| 2026 (2026) Men's Rugby League World Cup qualification – Europe () | |
|---|---|
| Number of teams | 4 |
| Host country |  France |
| Winner | France |
| Matches played | 4 |
| Attendance | 3,407 (852 per match) |
| Top scorers | César Rougé (20) Matty Fozard |
| Top try scorers | Nittim Pedrero (3) Éloi Pélissier |
| Tournaments < 2021 | |
The 2026 Men's Rugby League World Cup European qualification tournament was an international rugby league tournament held in October 2024 to decide the nation that qualifies for the 2025 World Series and in-turn, potentially qualify for the 2026 Men's Rugby League World Cup.
Background
See also: 2026 Men's Rugby League World Cup qualificationThe tournament took place in October 2024 and was open to all full member nations as of 15 March 2024. The winner of the tournament advanced to the World Series in 2025.
On 14 March 2024, Ireland, Italy, and Scotland had their membership downgraded to affiliate members due to non-compliance with the membership policy, and as a result were no longer eligible to participate in the World Cup qualification process.
Seeding and format
Teams played semi-finals and a final. The semi-finals were based on IRL Rank with highest-ranked playing lowest-ranked and second-highest playing second-lowest. The losing semi-finalists contested a third place playoff; this had no bearing on World Cup qualification, but did count for world ranking points.
The four eligible nations to compete in the tournament were confirmed to be participating on 25 July 2024; France, Serbia, Ukraine and Wales.
| IRL Men's World Rankings – Europe | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Full | Team | Pts % |
| 8 | Yes | France |
28 |
| 11 | Yes |  Serbia |
19 |
| 12 | No |  Netherlands |
17 |
| 13 | No |  Italy |
15 |
| 14 | No |  Greece |
15 |
| 15 | No |  Malta |
14 |
| 16 | No |  Ireland |
14 |
| 17 | Yes | Wales |
13 |
| 19 | No |  Scotland |
9 |
| 20 | Yes |  Ukraine |
7 |
| 21 | No |  Czech Republic |
7 |
| 22 | No |  Germany |
6 |
| 24 | No |  Poland |
6 |
| 25 | No |  Norway |
6 |
| 32 | No |  Montenegro |
4 |
| 34 | No |  Turkey |
3 |
| 35 | No |  North Macedonia |
3 |
| 36 | No |  Bulgaria |
3 |
| 38 | No |  Spain |
2 |
| 40 | No |  Albania |
1 |
| 45 | No |  Russia |
0 |
| 46 | No |  Sweden |
0 |
| 47 | No |  Bosnia and Herzegovina |
0 |
| 48 | No |  Hungary |
0 |
| 53 | No |  Latvia |
0 |
| 54 | No |  Denmark |
0 |
| 55 | No |  Belgium |
0 |
| 56 | No |  Estonia |
0 |
| References: | |||
Venues
The venues selected for the tournament were:
| Carcassonne | Saint-Estève |
|---|---|
| Stade Albert Domec | Stade Municipal |
| Capacity: 10,000 | Capacity: 6,000 |
|
|
  Saint-EstèveCarcassonne
| |
Squads
On 16 October 2024, the squads were announced for the four nations competing in the tournament.
France
| Player | Club |
|---|---|
| Jayson Goffin |  Albi
|
| Nittim Pedrero | Albi
|
| Romain Franco |   Bradford Bulls
|
| Lucas Albert |  Carcassonne
|
| Vincent Albert | Carcassonne
|
| Clément Boyer | Carcassonne
|
| Nolan Lopez-Buttignol | Carcassonne
|
| Guillermo Aispuro Bichet |  Catalans Dragons
|
| Alrix Da Costa | Catalans Dragons
|
| Théo Fages | Catalans Dragons
|
| Matthieu Laguerre | Catalans Dragons
|
| Clement Martin | Catalans Dragons
|
| Arthur Mourgue | Catalans Dragons
|
| Romain Navarrete | Catalans Dragons
|
| Arthur Romano | Catalans Dragons
|
| César Rougé | Catalans Dragons
|
| Thomas Lacans |  Featherstone Rovers
|
| Louis Jouffret |  Halifax Panthers
|
| Hugo Salabio |  Huddersfield Giants
|
| Mickaël Goudemand |  Leeds Rhinos
|
| Justin Sangaré | Leeds Rhinos
|
| Ugo Tison |  London Broncos
|
| Hakim Miloudi |  Pia
|
| Florian Vailhen | Pia
|
| Lambert Belmas |  Toulouse Olympique
|
| Benjamin Laguerre | Toulouse Olympique
|
| Anthony Marion | Toulouse Olympique
|
| Éloi Pélissier | Toulouse Olympique
|
| Maxime Stefani | Toulouse Olympique
|
| Mathieu Cozza |  Wakefield Trinity
|
| Tiaki Chan |  Wigan Warriors
|
Serbia
Nicholas O'Meley (Burleigh Bears), Nick Cotric (Catalans Dragons), Andrej Mora (Dorcol Tigers), David Nofoaluma, Sasha Popovic (Glebe Dirty Reds), Jake O’Meley (Lakes United Seagulls), Ilija Cotric (Mounties), Jesse Soric (NZ Warriors), Aleksandar Pavlovic, Djordje Krnjeta, Dzavid Jasari, Enis Bibic, Strahinja Stoiljkovic, (Partisan 1953), Jordan Grant (Penrith Panther), Stefan Arsic (Radnicki Nis), Marko Jankovic, Milos Calic, Nikola Djuric, Rajko Trifunovic, Vojislav Dedic, Vuk Strbac (Red Star), Joshua Coric (St George Illawarra).
