2021 Rugby League World Cup qualifying

2021 World Cup qualification
Tournament details
Dates June 2018 – November 2019
Teams 23 (from 4 confederations)

The 2021 Rugby League World Cup qualifying process began in June 2018 with the commencement of the 2018 Rugby League European Championship C tournament. Of the 16 nations that will compete in the World Cup, 8 were granted automatic qualification, having reached the quarter finals of the 2017 World Cup. The remaining 8 places will be decided a qualifying process.

Qualified teams

Country Qualification method Qualification date Previous World Cup
appearances		 Best World Cup result Continent
 England[lower-alpha 1] Host 27 October 2016 6 Runners-up (1975, 1995, 2017) Europe
 Australia 2017 World Cup winners 3 November 2017 15 Winners (11 times) Asia-Pacific
 New Zealand 2017 World Cup quarter-finalists 4 November 2017 15 Winners (2008) Asia-Pacific
 Tonga 2017 World Cup semi-finalists 4 November 2017 5 Semi-finals (2017) Asia-Pacific
 Fiji 2017 World Cup semi-finalists 10 November 2017 5 Semi-finals (2008, 2013, 2017) Asia-Pacific
 Samoa 2017 World Cup quarter-finalists 11 November 2017 5 Quarter-finals (2000, 2013, 2017) Asia-Pacific
 Lebanon 2017 World Cup quarter-finalists 12 November 2017 2 Quarter-finals (2017) Middle East/Africa
 Papua New Guinea 2017 World Cup quarter-finalists 12 November 2017 7 Quarter-finals (2000, 2017) Asia-Pacific
2018 European Championship winner Europe
2018 European Championship runner-up Europe
European play-off A winner Europe
European play-off B winner Europe
European play-off A runner-up Europe
European play-off B runner-up Europe
Americas winner Americas
Intercontinental play-off winner TBA
  1. ↑ Competed as part of  Great Britain in 9 previous tournaments, finishing as winners on 3 occasions (1954, 1960, 1972). The squads largely consisted of English players, but also featured Welsh players in every tournament. Scotland (1954, 1968, 1977, 1989–92) and Ireland (1957) were represented by native-born players in some tournaments.

Qualifying process

In October 2016, England was announced as the host the tournament, granting them automatic qualification.[1]

In March 2017, the RLIF confirmed that the 8 quarter-finalists from the 2017 World Cup would receive automatic qualification to the 2021 tournament, along with details of how many slots each region will be allocated: "Seven teams will be qualified from Europe, six from the Asia-Pacific, two from the Americas, and one from a play-off series hosted in Middle East/Africa."[2] Because Lebanon gained automatic qualification, a repechage play-off between the 2nd placed Middle East/Africa team (behind Lebanon), 2nd placed Americas team (behind the Americas qualifying team), and the 7th placed Asia-Pacific team (behind the 6 auto qualifiers) will take place instead of qualifying 2 Americas teams.

The RLIF requires participating nations to hold full or affiliate level membership.[3] The Netherlands are the only such nation that opted to not participate.

Europe

England are the only European team to have been guaranteed qualification, with France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, and Wales all failing to reach the quarter finals of the 2017 World Cup. With the World Cup expanding to 16 teams in 2021, one extra European slot is available in comparison to the 2017 tournament.

Euro C

The 2018 European Championship C will progress 1 team to the European play-off.[4]

North

Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1  Norway 2 1 0 1 52 42 +10 2 European C Final
2  Germany 2 1 0 1 46 44 +2 2 Eliminated
3  Czech Republic 2 1 0 1 24 36 −12 2
Updated to match(es) played on 15 September 2018. Source:
16 June 2018
Czech Republic  20 – 12  Norway
25 August 2018
Germany  24 – 4  Czech Republic
15 September 2018
Norway  40 – 22  Germany

South

Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1  Greece 2 2 0 0 88 30 +58 4 European C Final
2  Ukraine 2 1 0 1 60 50 +10 2 Eliminated
3  Malta 2 0 0 2 26 94 −68 0
Updated to match(es) played on 15 September 2018. Source:
30 June 2018
Malta  22 – 34  Ukraine
8 September 2018
Ukraine  26 – 28  Greece
15 September 2018
Greece  60 – 4  Malta

Final

TBA
Norway  v  Greece

Euro B

The 2018 European Championship B will progress 2 teams to the European play-off.[4]

Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1  Russia 2 1 0 1 60 50 +10 2 European play-off
2  Spain 1 1 0 0 32 24 +8 2
3  Serbia 1 0 0 1 18 36 −18 0 Eliminated
Updated to match(es) played on 13 October 2018. Source: RLEF
6 October 2018
Spain  34-24  Russia
13 October 2018
Russia  36-18  Serbia
20 October 2018
Serbia  v  Spain

European Championship

The 2018 European Championship will automatically qualify 2 teams to the World Cup, the bottom two nations will become the top seeds in the 2019 final European qualifying tournament.[5][6]

Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1  France 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2021 World Cup
2  Ireland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3  Scotland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 European play-off
4  Wales 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source:
27 October 2018
Ireland  v  Scotland
27 October 2018
France  v  Wales
2 November 2018
Scotland  v  Wales
3 November 2018
Ireland  v  France
10 November 2018
France  v  Scotland
11 November 2018
Wales  v  Ireland

Play-off

The European play-off tournament will qualify 4 teams to the World Cup. It is scheduled for October and November 2019 and will consist of:

The six teams will be split into two round-robin pools. The winners and runner-up in each pool will qualify for the 2021 World Cup. There will be no European qualification to the intercontinental play-off.

Americas

The Americas play-off tournament will qualify 1 team to the World Cup, and 1 team to the intercontinental play-off.[6][7]

13 November 2018
Canada  v  Jamaica
13 November 2018
United States  v  Chile
17 November 2018
Loser Game 1 v Loser Game 2
17 November 2018
Winner Game 1 v Winner Game 2

Intercontinental

The intercontinental play-off will consist of:

  • Americas qualification runner-up
  • 2nd highest Middle East/Africa team ( South Africa)
  • 7th highest Asia-Pacific team ( Cook Islands)

The Americas region team will have the first option of hosting the tournament.

References

  1. ↑ "England to host RLWC2021 - North America recommended for RLWC2025". RLIF. 27 October 2016. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  2. ↑ "Statement from the RLIF Board meeting - March 28th 2017". RLIF. 29 March 2017. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  3. ↑ "RLIF - Competitions". RLIF. Retrieved 29 August 2018. It is open to all full and affiliate members of the RLIF.
  4. 1 2 "The Road to the 2021 Rugby League World Cup Begins in Vrchlabi". Rugby League International Federation. 26 March 2018. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  5. 1 2 "World Cup qualification up for grabs this autumn as Wales face France, Ireland and Scotland in European Championship". Wales Rugby League. 9 May 2018. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  6. 1 2 3 "Next steps on road to World Cup 2021 revealed for Europe & Americas". Asia Pacific RL. 9 May 2018. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  7. ↑ "Jacksonville to host Americas Qualifier Tournament for RLWC2021". RLIF.com. 24 September 2018. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
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