Africa and Wales..

 

[PARRA_FAN]

Its interesting that Australia has never faced the Cook Islands. Since 1995, all but one World Cup, Australia has always played a nation for the first time.

 

[League Unlimited News]

RLWC section is now active for 2026 with various topics. This thread will be locked as this forum should remain for other international discussion - and many of the same discussions, questions and answers are happening across both.

RLWC subforum - https://forums.leagueunlimited.com/forums/rugby-league-world-cup-2026.131/