Ukraine
Tim Knight (Caloundra Sharks), Daniel Janissen (Cardiff Cobras), Jonah Ngaronoa (Glebe Dirty Reds), Yevhen Checheta, Yevhen Davydov, Anatolii Hrankovskyi, Volodymyr Karpenko, Vitalii Puchkov, Dmytro Semerenko, Oleksandr Shcherbyna, Oleksandr Skorbach, Oleksandr Syvykoz, Mykhailo Troian, Yevhenii Trusov, Volodymyr Voitov (Kharkiv Legion XIII), Valentyn Korchak, Ostap Kozak (Lviv Tigers), Victor Tereszko (Queanbeyan Blues), Danylo Vedler (Rivne Giants), Brock Jurkans (Singleton Greyhounds), Tigris Polata (Southern Suburbs Magpies), Tom Mencinsky (Sydney University RLFC).
Wales
| Player | Club |
|---|---|
| Bailey Antrobus |  York Knights
|
| Harry Boots |  Cornwall
|
| Sam Bowring |  Midlands Hurricanes
|
| Mike Butt |  Widnes Vikings
|
| Max Clarke |  Barrow Raiders
|
| Joe Coope-Franklin |  Salford Red Devils
|
| Connor Davies | Halifax Panthers
|
| Curtis Davies |  Dewsbury Rams
|
| Gil Dudson |  Warrington Wolves
|
| Will Evans |  Whitehaven
|
| Ben Evans |  North Wales Crusaders
|
| Jude Ferreira |  Hunslet
|
| Matty Fozard | Widnes Vikings
|
| Charlie Glover | Salford Red Devils
|
| Elliot Kear (C) |  Batley Bulldogs
|
| Ben Lane |  St. Helens
|
| Rhodri Lloyd | Widnes Vikings
|
| Josh Ralph |   St. George Illawarra Dragons Reserves
|
| Owen Restall | Dewsbury Rams
|
| Luis Roberts | Leeds Rhinos
|
| Ashton Robinson | Leeds Rhinos
|
| Matt Ross | Cornwall
|
| Anthony Walker |  Swinton Lions
|
| Billy Walkley |  Keighley Cougars
|
| Rhys Williams | Swinton Lions
|
| Huw Worthington | Whitehaven
|
Fixtures
Bracket
| Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| 8 | France
| 74 | |||||||
| 20 | Ukraine
| 8 | |||||||
| France
| 48 | ||||||||
| Wales
| 6 | ||||||||
| 11 | Serbia
| 0 | |||||||
| 17 | Wales
| 48 | Third-place playoff | ||||||
| Serbia
| 50 | ||||||||
| Ukraine
| 10 | ||||||||
Semi-finals
| 22 October 2024 17:00 CEST (UTC+02:00) |
| Serbia
|
0–48 | Wales
|
|---|---|---|
| 1st: 0–30 2nd: 0–18 Report |
Tries: Fozard, Kear, Walker, Evans, Connor Davies, Butt, Worthington, Coope-Franklin Goals: Fozard (7/7), Kear (1/1) |
| Stade Albert Domec, Carcassonne Attendance: 1,257 Referee: Geoffrey Poumes (France) |
| Serbia | Position | Wales | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Number | Number | Name | |
| Nikola Cotic | 1 | FB | 1 | Billy Walkley |
| Rajko Trifunovic | 2 | WG | 2 | Joe Coope-Franklin |
| Nick O'Meley | 3 | CE | 3 | Mike Butt |
| David Nofoaluma | 4 | CE | 4 | Will Evans |
