2021 Men's Rugby League World Cup

The 2021 Men's Rugby League World Cup, was the 16th Rugby League World Cup, and one of three major tournaments of the 2021 Rugby League World Cup. The tournament was held in England from 15 October 2022 to 19 November 2022.^[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.^[2] 16 teams competed in the tournament, an increase of two from the previous two tournaments and the first to feature 16 teams since the 2000 Rugby League World Cup.^[3]

2021 (2021) Men's Rugby League World Cup  ()
Number of teams	16
Host country	England
Winner	Australia (12th title)
Runner-up	Samoa
Matches played	31
Attendance	423,689 (13,667 per match)
Points scored	1721 (55.52 per match)
Tries scored	307 (9.9 per match)
Top scorer	Stephen Crichton (73)
Top try scorer	Josh Addo-Carr (12 tries)
Tournaments  < 2017 2026 >

For the first time, the Rugby League World Cup was run alongside the women's and wheelchair tournaments with all participants being paid the same, while all 61 matches in the three tournaments were broadcast live.^[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.^[6]

Teams

Qualification

Main article: 2021 Men's Rugby League World Cup qualification

The eight quarter-finalists of the previous tournament in 2017 earned automatic qualification to the 2021 tournament. 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.^[7] Qualification began on 16 June 2018, and concluded on 16 November 2019.

Team	Method of qualification	Date of qualification	Total times qualified	Last time qualified	Current consecutive appearances	Previous best performance
England	Hosts	27 October 2016	7^[a]	2017	7	Runners-up (1975, 1995, 2017)
Fiji	2017 Group D winners	10 November 2017	6	2017	6	Semi-finals (2008, 2013, 2017)
Tonga	2017 Group B winners	11 November 2017	6	2017	6	Semi-finals (2017)
New Zealand	2017 Group B runners-up	11 November 2017	16	2017	16	Winners (2008)
Samoa	2017 Group B third place	11 November 2017	6	2017	6	Quarter-finals (2000, 2013, 2017)
Australia	2017 Group A winners	11 November 2017	16	2017	16	Winners (11 times)
Lebanon	2017 Group A third place	11 November 2017	3	2017	2	Quarter-finals (2017)
Papua New Guinea	2017 Group C winners	12 November 2017	8	2017	8	Quarter-finals (2000, 2017)
France	Europe second round winners	11 November 2018	16	2017	16	Runners-up (1954, 1968)
Wales	Europe second round runners-up	11 November 2018	6^[a]	2017	3	Semi-finals (1995, 2000)
Jamaica	Americas Championship winners	17 November 2018	1	–	1	–
Ireland	Europe third round Group A winners	9 November 2019	5^[a]	2017	5	Quarter-finals (2000, 2008)
Italy	Europe third round Group A runners-up	9 November 2019	3	2017	3	Group stage (2013, 2017)
Scotland	Europe third round Group B winners	9 November 2019	5^[a]	2017	5	Quarter-finals (2013)
Greece	Europe third round Group B runners-up	9 November 2019	1	–	1	–
Cook Islands	Inter-regional repechage winners	16 November 2019	3	2013	1	Group stage (2000, 2013)

Notes

1. Competed as part of Great Britain in nine previous tournaments, finishing as champions on three occasions (1954, 1960, 1972). The squads largely consisted of English players, but also featured Welsh players in every tournament. Scotland (1954, 1968, 1977, 1989–92) and Ireland (1957) were represented by native-born players in some tournaments.

