Rugby League World Cup qualification

The Rugby League World Cup qualification is the process a national team goes through to qualify for the World Cup Finals.

There was no qualification for the tournament before the 2000 World Cup as teams were invited to participate. The Big Three Australia, New Zealand and England automatically gain entry to each World Cup as the RLIF want new nations to participate. Host nations and teams reaching the World Cup quarter finals also do not need to participate in qualifying.

Teams

Team	Qualifiers	World Cup finals	Continent
Canada	2 (2000, 2017)	0	North America
Cook Islands	2 (2008, 2017)	2 (2000, 2013)	Pacific
Fiji	1 (2008)	5 (1995, 2000, 2008, 2013, 2017)	Pacific
Georgia	1 (2008)	0	Europe
Greece	1 (2017)	0	Europe
Ireland	2 (2008, 2017)	4 (2000, 2008, 2013, 2017)	Europe
Italy	3 (2000, 2013, 2017)	2 (2013, 2017)	Europe
Jamaica	2 (2013, 2017)	0	North America
Japan	2 (2000, 2008)	0	Asia
Latvia	1 (2017)	0	Europe
Lebanon	3 (2000, 2008, 2013, 2017)	2 (2000, 2017)	Asia
Malta	1 (2017)	0	Europe
Morocco	1 (2000)	0	Africa
Netherlands	1 (2008)	0	Europe
Russia	3 (2008, 2013, 2017)	1 (2000)	Europe
Samoa	1 (2008)	4 (2000, 2008, 2013, 2017)	Pacific
Scotland	1 (2008)	4 (2000, 2008, 2013, 2017)	Europe
Serbia	3 (2008, 2013, 2017)	0	Europe
South Africa	2 (2013, 2017)	2 (1995, 2000)	Africa
Spain	1 (2017)		Europe
Tonga	2 (2008, 2017)	5 (1995, 2000, 2008, 2013, 2017)	Pacific
Wales	2 (2008, 2017)	4 (1995, 2000, 2013, 2017)	Europe
United States	3 (2000, 2008, 2013, 2017)	2 (2013, 2017)	North America
Ukraine	1 (2017)	0	Europe

• Bold- Automatically qualified or were invited to participate

First appearance in qualification by team

World Cup	Africa	Americas	Asia	Europe	Oceania	Total
2000	Lebanon  Morocco	United States  Canada	Japan	Italy		6
2008				Georgia  Ireland  Netherlands  Russia  Scotland  Serbia  Wales	Cook Islands  Fiji  Samoa  Tonga	11
2013		Jamaica				1
2017				Greece  Latvia  Malta  Spain  Ukraine		5
Total	2	3	1	13	4	23

References

External links