Rugby League World Cup qualification

Qualifying rounds were first introduced for the 2000 World Cup to reflect the recent expansion of the tournament.

The remaining spots are achieved through regional qualification tournaments, split between the four International Rugby League confederation Asia-Pacific, Americas, Europe, and Middle East-Africa.

No Scottish or Irish player made the original Great Britain squad for that year.

The following table shows the number of years each team has completed in both the qualifiers and final tournament.

Updated for 2026 European Qualifiers The following table shows which years teams made their qualification tournament debut.

New Zealand (TL), France (TR), Great Britain (BL), and Australia (BR) shirts from the inaugural 1954 tournament. They were the four nations to compete in the competition until the 1980s.