Draw

The draw was originally scheduled to be finalised on 27 November 2019, exactly two years before the date of the tournament final, however, it was postponed until 16 January 2020.^[8] The draw was made at Buckingham Palace on 16 January 2020 and was streamed live on Facebook. Teams from pot 1 were drawn by Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, pot 2 by Katherine Grainger, and pot 3 by Jason Robinson.^[9]

Seeded	Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3
England (A)   Australia (B)   New Zealand (C)   Tonga (D)	Fiji   Lebanon   Papua New Guinea   Samoa	France   Jamaica   Scotland   Wales	Cook Islands   Greece   Ireland   Italy

The draw resulted in the following teams being drawn into the following groups. Each group had to have at least one team from the Pacific region. As such, Lebanon were not eligible to be drawn into Group A from pot 1.^[10]

Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D
England   Samoa   France   Greece	Australia   Fiji   Scotland   Italy	New Zealand   Lebanon   Jamaica   Ireland	Tonga   Papua New Guinea   Wales   Cook Islands

Squads

Main article: 2021 Men's Rugby League World Cup squads

From September 2022, teams announced wider squads of up to 38 players, which were reduced to 24 before the beginning of the tournament.^[11]

Venues

Stadium locations

Seventeen venues were used for the men's tournament.^[12]

Manchester					London					Newcastle					Leeds
Old Trafford					Emirates Stadium					St James' Park					Elland Road
Capacity: 74,994					Capacity: 60,260					Capacity: 52,405					Capacity: 37,890
Middlesbrough					Newcastle   Newcastle   London   Middlesbrough   Sheffield   Coventry   Hull   Doncaster   St Helens   Warrington   Greater Manchester   West Yorkshire     Leigh   Bolton   Old Trafford   Wigan class=notpageimage| Stadiums in Greater Manchester     Leeds   Headingley   Huddersfield class=notpageimage| Stadiums in West Yorkshire										Coventry
Riverside Stadium															Coventry Building Society Arena
Capacity: 34,742															Capacity: 32,753
Sheffield															Bolton
Bramall Lane															University of Bolton Stadium
Capacity: 32,702															Capacity: 28,723
Hull															Wigan
MKM Stadium															DW Stadium
Capacity: 25,400															Capacity: 25,138
Huddersfield															Leeds
Kirklees Stadium															Headingley Rugby Stadium
Capacity: 24,121															Capacity: 21,062
St Helens				Doncaster				Warrington				Leigh				Newcastle
Totally Wicked Stadium				Eco-Power Stadium				Halliwell Jones Stadium				Leigh Sports Village				Kingston Park
Capacity: 18,000				Capacity: 15,231				Capacity: 15,200				Capacity: 12,000				Capacity: 10,200

Team base camp locations

13 base camps were used by the 16 national squads to stay and train before and during the World Cup tournament, as follow:^[13]

• Australia: Manchester
• Cook Islands: Tees Valley
• England: Manchester
• Fiji: Kingston upon Hull
• France: Bolton
• Greece: Sheffield
• Ireland: Leeds
• Italy: St Helens
• Jamaica: Leeds
• Lebanon: Leigh
• New Zealand: York
• Papua New Guinea: Warrington
• Samoa: Doncaster
• Scotland: Newcastle upon Tyne
• Tonga: St Helens
• Wales: Preston

Officiating

Match officials

The list of match officials who officiated across both the men's and women's tournaments was published on 5 October 2022.^[14]

Grant Atkins (Australia)   Kasey Badger (Australia)   Dean Bowmer (England)   Ben Casty (France)   James Child (England)   Darian Furner (Australia)   Adam Gee (Australia)   Tom Grant (England)   Marcus Griffiths (England)   Robert Hicks (England)   Neil Horton (England)   Chris Kendall (England)   Ashley Klein (Australia)   Aaron Moore (England)

Liam Moore (England)   Paki Parkinson (New Zealand)   Geoffrey Poumes (France)   Wyatt Raymond (Australia)   Liam Rush (England)   Belinda Sharpe (Australia)   Michael Smaill (England)^[a]   Jack Smith (England)   Todd Smith (Australia)   Gerard Sutton (Australia)   Rochelle Tamarua (New Zealand)   Ben Thaler (England)   Warren Turley (England)   James Vella (England)^[b]

