RL World Cup 2026 Wheelchair Groups

This will be the 5th wheelchair WC, going back to 2008. England and France have won two each. It's not like Australia not to be leading in the sport and they are working overtime playing catch up. They will be serious challengers for the trophy this time.

The semi finalists from the last tournament were automatic qualifiers. One each from the hemispheres (NZ and the USA) were then invited. Finally, two were selected from Europe based on matches played since the last tournament (Ireland and Scotland).

This is the only part of international RL that the Northern Hemisphere leads in terms of numbers playing and the standard it's played at.

For the men's coverage,simply click here. 

For the women's coverage,simply click here.

RL World Cup 2026 Women's Groups

This will be the 7th Women's WC to be held, the original going back to 2000. NZ won the fisrt three and Australia the next three. Ten sides competed last time and the hope was to expand that number, but it has been reduced to eight. 

The two groups are to the right. Even with the reduced number, there will be blow out scores. The quickly improving Southern Hemisphere standard will ensure that. 

Four qualifiers came through the previous tournament placings. Two each from qualifying in their respective hemispheres. I recall Brazil and Canada were two women's sides that performed well last time.

For the men's coverage, simply click here.

For the wheelchair coverage, simply click here.

RL World Cup 2026 Men's Groups

This will be the 17th men's tournament, going back to 1954. The 2025 WC was to be held in France, with 16 men's teams, plus women and wheelchair tournaments included. France pulled out of the hosting role so it was moved to the Southern Hemisphere. The date was moved back to 2026 and the number of men's teams was reduced to 10.

There are three groups as seen to the right. So that all teams play three group games, Groups B and C play a side from the other group. 

England-France, Lebanon-PNG and Samoa-Tonga are the swap over matches. Then on to the semi finals and grand final.

The last competition featured 16 teams but it was decided to go with 10 as it will enhance the financial return and reduce blow out scores. The ten were decided by the top two group finishes in the previous WC (eight), with a Northern and Southern Hemisphere qualifier through an elimination process.

For the women's coverage, simply click here.

For the wheelchair coverage, simply click here.