| Andrej Mora | 5 | WG | 5 | Rhys Williams |
| Jesse Soric | 6 | SO | 6 | Elliot Kear |
| Vojislav Dedic | 7 | SH | 7 | Josh Ralph |
| Jake O'Meley | 8 | PR | 8 | Huw Worthington |
| Sasha Popovic | 9 | HK | 9 | Matty Fozard |
| Milos Calic | 10 | PF | 10 | Ben Evans |
| Stefan Arsic | 11 | SR | 11 | Connor Davies |
| Nikola Djuric | 12 | SR | 12 | Max Clarke |
| Enis Bibic | 13 | LF | 13 | Sam Bowring |
| Dzavid Jasari | 14 | IN | 14 | Curtis Davies |
| Ilija Cotric | 15 | IN | 15 | Matt Ross |
| Djordje Krnjeta | 16 | IN | 16 | Anthony Walker |
| Marko Jankovic | 17 | IN | 17 | Ashton Robinson |
| Aleksandar Pavlovic | 18 | CS | 18 | Fin Yates |
| Darren Fisher | Coach | Mark Moxon | ||
Wales head coach, John Kear, did not travel to France with the squad, after being admitted to hospital the preceding weekend. In his absence the team was coached by assistant coach, Mark Moxon.
| 22 October 2024 19:30 CEST (UTC+02:00) |
| France
|
74–8 | Ukraine
|
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Vailhe, Budde, Pedrero (3), Vailhen, Pelissier (2), Zenon, Goffin, Jouffret, Aispuro Bichett (2), Marti Goals: Albert (6/10), Aispuro Bichett (3/4) |
1st: 48–0 2nd: 26–8 Report |
Tries: Skorbach, Polata |
| Stade Albert Domec, Carcassonne Attendance: 1,257 Referee: Stephane Vincent (France) |
| France | Position | Ukraine | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Number | Number | Name | |
| Louis Jouffret | 1 | FB | 1 | Yevhhen Davydov |
| Nittim Pedrero | 2 | WG | 2 | Tigris Polata |
| Guilerno Aispuro Bichett | 3 | CE | 3 | Mykhailo Troian |
| Tanguy Zenon | 4 | CE | 4 | Jonah Ngaronoa |
| Clement Martin | 5 | WG | 5 | Danylo Vedler |
| Lucas Albert | 6 | SO | 6 | Oleksandr Skorbach |
| Thomas Lacans | 7 | SH | 7 | Daniel Janissen |
| Clement Boyer | 8 | PR | 8 | Oleksandr Syvokoz |
| Nolan Lopez-Buttignol | 9 | HK | 9 | Dmytro Semerenko |
| Florien Vailhen | 10 | PF | 10 | Volodymyr Karpenko |
| Jayson Goffin | 11 | SR | 11 | Yevhenii Trusov |
| Hnaloan Budden | 12 | SR | 12 | Tom Mencinksy |
| Mickael Goudemand | 13 | LF | 13 | Victor Tereszko |
| Eloi Pelissier | 14 | IN | 14 | Yaroslav Davydov |
| Tiaki Chan | 15 | IN | 15 | Vitalii Puchkov |
| Hugo Salabio | 16 | IN | 16 | Yevhen Checheta |
| Justin Sangare | 17 | IN | 17 | Valentyn Korchak |
| Laurent Frayssinous | Coach | Dan Beardshaw | ||
Third-place playoff
The third-place playoff formed part of the tournament but had no bearing on qualification.