On-field rules and disciplinary measures

Matches were played to the International Rugby League (IRL) rules. Certain differences between the way the rules of Australia and Europe were clarified in September 2022. All drop goals were worth one point and all play the ball infringements resulted in a set restart. Introduced from the Australian National Rugby League (NRL) was the "captain's challenge" where under certain circumstances a team captain was able to ask for the referee's decision to be reviewed. Head injury assessments and subsequent treatment followed the European model.^[17]

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

Warm-up matches

Pre-tournament practice matches took place on 7 and 8 October, the weekend before the first round of group stage matches of the World Cup.^[18]

7 October 2022 19:30 BST (UTC+01:00)

England	50–0	Fiji
	Report

AJ Bell Stadium, Salford^[19]^[c] Attendance: 6,849

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7 October 2022 19:45 BST (UTC+01:00)

Cumbria	28–12	Jamaica
	Report

Derwent Park, Workington^[22] Attendance: 3,000

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8 October 2022 13:30 BST (UTC+01:00)

Scotland	4–28	England Knights
	Report

Myreside Stadium, Edinburgh^[23]

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8 October 2022 14:00 BST (UTC+01:00)

France	12–48	Tonga
	Report

The Shay, Halifax^[24] Attendance: 876

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8 October 2022 15:00 BST (UTC+01:00)

Wales	22–38	Lebanon
	Report

Heywood Road, Sale^[25] Attendance: 509

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8 October 2022 15:00 BST (UTC+01:00)

Bradford Bulls	34–34	Greece
	Report

Odsal Stadium, Bradford^[26] Attendance: 950

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8 October 2022 18:00 BST (UTC+01:00)

Leeds Rhinos	0–74	New Zealand
	Report

Headingley Stadium, Leeds^[27] Attendance: 9,125

Group stage

 

England rugby league fans create an England flag ahead of the opening match at St James' Park

Competing countries were divided into four groups of four teams (groups A to D). Teams in each group played one another in a round-robin, with the top two teams advancing to the knockout stage.^[28]

Group A

Main article: 2021 Men's Rugby League World Cup Group A

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	England (H)	3	3	0	0	196	28	+168	6	Advance to knockout stage
2	Samoa	3	2	0	1	140	68	+72	4
3	France	3	1	0	2	56	116	−60	2
4	Greece	3	0	0	3	20	200	−180	0

Source: rlwc2021
(H) Hosts

15 October 2022 14:30 BST (UTC+01:00)

England	60–6	Samoa
Tries: Welsby 22' Young (2) 25', 30' Watkins 49' Farnworth 65' Whitehead (2) 69', 71' Makinson 74' Williams 76' Burgess 80' Goals: Makinson (10/12) 6' pen, 23', 26', 49', 63' pen, 66', 69', 71', 74', 79'	Report	Tries: Tago 34' Goals: Crichton (1/1) 35'

St James' Park, Newcastle Attendance: 43,199 Referee: Ashley Klein (Australia) Touch judges: Jack Smith (England), Warren Turley (England) Player of the Match: Victor Radley (England)

17 October 2022 19:30 BST (UTC+01:00)

France	34–12	Greece
Tries: Dezaria 9' Gigot 30' Jullien (2) 34', 74' Mourgue 47' Goals: Mourgue (7/7) 10', 24' pen, 30', 36', 49', 67' pen, 76'	Report	Tries: Taukamo 56' Mougios 79' Goals: Ilias (2/2) 58', 80'

Eco-Power Stadium, Doncaster Attendance: 4,182 Referee: Adam Gee (Australia) Touch judges: Kasey Badger (Australia), James Vella (England) Player of the Match: Benjamin Garcia (France)

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22 October 2022 17:00 BST (UTC+01:00)

England	42–18	France
Tries: Hall (2) 6', 12' Thompson 24' Whitehead 45' Radley 50' Young (2) 57', 66' Goals: Sneyd (7/7) 8', 13', 26', 46', 51’, 58', 67'	Report	Tries: Mourgue 29' Pelissier 33' Romano 76' Goals: Mourgue (3/3) 30', 33', 77'

