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.
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 Group A winners | 5 November 2022 | 4 | 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 winner | 22 June 2024 | 1 | — | 1 | First appearance |
 France
|
Europe Group B winner | 22 June 2024 | 5 | 2021 | 2 | Semi-finals (2013) |
| TBC | Asia-Pacific winner | 2024 | ||||
| TBC | 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※
Americas qualification was——to have been a four way competition between Brazil, "Canada," Jamaica and "the USA," with a semi-finals then final format based on IRL rankings , with the winner progressing to the 2025 World Series.
In June 2024, Brazil withdrew from the tournament due to funding and logistical difficulties.
Seeding and group draws※
The original draw and schedule was announced 30 January 2024 and would have seen Canada play Jamaica and USA play Brazil in the semi-finals.
| Team | Ranking |
|---|---|
 Canada
|
7th |
 Brazil
|
11th |
 United States
|
16th |
 Jamaica
|
22nd |
The revised schedule will see Jamaica play USA, with the winners playing Canada for the place in the 2026 tournament. Canada will play a friendly against the USA Pioneers in lieu of their semi-final match.
Semi-final※
6 November 2024
|
| Jamaica
|
v | United States
|
|---|---|---|
| Report |
9 November 2024
|
| Canada
|
v | Semi-final winner |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
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. 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※
| Italy
|
6–56 | Netherlands
|
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Severgnini Goals: Antonia (1/1) |
1st: 6–20 2nd: 0–36 Report |
Tries: Gevers (3), Geerlings, Van Beukering, Berding, N. Kennedy (3), Blom, Van Diepen Goals: Berding (4/8), Schouw (0/1),Geerlings (1/1), Van der Zwan (1/1) |
Group stage※
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wales
|
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 76 | 16 | +60 | 4 | Qualify for 2026 World Cup |
| 2 | Ireland
|
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 40 | −14 | 2 | Advance to World Series play-off |
| 3 | Netherlands
|
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 18 | 64 | −46 | 0 |
| Wales
|
28–10 | Ireland
|
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Dainton (2), Taylor, Salter, Parker Goals: Salter (4/5) |
1st: 18–4 2nd: 10–6 Report |
Tries: Tutty, Molloy Goals: Cobain (1/3) |
| Ireland
|
16–12 | Netherlands
|
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Preston, Cobain (2) Goals: Cobain (2/3) |
Report |
Tries: Van Der Zwan, N. Kennedy, J. Kennedy |
| Netherlands
|
6–48 | Wales
|
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Moelee Goals: Geerlings (1/1) |
Report |
Tries: Burnell (2), Price, Gough-Walters (3), Salter, Wood, H Jones, Dainton Goals: Salter (2/7), Burnell (2/3) |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | France
|
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 116 | 0 | +116 | 4 | Qualify for 2026 World Cup |
| 2 | Greece
|
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 32 | 62 | −30 | 2 | Advance to World Series play-off |
| 3 | Serbia
|
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 90 | −86 | 0 |
| France
|
58–0 | Greece
|
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Song-Puche, Canal (4), Legout, Vilanove (3), Ramos, Himoudi (2) Goals: Pommier (5/12) |
1st: 28–0 2nd: 30–0 Report |
| Greece
|
32–4 | Serbia
|
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Papoutsi (2), Lamprou (2), Koutsikou, Koutsimpogeorgou, Koutsioumpa Goals: Pappa (2/4) |
Report |
Tries: Simic |
| Serbia
|
0–58 | France
|
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Tries: Monsarrat, Song-Puche (3), Kessely (2), Ramazeilles (2), Samarra, Roses Goals: Diraison (9/10) |
World Series playoff※
| Ireland
|
v | Greece
|
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Kenya will host Nigeria in a two match test series for a spot in the 2025 World Series.
Kenya 
|
v |  Nigeria
|
|---|---|---|
Impala Club Rugby Ground, Nairobi
|
| Kenya
|
v | Nigeria
|
|---|---|---|
Impala Club Rugby Ground, Nairobi
|
The 2025 World Series will be, played by:
- Americas winner
- Asia-Pacific runner-up
- Ireland/ Greece (European group runners-up playoff winner)
- Middle East-Africa winners
The winner will qualify for the World Cup.
Notes※
- ^ Plus two as Great Britain
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.
- ^ "Americas RLWCQ draw revised after removal of Brazil". Rugby League International Federation. 17 June 2024. Retrieved 17 June 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.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
↑