It’s now less than a year away, and the draws for all three World Cups have been made. Due to be played in Australia and Papua New Guinea in October and November next year, the men’s World Cup will feature a reduced field of just ten countries, with the final being played at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium on Sunday, November 15th 2026.

Men’s Group Draw:

Pool A:

Australia  
New Zealand  
Fiji  
Cook Islands

Pool B:

England  
Samoa  
Lebanon

Pool C:

Tonga  
PNG  
France

In explanation of the draw, the NRL website provided this tidbit: “Group A teams will each play three matches against the other teams in Group A. Group B and C teams will each play three matches against the teams in the adjacent group (ie Group B teams will play Group C teams only).”

Under this system, England will face Tonga, France, and Papua New Guinea in their group games. The top two from a combined division of Pool B & C will join the top two from Pool A in the semi-finals.

The Men’s tournament will kick off at Allianz Stadium on Thursday, October 15 2026, with the heavyweight clash between the top two world-ranked teams, the Kangaroos and the Kiwis. The opening weekend will also feature a clash between England and Tonga at Perth’s HBF Park, on Saturday, October 17 2026. 

Women’s Group Draw:

Group A:

Australia  
England  
Samoa  
Wales

Group B:

New Zealand  
PNG  
France  
Fiji 

The women’s group stage consists of a much more traditional format wherein all teams play everyone from their group, and the top two from each group will progress to the semi-finals. The women’s tournament will open with Australia vs Samoa at CommBank Stadium on Friday, October 16th 2026.

Wheelchair Group Draw:

Group A 
England  
Ireland  
Wales  
USA 

Group B 
France  
Australia  
Scotland  
New Zealand  

The entirely of the Wheelchair tournament will take place at Wollongong’s WIN Entertainment Centre, with the opening matches taking place on Friday, October 30th, 2026.

There has been no word so far on the draw for the PDRL World Cup, which is also due to take place in Australia next year, but we will provide an update on this as soon as one is available.

Written by Nathan Major (site editor & Hull KR fan)

Source: https://www.nrl.com/news/2025/11/23/2026-rugby-league-world-cup-fixtures-announced/