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.

Key to colours in pool tables
Qualifies for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup
Qualifies for play-off match for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup
Fails to qualify for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup

Group A

Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
 Wales 22007014+564
 Italy 21017634+422
 Serbia 200214112–980
15 October 2016Wales 50–0 SerbiaStebonheath Park, Llanelli
22 October 2016Serbia 14–62 ItalyMakiš Stadium, Belgrade
29 October 2016Italy 14–20 Wales Stadio Brianteo, Monza

Group B

Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
 Ireland 220011622+944
 Russia 21015676–202
 Spain 20021286–740
15 October 2016Russia 40–6 SpainFili Stadium, Moscow
22 October 2016Spain 6–46 IrelandPolideportivo Quatre Carrares, Valencia
29 October 2016Ireland 70–16 RussiaCarlisle Grounds, Bray

Qualifying play-off

4 November 2016Italy 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 2015Tonga 28–8 Cook IslandsCampbelltown 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 22005438+164
 Jamaica 20113238–61
 Canada 20114252–101
4 December 2015United States 20–14 JamaicaHodges Stadium, Jacksonville, Florida
8 December 2015Canada 18–18 JamaicaSpec Martin Stadium, DeLand, Florida
12 December 2015United States 34–24 CanadaHodges 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 2015South Africa 12–40 LebanonBrakpan Stadium, Pretoria
31 October 2015South Africa 16–50 LebanonBrakpan Stadium, Pretoria

References

  1. ↑ QUALIFICATION DETAILS FOR 2017 RUGBY LEAGUE WORLD CUP ANNOUNCED, rlef.eu.com, 3 August 2014
  2. ↑ Scotland qualify for 2017 World Cup after RLIF announce seven automatic places for quarter-finalists from 2013 World Cup dailymail.co.uk, 3 August 2014
  3. ↑ Papua New Guinea to co-host Rugby League World Cup
  4. ↑ "European Qualifiers for World Cup 2017 Announced". Rugby League International Federation. 2015-04-15. Retrieved 2015-04-15.
  5. ↑ Rugby League World Cup Qualifiers Awarded to Jacksonville & Deland, FL.
  6. ↑ "Venue changed for Middle East-Africa RLWC qualifier". Asia Pacific Rugby League Confederation. 24 July 2015. Retrieved 2015-07-25.
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