University of Bolton Stadium, Bolton Attendance: 23,648 Referee: Gerard Sutton (Australia) Touch judges: Liam Moore (England), Todd Smith (Australia) Player of the Match: George Williams (England)

23 October 2022 17:00 BST (UTC+01:00)

Samoa	72–4	Greece
Tries: To'o 1' Paulo 5' Levi 16', 70' Harris-Tavita 22', 60' Hunt 30' Luai 33' Lafai (2) 37', 80' Brown 53' Crichton 56' Feagai 64' Goals: Crichton (10/13) 3', 5', 17', 23', 31', 34', 38', 54', 61', 71'	Report	Tries: Ilias 49' Goals: Ilias (0/1)

Eco-Power Stadium, Doncaster Attendance: 4,415 Referee: James Child (England) Touch judges: Liam Rush (England), Robert Hicks (England) Player of the Match: Jarome Luai (Samoa)

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29 October 2022 14:30 BST (UTC+01:00)

England	94–4	Greece
Tries: Lees 3' Young (4) 13', 25', 35', 37' Hall (2) 28', 59' Burgess (2) 33', 53' Williams 40' Makinson 43' Sneyd 49' Batchelor 63' Ackers (2) 67', 75' Pearce-Paul 73' McMeeken 77' Goals: Sneyd (13/17) 4', 27', 34', 36', 39', 40', 43', 50', 55', 60', 68', 76', 77'	Report	Tries: Taukamo 18' Goals: Ilias (0/1)

Bramall Lane, Sheffield Attendance: 18,760 Referee: Belinda Sharpe (Australia) Touch judges: Marcus Griffiths (England), Wyatt Raymond (Australia) Player of the Match: Marc Sneyd (England)

30 October 2022 17:00 GMT (UTC±00:00)

Samoa	62–4	France
Tries: Lafai (2) 4', 66' To'o (2) 17', 47' Ta. May (4) 21', 34', 40', 44' Milford (2) 62', 74' Harris-Tavita 69' Goals: Crichton (9/11) 5', 22', 36', 40', 45', 48', 64', 70', 75'	Report	Tries: Yaha 53' Goals: Mourgue (0/1)

Halliwell Jones Stadium, Warrington Attendance: 6,756 Referee: Todd Smith (Australia) Touch judges: Liam Rush (England), Warren Turley (England)

Group B

Main article: 2021 Men's Rugby League World Cup Group B

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Australia	3	3	0	0	192	14	+178	6	Advance to knockout stage
2	Fiji	3	2	0	1	98	60	+38	4
3	Italy	3	1	0	2	38	130	−92	2
4	Scotland	3	0	0	3	18	142	−124	0

Source: rlwc2021

15 October 2022 19:30 BST (UTC+01:00)

Australia	42–8	Fiji
Tries: Nanai 16' Addo-Carr (2) 24', 68' Crichton 35' Mitchell 44' Grant 54' Tedesco 61' Goals: Holmes (7/7) 16', 25', 36', 45', 54', 61', 68'	Report	Tries: Valemei 4' Turuva 76' Goals: Wakeham (0/2)

Headingley Stadium, Leeds Attendance: 13,366 Referee: Chris Kendall (England) Touch judges: Wyatt Raymond (Australia), Darian Furner (Australia) Player of the Match: Cameron Munster (Australia)

16 October 2022 14:30 BST (UTC+01:00)

Scotland	4–28	Italy
Tries: Walmsley 76' Goals: Brierley (0/1)	Report	Tries: Polselli 10' Parata 23' Maizen (3) 44', 49', 74' Goals: Campagnolo (4/5) 10', 23' 45', 74'

Kingston Park, Newcastle Attendance: 6,206 Referee: Todd Smith (Australia) Touch judges: Paki Parkinson (New Zealand), Marcus Griffiths (England) Player of the Match: Nathan Brown (Italy)

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21 October 2022 19:30 BST (UTC+01:00)

