With the 2021 Rugby League World Cup being over two years away, the hosts England are doing their best to ensure that rugby fans enjoy a spectacular event. The 16 th staging of the event will be held from 23 rd October to 27 th November 2021, featuring 16 teams – which an increase by two compared with the last two events. The venue was confirmed on October 27 th , 2016, after England won the hosting rights.
The participating countries will be categorized into four groups of four in the same lines as the 2000 tournament. This event will be broadcasted by several international news stations, covering all the 31 games live. Some of the broadcasters expected include BBC, Sky NZ, and Fox Sports. Here’s everything you must know about the 2021RLWC whether you like Indiana Sports Betting or you’re a die-hard rugby fan.
The Venues
The event organizers in conjunction with the Rugby Football League invited councils all over England to deliberate on the match hosting during the tournament. As a result, eighteen have already been confirmed, including Emirates Stadium London, St James Park Newcastle, Anfield Liverpool, Old Trafford Manchester, and Ricoh Arena Coventry. Other stadiums named are Leigh Sports Village, Kirklees Stadium, KCOM Stadium Hull, Halliwell Jones Stadium, Keepmoat Stadium, Headingley Stadium, Riverside Stadium, and Elland Road.
World Cup Qualifiers
May last year, the Rugby League International federation unveiled the qualifying process details for the tournament. Eight countries that reached the quarter-finals in 2017 automatically qualified for the world cup. These countries are New Zealand, Australia, Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, Lebanon, Papua New Guinea and the hosts, England. The other eight places were left up for grabs through qualifier tournaments hosted in four regions all over the world. For that, the other spots will include six teams from Europe, one from the Americas and the last spot to be determined through a “World Play-Off.” The play-off will involve Asia Pacific highest ranked, the Middle East or Africa’s highest-ranked and America’s runner up.
European (6 nations) & Americas Qualifiers
The first two nations in Europe to qualify for the Rugby World Cup was determined through the European Championship staged in October/ November 2018. The top two nations booked their tickets in the tournament, with the last two getting another chance to battle it out in the European Play-Offs.
After winning all their cup fixtures, France finished top in the championship, becoming the ninth team to qualify for the 2021 RLWC. Wales managed to make their way to the last round in the European Championship, making them the tenth nation confirmed for the World Cup. However, Ireland and Scotland must try their luck in the European Play-offs on Oct/Nov 2019, while Jamaica will be representing the Americas.
European Play-Offs & World Play-Off (October – November 2019)
The bottom two Europe teams, Ireland and Scotland, will be joining Italy, while Russia and Spain will join Greece to form two groups, with teams playing one another in a round. As such, the top two teams will advance to the world cup based on the final table standings. As far as the Rugby world cup is concerned, the World Playoff will be the final chance for any team to book a spot in the tournament. United States, Cook Islands, and South Africa will be part of the playoff, with each team expecting to emerge the top to proceed to the world cup.