| 26 October 2024 17:00 CEST (UTC+02:00) |
| Ukraine
|
10–50 | Serbia
|
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Vedler, Skorbach Goals: Jannissen (0/1), Skorbach (1/1) |
1st: 0–22 2nd: 10–28 Report |
Tries: Popovic, Pavlovic (2), N. Cotic (2), I. Cotric, Nofoaluma, Jankovic, O'Meley Goals: Soric (6/7), O'Meley (1/2) |
| Stade Municipal, Saint-Estève Referee: Mo Drizza (France) |
| Ukraine | Position | Serbia | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Number | Number | Name | |
| Yevhhen Davydov | 1 | FB | 1 | David Nofoaluma |
| Tigris Polata | 2 | WG | 2 | Rajko Trifunovic |
| Mykhailo Troian | 3 | CE | 3 | Nikola Cotic |
| Vitali Puchov | 4 | CE | 4 | Aleksandar Pavlovic |
| Danylo Vedler | 5 | WG | 5 | Andrej Mora |
| Oleksandr Skorbach | 6 | SO | 6 | Nick O'Meley |
| Daniel Jannissen | 7 | SH | 7 | Jesse Soric |
| Volodymyr Karpenko | 8 | PR | 8 | Jake O'Meley |
| Dmytro Semerenko | 9 | HK | 9 | Sasha Popovic |
| Oleksandr Syvokoz | 10 | PF | 10 | Enis Bibic |
| Jonah Ngaronoa | 11 | SR | 11 | Ilija Cotric |
| Yevhenii Trusov | 12 | SR | 12 | Nikola Djuric |
| Tom Menchinksy | 13 | LF | 13 | Stevan Stevanovic |
| Valentyn Korchak | 14 | IN | 14 | Vuk Štrbac |
| Yaroslav Davydov | 15 | IN | 15 | Milos Calic |
| Yevhen Checheta | 16 | IN | 16 | Marko Jankovic |
| Oleksandr Shcherbyna | 17 | IN | 17 | Jason Muranka |
| Dan Beardshaw | Coach | Darren Fisher | ||
Final
| 26 October 2024 14:30 CEST (UTC+02:00) |
| Wales
|
6–48 | France
|
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Williams Goals: Fozard (1/1) |
1st: 6–20 2nd: 0–28 Report |
Tries: Romano, Rouge (2), Franco, Pelissier, Sangare, Fages, Belmas, Chan Goals: Rouge (6/9) |
| Stade Municipal, Saint-Estève Attendance: 2,150 Referee: Aaron Moore (England) |
| Wales | Position | France | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Number | Number | Name | |
| Billy Walkley | 1 | FB | 1 | Cesar Rouge |
| Joe Coope-Franklin | 2 | WG | 2 | Hakim Miloudi |
| Mike Butt | 3 | CE | 3 | Arthur Romano |
| Will Evans | 4 | CE | 4 | Mathieu Laguerre |
| Rhys Williams | 5 | WG | 5 | Romain Franco |
| Elliot Kear | 6 | SO | 6 | Ugo Tison |
| Josh Ralph | 7 | SH | 7 | Theo Fages |
| Huw Worthington | 8 | PR | 8 | Lambert Belmas |
| Matthew Fozard | 9 | HK | 9 | Alrix Da Costa |
| Ben Evans | 10 | PF | 10 | Tiaki Chan |
| Connor Davies | 11 | SR | 11 | Maxime Stefani |
| Matt Ross | 12 | SR | 12 | Mathieu Cozza |
| Sam Bowring | 13 | LF | 13 | Mickael Goudemand |
| Curtis Davies | 14 | IN | 14 | Eloi Pelissier |
| Anthony Walker | 15 | IN | 15 | Justin Sangare |
| Ashton Robinson | 16 | IN | 16 | Clement Boyer |
| Sam Grice | 17 | IN | 17 | Anthony Marion |
| Mark Moxon | Coach | Laurent Frayssinous | ||
References
- ^ "Rugby League World Cup qualification and World Series format revealed amid eligibility shakeup". The Roar. October 7, 2023.
- "International Rugby League Membership: Ireland, Italy, Lebanon, Scotland reclassified". Rugby League International Federation. 14 March 2024. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
- "Scotland & Ireland see 2026 Rugby League World Cup qualification hopes ended". Love Rugby League. March 15, 2024.
- "Men's European World Cup qualifying details confirmed". europeanrugbyleague.com. ERLF. 25 July 2024. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
- "INTRL - World Rankings". Rugby League International Federation.
- "IRL World Rankings: June 30, 2024". Rugby League International Federation. 26 July 2024.
- "Tickets on Sale for European RLWC Finals".
- "Squads Named for Men's European World Cup Qualifiers".
- "Senior International Matches 2024 - Game 1 - Serbia 0 lost to Wales 48".
- "Statement: John Kear". Wales Rugby League. 22 October 2024. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
- "Senior International Matches 2024 - Game 1 - France 74 def. Ukraine 8".
- "Senior International Matches 2024 - Game 1 - France 48 def. Wales 6".