Several nations that had not qualified, or were not eligible to qualify, for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup planned to contest an Emerging Nations tournament in Sydney in 2017 alongside the World Cup.

[1] On 29 March 2017, the Rugby League International Federation announced that Australia will be host the tournament in 2018.

[2] The two-week-long tournament will be held in Western Sydney, New South Wales with games taking place in Windsor, St Marys and Cabramatta.

[3] Ten teams were already confirmed for the tournament by March 2017[2] with a number of others later also announcing their participation.

[4][5][6] 15 teams were expected to compete, though Canada, India, Latvia, and Thailand were not included in the final draw, for unspecified reasons.