2026 Women's Rugby League World Cup qualification
The 2026 Women's Rugby League World Cup qualification was announced on December. It will feature four confederation qualification tournaments for each of the four International Rugby League confederations (Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe, and Middle East-Africa). The two group winners of Europe will directly qualify, while the playoff winner of the two runners up will face the winners of other three tournaments in the 2025 World Series for the final two spots in the 2026 Women's Rugby League World Cup.[1][2]
Qualification is open to all full and affiliate member nations who did not qualify via the 2021 World Cup.
Qualified teams
| Team | Method of qualification | Date of qualification | Total times qualified | Last time qualified | Current consecutive appearances | Previous best performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 England | 2021 World Cup Group A winners | 5 November 2022 | 4[a] | 2021 | 4 | Semi-finals (2008, 2013, 2017, 2021) |
 Australia | 2021 World Cup Group B winners | 6 November 2022 | 6 | 2021 | 6 | Winners (2013, 2017, 2021) |
 Papua New Guinea | 2021 World Cup Group A runners-up | 9 November 2022 | 2 | 2021 | 2 | Semi-finals (2021) |
 New Zealand | 2021 World Cup Group B runners-up | 10 November 2022 | 6 | 2021 | 6 | Winners (2000, 2003, 2008) |
| TBC | Asia-Pacific winner | 2024 | ||||
| TBC | Europe Group A winner | 2024 | ||||
| TBC | Europe Group B winner | 2024 | ||||
| TBC | 2025 World Series winners | 2025 |
Confederation tournaments
Asia-Pacific
Tournament details TBD: First place qualifies for the World Cup, second place qualifies for the 2025 World Series.
Americas
Grouping of these four teams will be based on IRL rank before the tournament, and will see a semi-final then final format, with the winner progressing to the 2025 World Series.
Seeding and group draws
The draw and schedule was announced 30 January 2024.[3] Teams were seeded based on their IRL ranking on the date of the draw with first playing fourth, and second playing third.
| Team | Ranking |
|---|---|
 Canada | 7th |
 Brazil | 11th |
 United States | 16th |
 Jamaica | 22nd |
Semi-finals
Third place playoff
Final
9 November 2024 |
| Semi-final 1 winner | v | Semi-final 2 winner |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Europe
Seven teams are entered into the competition. The two lowest ranked teams, Italy and the Netherlands, will play each other in a preliminary play-off match. The resulting six teams are split into two groups of three. The two group winning countries qualify for the World Cup, while the runners up in each group will play-off for a spot in the 2025 World Series.
Seeding and group draws
The draw for the groups was made on 17 January 2024, with fixtures confirmed on 7 February.[4][5] Teams were seeded in pairs (highest ranked with second ranked, third with fourth and fifth with sixth) based on their IRL ranking on the date of the draw with one team from each pair in each group.
| Group A | Group B | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Rank | Team | Rank |
 Wales | 8th |  France | 5th |
 Ireland | 9th |  Greece | 10th |
 Italy/ Netherlands | 16th/ 18th |  Serbia | 12th |
Preliminary playoff
Group stage
Group A
Group B
World Series playoff
| Group A runner-up | v | Group B runner-up |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Middle East-Africa
Kenya will host Nigeria in a two match test series for a spot in the 2025 World Series.[6]
World Series
The 2025 World Series will be played by:
- Americas winner
- Asia-Pacific runner-up
- European group runners-up playoff winner
- Middle East-Africa winners
The winner will qualify for the World Cup.
Notes
- ^ Plus two as Great Britain
- ^ This match forms part of the qualification tournament but has no bearing on qualification for the 2026 Women's Rugby League World Cup
References
- ^ "Rugby League World Cup 2026 women's qualifying process announced". Rugby League International Federation.
- ^ "2026 Rugby League World Cup: Women's qualification process announced, with four nations' places already secured". LoveRugbyLeague. December 15, 2023.
- ^ "Americas women's WC qualifiers announced". europeanrugbyleague.com. European Rugby League. 30 January 2024. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
- ^ "Celtic nations to face each otherin WC qualifying draw". European Rugby League. 17 January 2024. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
- ^ "Fixtures confirmed for women's WC European qualifiers". European Rugby League. 7 February 2024. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
- ^ "Details announced for MEA Women's World Cup qualifiers". europeanrugbyleague.com. European Rugby League. 21 February 2024. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
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