2026 Men's Rugby League World Cup

2026 (2026) Men's Rugby League World Cup  ()
Number of teams10
Host countries Australia
 Papua New Guinea
 < 2021
2030

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 competition was to be held in October and November 2025,[1] but was moved to 2026 following the withdrawal of France as the host nation.[2][3] The competition will run in parallel with the women's and wheelchair tournaments.[4][5][6]

Due to the rescheduling, the competition will feature 10 teams.[2][3]

  1. ^ "2025 Rugby League World Cup: France promises low carbon event after being named host". SportsPro. 11 January 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Southern hemisphere to host 2026 World Cup". BBC Sport. 3 August 2023. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Reduced Rugby League World Cup to take place in 2026 | Rugby league | The Guardian". amp.theguardian.com. 3 August 2023. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
  4. ^ "France 2025: 13 questions answered about the Rugby League World Cup". The Guardian. 19 January 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  5. ^ "'The Rooster is going to sing again': France aiming high for 2025 World Cup". National Rugby League. 11 January 2022. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  6. ^ "Everything you need to know about the 2025 World Cup in France". 11 January 2022.