What is the structure of the 2026 Rugby League World Cup?

The 2026 Rugby League World Cup is a collection of parallel tournaments that replaced the planned 2025 event after France withdrew as host. It features concurrent men's, women's, wheelchair, and physical disability world cups. The men's tournament is reduced to ten teams, while the women's and wheelchair tournaments maintain eight teams, delaying planned expansions.

What we know

• The 2026 Rugby League World Cup serves as a replacement tournament for the 2025 event. [2]
• The men's tournament features ten teams, while the women's and wheelchair tournaments each feature eight teams. [2]
• A physical disability rugby league world cup will be held concurrently with the men's, women's, and wheelchair tournaments. [2]
• The competition was moved from 2025 to 2026 following France's withdrawal as the host nation. [3]

Where to go next

• what caused itWhy was the tournament moved from 2025 to 2026?
• how it workedHow does qualification work for the men's tournament?
• whenWhat are the plans for the 2030 Rugby League World Cup?
• the bigger pictureRugby league world cups
• compared withHow do team sizes compare with the 2030 tournament?
• an unexpected connectionHow does the physical disability tournament fit into the schedule?Organisers added the second physical disability rugby league world cup to run concurrently with the other three main tournaments well after the initial event restructure was announced.

Sources

• [1]2026 Rugby League World Cup (Wikidata Q121609765) · CC0 1.0
• [2]2026 Rugby League World Cup · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]2026 Men's Rugby League World Cup · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]2030 Men's Rugby League World Cup · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]2026 Men's Rugby League World Cup qualification · CC BY-SA 4.0

Your path

1. What are Mount Manengouba and other stratovolcanoes like?
2. /How does spacetime curvature explain gravity?
3. /What is the structure of the 2026 Rugby League World Cup?