Australia	84–0	Scotland
Tries: Addo-Carr (4) 6', 32', 49', 79' Wighton (2) 11', 35' Crichton 15' Graham (3) 21', 59', 74' Cleary 28' Tedesco 41' Hunt 44' Burton 66' Yeo 77' Goals: Cleary (12/15) 12', 16', 23', 30', 34', 36', 42', 45', 50', 67', 75', 78'	Report

Coventry Building Society Arena, Coventry Attendance: 10,276 Referee: Grant Atkins (Australia) Touch judges: Kasey Badger (Australia), Warren Turley (England) Player of the Match: Josh Addo-Carr (Australia)

22 October 2022 14:30 BST (UTC+01:00)

Fiji	60–4	Italy
Tries: Kikau (2) 9', 23' Naiqama 12' Tagituimua (2) 15', 46' Koroisau 37' Nakubuwai 51' Sivo (2) 53', 63' Sadrugu 79' Goals: Wakeham (7/7) 10', 13', 17', 25', 38', 47', 51' Koroisau (2/2) 55', 65' Raiwalui (1/1) 80'	Report	Tries: Maizen 56' Goals: Campagnolo (0/1)

Kingston Park, Newcastle Attendance: 3,675 Referee: Jack Smith (England) Touch judges: Darian Furner (Australia), James Vella (England) Player of the Match: Penioni Tagituimua (Fiji)

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29 October 2022 17:00 BST (UTC+01:00)

Fiji	30–14	Scotland
Tries: Sadrugu 6' Kikau 15' Raiwalui 36' Sivo 46' Sims 67' Goals: Wakeham (5/5) 7', 16', 37', 48', 68'	Report	Tries: Walmsley 21' Hellewell 40' Liu 51' Goals: Schneider (1/3) 63'

Kingston Park, Newcastle Attendance: 6,736 Referee: Tom Grant (England) Touch judges: James Child (England), Chris Kendall (England) Player of the Match: Sunia Turuva (Fiji)

29 October 2022 19:30 BST (UTC+01:00)

Australia	66–6	Italy
Tries: Holmes 7' Taulagi (2) 14', 40' Tedesco 19' Graham (2) 28', 68' Mitchell 36' Yeo 46' Martin 51' Murray 58' Nanai 74' Collins 80' Goals: Cleary (9/12) 20', 30', 38', 48', 52', 60', 69', 76', 80'	Report	Tries: Palumbo 54' Goals: Campagnolo (1/1) 55'

Totally Wicked Stadium, St Helens Attendance: 5,586 Referee: Liam Moore (England) Touch judges: Michael Smaill (England), Jack Smith (England) Player of the Match: Jeremiah Nanai (Australia)

Group C

Main article: 2021 Men's Rugby League World Cup Group C

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	New Zealand	3	3	0	0	150	28	+122	6	Advance to knockout stage
2	Lebanon	3	2	0	1	118	60	+58	4
3	Ireland	3	1	0	2	72	82	−10	2
4	Jamaica	3	0	0	3	20	190	−170	0

Source: rlwc2021

16 October 2022 17:00 BST (UTC+01:00)

Jamaica	2–48	Ireland
Goals: Rush 1/1 (39' pen)	Report	Tries: L. Senior (2) 13', 64' G. King 16' O'Hagan 19' Chamberlain 37' I. Senior 52' T. King 57' McDonnell 72' Bentley 77' Halton 80' Goals: Chamberlain (1/5) 20' Keyes (3/5) 57', 64', 77'

Headingley Stadium, Leeds Attendance: 6,320 Referee: Ben Casty (France) Touch judges: Geoffrey Poumes (France), Neil Horton (England) Player of the Match: Luke Keary (Ireland)

16 October 2022 19:30 BST (UTC+01:00)

New Zealand	34–12	Lebanon
Tries: K. Bromwich 6' Asofa-Solomona 25' Hiku 30' Brown 55' Manu 57' Rapana 61' Goals: Rapana (5/6) 6', 25', 31', 55', 58'	Report	Tries: Mansour 1' Miski 46' Goals: Moses (2/2) 1', 47'

