The 2026 Women's Rugby League World Cup will be the seventh staging of the Women's Rugby League World Cup, and will be one of three major tournaments part of the 2026 Rugby League World Cup.
The competition was to be held in during October and November 2025, but was moved to 2026 following the withdrawal of France as hosts nation. The competition will run in parallel with the men's and wheelchair tournaments.
Due to the rescheduling, the competition will feature 8 teams only. An expansion was planned to double the number of teams for the original 2025 tournament.
Host selection
The International Rugby League (IRL) originally decided in 2016 to have the tournaments hosted in the United States and Canada. In December 2019 however, the IRL withdrew the hosting rights due to the promoters, Moore Sports International, being unable to guarantee the staging of the tournaments.
After re-opening the bidding to host the tournaments, the IRL awarded the hosting rights to France. On 15 May 2023, the France 2025 organising committee was forced to withdraw from hosting the tournament, due to financial concerns from the new French government elected in May 2022.
On 3 August 2023 it was confirmed that the tournament would be moved to 2026 and held in the Southern Hemisphere. On 24 July 2024, the IRL announced that Australia would host the 2026 tournament, with a number of games played in Papua New Guinea.
Teams Qualification
On 3 August 2023, the date the tournament was announced, the only qualified teams for the 2026 tournament were the semi-finalists of the 2021 World Cup. The qualification process for the remaining teams was announced 15 December 2023.
Two teams would qualify directly via the European qualifications group stages on 22 June 2024, and one team would qualify directly via the 2024 Women's Pacific Bowl on 2 November 2024.
The 2025 World Series determined the final team to qualify, with one team from each confederation qualifying for the World Series.
Draw The draw was announced on 23 November 2025.
Group AGroup B
Squads
Venues
Stadium Location Games Capacity # Original Name Sponsored Name Image City Region PNG Football Stadium Santos National Football Stadium Port Moresby NCD 2 14,800 Te Kaha One New Zealand Stadium Christchurch Canterbury 1 30,000 Perth Rectangular Stadium HBF Park Perth WA 2 20,500 Lang Park Suncorp Stadium Brisbane QLD 1 52,500 Robina Stadium Cbus Super Stadium Robina, Gold Coast QLD 2 27,690 Newcastle International Sports Centre McDonald Jones Stadium Newcastle NSW 2 33,000 Sydney Football Stadium Allianz Stadium Sydney NSW 1 42,500 Western Sydney Stadium CommBank Stadium Parramatta, Sydney NSW 3 30,000 Wollongong Showground WIN Stadium Wollongong NSW 1 23,750
Rule changes Contrary to the international laws of the game,https://www.intrl.sport/about/laws-of-the-game matches of the 2026 women's world cup will be 70 minutes long, matching Australia's domestic competition – the NRLW. This was done to "ensure consistency and familiarity for fans, broadcasters and key tournament stakeholders, as well as coaches and players".https://www.intrl.sport/article/711/irl-rugby-league-world-cup-2026-rules-confirmed-
Group Stage Group A
Group B
Knockout stage Bracket
Semi-finals
Final
See also 2026 Men's Rugby League World Cup 2026 Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup
Notes
References