History of the Rugby League World Cup
Eventually, in 1951, Paul Barrière, the president of French Rugby League at the time, raised the idea of the World Cup.
In the final, Great Britain downed France 16–12 at the Parc des Princes in Paris in front of 30,368 fans on 13 November.
There were plans, announced at a 1962 International Board meeting by Bill Fallowfield, for a 1965 tournament which would return to France and feature South Africa for the first time.
The tournament was then held every two years, with Australia becoming the first nation to retain their title, doing so over in England in 1970 and Great Britain winning their third and last competition in France in 1972.
In 1977, Great Britain returned as a single, combined entity and the World Cup saw Australia and New Zealand hosting.
The final was closely fought, with Australia coming out on top against Great Britain 13–12 at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
This tournament also saw the debut of Papua New Guinea, who triumphantly beat New Zealand 24–22 at the PNG Football Stadium (then called Lloyd Robson Oval) in Port Moresby.
[10] This tournament also celebrated the 100th anniversary of rugby league and was a success, with crowds upwards of 250,000 people attending the group stages and 66,540 at the final match.
[12] The opening ceremony took place on 26 October, with a match between the Indigenous Dreamtime and the New Zealand Māori representative teams acting as a curtain raiser for the tournament at the Sydney Football Stadium.
After their massive loss before the tournament, the Kiwis went into the final destined for revenge, but an upset would be needed to stop the rampaging Australian side, who had defeated Fiji 52–0 in the semi-finals.
Controversy occurred after the match, with Australia coach Ricky Stuart verbally attacking Geoff Carr, the head of the ARL, alongside aggressively intimidating referee Ashley Klein and Stuart Cummings, the RFL director of match officials, at the hotel.
[19] Originally scheduled for 2012, England and Wales, with games also in Ireland and France, hosted the 14-team 2013 World Cup, which has been considered the most successful tournament to date.
[21] The tournament opened with a double-header at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, with debutants Italy beating Wales 32–16 before Australia defeated England 28–20 in front of 45,052 fans.
[23] The final was then played at Old Trafford, where Australia won their tenth World Cup, defeating New Zealand 34–2 in front of 74,468 people, the largest international rugby league crowd of all time.
The tournament initially grew traction[clarification needed] after high-profile stars Jason Taumalolo and Andrew Fifita led a wave of players pledging their international allegiance to Tonga, their nation of heritage, instead of New Zealand and Australia.
[29] The final was again played at Brisbane's Lang Park, with 40,033 fans witnessing Australia defeat England 6–0 to claim their eleventh tournament.
[38][39] The 2021 tournament was the most watched rugby league world cup in history,[40] and was regarded as a sporting, commercial, and social success by the IRL.
[41] A proposal was put forward in 2016 to hold the 2025 Rugby League World Cup in the United States and Canada,[42][43][44] but in December 2018 plans for the tournament to be held in North America were scrapped due to financial concerns.
[55] On 3 August, the IRL announced that the tournament would be postponed to 2026 and held in the southern hemisphere with only 10 teams taking part.
