2026 across Australian and New Zealand sport
International Rugby League
The 2026 World Cup as it happens, then every World Cup since 1954, nations ranked by semi-final finishes or better.
15 Oct to 15 Nov 2026 · Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea
2026 Rugby League World Cup
Ten nations, two group tables, then semi-finals and the final in Brisbane. Results twice a day from NRL.com.
How the tournament works
Ten teams. Pool A is a round robin; every Pool B side plays every Pool C side, and the six share one table. The top two of Pool A and of Pools B and C reach the semi-finals.
Semi-final 1 is the Pool A runner-up against the Pools B and C winner; semi-final 2 is the Pool A winner against the Pools B and C runner-up. Source: NRL.com draw feed (groupName 'Pool B & C'); Wikipedia, 2026 Men's Rugby League World Cup, knockout stage.
Two points a win and one a draw. Level teams are split by points difference, then points scored. Before a table is complete, the semi-final slots show who would go through if it ended today.
Data as of · NRL.com draw
Next up
- McDonald Jones Stadium, NewcastleOur pick: New Zealand 68%
Pool A
6/6 played| # | Nation | P | W | L | PD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AustraliaQ | 3 | 3 | 0 | +76 | 6 |
| 2 | New ZealandQ | 3 | 2 | 1 | +142 | 4 |
| 3 | Fiji | 3 | 1 | 2 | -64 | 2 |
| 4 | Cook Islands | 3 | 0 | 3 | -154 | 0 |
Pools B and C
9/9 played| # | Nation | P | W | L | PD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | TongaCQ | 3 | 3 | 0 | +56 | 6 |
| 2 | SamoaBQ | 3 | 2 | 1 | +130 | 4 |
| 3 | EnglandB | 3 | 2 | 1 | +86 | 4 |
| 4 | Papua New GuineaC | 3 | 1 | 2 | -56 | 2 |
| 5 | LebanonB | 3 | 1 | 2 | -56 | 2 |
| 6 | FranceC | 3 | 0 | 3 | -160 | 0 |
Above the line: the top two of each table reach the semi-finals. Q: qualified.
The bracket
Our title odds
Each nation's chance of reaching each round, from our rugby league Elo and 20,000 runs of the games left.
How the odds are made, and their limits
There was no international rugby league rating to borrow, so we built one: an Elo over every men's test NRL.com has on record since 1995 (281 games, World Cups weighted 1.5x), with home advantage only for a side playing in its own country. A match margin is drawn from a normal curve fitted to those tests, so a 100-point Elo gap is worth about 7 points on the scoreboard. The games already played are fixed; ratings move after every result.
Back-test: K = 50 and a home edge of 80 Elo were chosen on every test since 2005, each predicted only from games before it (log loss 0.522 without home edge against 0.693 for a coin flip). Across the 90 World Cup matches of 2008 to 2021 the favourite won 70, with a Brier score of 0.155 against 0.25 for a coin flip.
- About 281 men's tests since 1995 on NRL.com's record; Australia and New Zealand play most of them.
- Cook Islands have 17 rated tests and Lebanon 14, so their ratings are the least certain.
- No player availability: a tier-two side's squad can change completely between tournaments.
- Home advantage only for a side playing in its own country (Australia, New Zealand in Christchurch, Papua New Guinea in Port Moresby).
Every title race we price: title odds. Each match pick is frozen at kick-off and scored on the track record.
Fixtures and results
Kick-offs in your own time zone; full-time scores, our pick for each game, and a link to NRL.com's match centre.
Round 115 to 18 Oct · 5/5 played
- Allianz Stadium, SydneyWe said: Australia 84%
- Santos National Football Stadium, Port MoresbyWe said: Papua New Guinea 68%
- McDonald Jones Stadium, NewcastleWe said: Fiji 74%
Round 223 to 25 Oct · 5/5 played
- CommBank Stadium, SydneyWe said: Tonga 63%
- Santos National Football Stadium, Port MoresbyWe said: Papua New Guinea 63%
- One NZ Stadium, ChristchurchWe said: New Zealand 97%
Round 330 Oct to 1 Nov · 5/5 played
- WIN Stadium, WollongongWe said: England 65%
- Cbus Super Stadium, Gold CoastWe said: New Zealand 79%
- Queensland Country Bank Stadium, TownsvilleWe said: Australia >99%
- CommBank Stadium, SydneyWe said: Lebanon 77%
Semi-finals7 to 8 Nov
- McDonald Jones Stadium, NewcastleOur pick: New Zealand 68%
Final15 Nov
- Winner semi-final 1vWinner semi-final 2Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
World Cup finals
Every Rugby League World Cup decider since 1954.
Great BritainAll-time honour table
Final-four finishes only (the source records the semi-finalists of each edition), ordered by titles.
Editions
Nations
Club rugby league
Sources & methodology
The Rugby League World Cup, complete: all 16 editions from the inaugural 1954 tournament in France through 2021, every final, the all-time national honour table, and a page for each of the 10 nations to have reached a semi-final.
Compiled from the public record of every Rugby League World Cup since 1954: each edition's champion, runner-up and the two losing semi-finalists. Because the source captures the final four rather than every fixture, the table counts semi-final-or-better finishes, not total tournament entries. Great Britain (1954-1992) is kept as a distinct national side; England, Wales and the other home nations carry their own records from the editions they entered separately. The 2025 edition was postponed to 2026.
The 2026 tournament is read twice a day from NRL.com's own draw (fixtures, full-time scores, venues and match-centre links); its tables are computed from those results, and the edition joins the history above the day the final is played. Our odds come from an international rugby league Elo we built from NRL.com's record of men's tests since 1995; the method and its limits are under "Our title odds".