[1] It was originally due to be held between 23 October 2021 and 27 November 2021, but the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent withdrawals of Australia and New Zealand caused the tournament to be postponed.

[4][5] Australia beat Samoa 30–10 in the final to win the tournament for the third successive time, extending their record number of World Cup titles to twelve.

As such, the allocations were confirmed as 6 teams from Europe (excluding hosts), 6 from Asia-Pacific, 1 from Middle East-Africa, 1 from the Americas, and 1 from an inter-regional play-off.

[10] England Samoa France Greece Australia Fiji Scotland Italy New Zealand Lebanon Jamaica Ireland Tonga Papua New Guinea Wales Cook Islands From September 2022, teams announced wider squads of up to 38 players, which were reduced to 24 before the beginning of the tournament.

[17] A new match review panel comprising members from both the RFL and NRL was established for the tournament to deal with disciplinary issues.