The 2026 Rugby League World Cup, played across Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, will see the same fixture in both of its headline finals. Australia and New Zealand won all four semi-finals in the men's and women's tournaments and will decide both titles on Sunday 15 November at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.
The women's final opens the day, at 4.10pm local time (5.10am GMT), and the men's closes it, at 7.35pm (8.35am GMT).
Semi-finals without surprises
In the men's draw, New Zealand beat Tonga 34-10 on Saturday 7 November, and Australia saw off Samoa 44-12 on Sunday the 8th. In the women's, the New Zealanders thrashed Samoa 32-0 on the Saturday, and the Australians beat Fiji on the Sunday.
The two nations are the historic powers of the code: Australia's Kangaroos and New Zealand's Kiwis share almost the entire list of world champions since the first edition in 1954.
First, the wheelchair final
The tournament's first decider, though, comes on Friday 13 November. In the wheelchair competition, England knocked out hosts Australia in Tuesday's semi-final and will face France, who had overrun Ireland 82-26 the same day. It is a rematch of the 2022 final between the two sides.
England's group campaign was a run of routs: 98-18 against Wales, 134-0 against the United States and 68-32 against Ireland. Australia and Ireland play for third place a few hours before the final.
Four tournaments at once
Begun on 15 October, this edition brings together four competitions at the same time — men's, with ten teams; women's, with eight; wheelchair, with eight; and physical disability rugby league (PDRL), with three — across about eleven stadiums in nine cities of the three host countries. Fourteen nations qualified for at least one of the tournaments, among them Australia, England, New Zealand, France, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji and Papua New Guinea.
With information from Sky Sports, ESPN and the Rugby Football League.
