2017 Rugby League World Cup qualifying

Fourteen teams will participate in the 2017 Rugby League World Cup. In August 2014 it was announced that seven teams had been granted automatic qualification, with four regional qualification tournaments selecting the remaining seven teams.^[1] Qualification began in earnest on 9 May 2015 when Spain played Latvia in a knock-out match, although the European Group B competition (which was used as a preliminary qualification tournament) began on 17 May 2014. As of 12 December 2015, 11 teams have qualified.

Qualified teams

Eight teams automatically qualified for the World Cup. Seven of the teams which reached the quarter-finals of the 2013 World Cup were granted automatic qualification; the other quarter-finalists, USA, were denied automatic qualification due to an internal governance dispute and instead forced to enter the qualification process.^[2] Papua New Guinea were granted automatic qualification as co-hosts in 2015.^[3]

Team	Method of qualification	Date of qualification	Finals appearance	Last appearance	Consecutive finals appearances	Previous best performance
Australia	Host	19 February 2014	15th	2013	15	Winners (1957, 1968, 1970, 1975, 1977, 1988, 1992, 1995, 2000, 2013)
New Zealand	Host	19 February 2014	15th	2013	15	Winners (2008)
England	Automatic qualifier	5 August 2014	6th	2013	5	Runners-up (1975, 1995)
Fiji	Automatic qualifier	5 August 2014	5th	2013	5	Semi-final (2008, 2013)
France	Automatic qualifier	5 August 2014	15th	2013	15	Runners-up (1954, 1968)
Samoa	Automatic qualifier	5 August 2014	5th	2013	5	Quarter-finals (2000, 2013)
Scotland	Automatic qualifier	5 August 2014	4th	2013	4	Quarter-finals (2013)
Papua New Guinea	Host	8 October 2015	7th	2013	7	Quarter-finals (2000)
Tonga	Asia-Pacific play-off winner	17 October 2015	5th	2013	5	Group stage (1995, 2000, 2008, 2013)
Lebanon	Middle East-Africa play-off winner	31 October 2015	2nd	2000	1	Group stage (2000)
United States	Americas qualifying group winner	12 December 2015	2nd	2013	2	Quarter-finals (2013)
Wales	European qualifying group 1 winner	29 October 2016	5th	2013	2	Semi-final (1995, 2000)
Ireland	European qualifying group 2 winner	29 October 2016	4th	2013	4	Quarter-finals (2000, 2008)
Italy	European qualifying Play-off winner	4 November 2016	2nd	2013	2	Group stage (2013)

Europe

Three teams will qualify from this region. A two-group, round-robin tournament will take place in autumn 2016 to determine the qualifying nations - this will be contested by the winners of the 2015 European Championship C tournament, the top three teams from the 2014–15 European Championship B tournament, and seeded nations Wales and Ireland.^[4] The tournament will feature two groups of three teams playing in a single round-robin format. The winners of each group will qualify for the World Cup, while the runners-up will face each other in a play-off match on 5 November 2016 to determine the final spot. A seeded draw will take place to determine the groups on 5 November 2015.

Group A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
Wales	2	2	0	0	70	14	+56	4
Italy	2	1	0	1	76	34	+42	2
Serbia	2	0	0	2	14	112	–98	0

15 October 2016	Wales	50–0	Serbia	Stebonheath Park, Llanelli
22 October 2016	Serbia	14–62	Italy	Makiš Stadium, Belgrade
29 October 2016	Italy	14–20	Wales	Stadio Brianteo, Monza

Group B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
Ireland	2	2	0	0	116	22	+94	4
Russia	2	1	0	1	56	76	–20	2
Spain	2	0	0	2	12	86	–74	0

15 October 2016	Russia	40–6	Spain	Fili Stadium, Moscow
22 October 2016	Spain	6–46	Ireland	Polideportivo Quatre Carrares, Valencia
29 October 2016	Ireland	70–16	Russia	Carlisle Grounds, Bray

Qualifying play-off

4 November 2016	Italy	76–0	Russia	Leigh Sports Village, Leigh, England

Asia-Pacific

Two qualifying places were initially allocated to this region. Papua New Guinea were granted automatic qualification in 2015 after being confirmed as co-hosts, leaving one additional team to qualify from this region. A single play-off between Tonga and Cook Islands determined the final qualifier.

17 October 2015	Tonga	28–8	Cook Islands	Campbelltown Stadium, Campbelltown, Australia

Americas

One team qualified from this region. A three-team round robin tournament was held in Florida in December 2015 to determine the qualifier.^[5]

Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
United States	2	2	0	0	54	38	+16	4
Jamaica	2	0	1	1	32	38	–6	1
Canada	2	0	1	1	42	52	–10	1

4 December 2015	United States	20–14	Jamaica	Hodges Stadium, Jacksonville, Florida
8 December 2015	Canada	18–18	Jamaica	Spec Martin Stadium, DeLand, Florida
12 December 2015	United States	34–24	Canada	Hodges Stadium, Jacksonville, Florida

Middle East-Africa

One team qualified from this region. A two match series was held between South Africa and Lebanon to determine the qualifier.^[6]

25 October 2015	South Africa	12–40	Lebanon	Brakpan Stadium, Pretoria
31 October 2015	South Africa	16–50	Lebanon	Brakpan Stadium, Pretoria

References