Halliwell Jones Stadium, Warrington Attendance: 5,453 Referee: Grant Atkins (Australia) Touch judges: Tom Grant (England), Dean Bowmer (England) Player of the Match: Joseph Manu (New Zealand)

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22 October 2022 19:30 BST (UTC+01:00)

New Zealand	68–6	Jamaica
Tries: Watene-Zelezniak (4) 4', 14', 19', 59' Hiku 9' Niukore 29' Kris 37' Marshall-King (2) 40', 55' Nicoll-Klokstad 44' Nikora 53' Smith (2) 66', 72' Goals: Foran (6/10) 16', 31', 40', 61', 67', 73' Watene-Zelezniak (2/3) 45', 54'	Report	Tries: Jones-Bishop 76' Goals: Rush (1/1) 78'

MKM Stadium, Hull Attendance: 6,829 Referee: Marcus Griffiths (England) Touch judges: Belinda Sharpe (Australia), Aaron Moore (England) Player of the Match: Dallin Watene-Zelezniak (New Zealand)

23 October 2022 14:30 BST (UTC+01:00)

Lebanon	32–14	Ireland
Tries: Robinson 21' Kiraz 25' Morkos 31' El-Zakhem 54' Miski 58' Goals: Moses (6/7) 17' pen, 22' 26', 33', 56', 71' pen	Report	Tries: L. Senior (2) 38', 48' Chamberlain 78' Goals: Chamberlain (1/3) 50'

Leigh Sports Village, Leigh Attendance: 6,057 Referee: Adam Gee (Australia) Touch judges: Tom Grant (England), Warren Turley (Australia) Player of the Match: Mitchell Moses (Lebanon)

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28 October 2022 19:30 BST (UTC+01:00)

New Zealand	48–10	Ireland
Tries: Hughes (2) 15', 60' Rapana (2) 20', 46' Hiku (2) 26', 33' Mulitalo 38' Fisher-Harris 55' K. Bromwich 63' Manu 79' Goals: Rapana (2/4) 17', 27' Brown (2/6) 61', 64'	Report	Tries: L. Senior (2) 29', 66' Goals: Chamberlain (1/3) 12' pen

Headingley Rugby Stadium, Leeds Attendance: 14,044 Referee: Robert Hicks (England) Touch judges: James Vella (England), Darian Furner (Australia) Player of the Match: Jahrome Hughes (New Zealand)

30 October 2022 12:00 GMT (UTC±00:00)

Lebanon	74–12	Jamaica
Tries: Tannous 6' Miski 9' El-Zakhem 12' Robinson 15' Rajab 23' Tasipale (2) 27', 55' Mansour (2) 32', 62' Doueihi 45' Maroun 59' Goals: Moses (7/7) 8', 11', 13', 16', 24', 28', 33' Doueihi (2/4) 57', 60'	Report	Tries: Agoro 50' Andrade 66' Goals: Woodburn-Hall (1/1) 51' Rush (1/1) 66'

Leigh Sports Village, Leigh Attendance: 5,006 Referee: Paki Parkinson (New Zealand) Touch judges: Grant Atkins (Australia), Darian Furner (Australia) Player of the Match: Adam Doueihi (Lebanon)

Group D

Main article: 2021 Men's Rugby League World Cup Group D

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Tonga	3	3	0	0	148	34	+114	6	Advance to knockout stage
2	Papua New Guinea	3	2	0	1	86	40	+46	4
3	Cook Islands	3	1	0	2	44	136	−92	2
4	Wales	3	0	0	3	18	86	−68	0

Source: rlwc2021

18 October 2022 19:30 BST (UTC+01:00)

Tonga	24–18	Papua New Guinea
Tries: Penisini 14' Fotuaika 35' I. Katoa 37' Koloamatangi 78' Goals: I. Katoa (4/5) 16', 36', 39', 79'	Report	Tries: Martin 6' Lam 41' Russell 68' Goals: Martin (3/3) 7', 43', 69'

Totally Wicked Stadium, St Helens Attendance: 10,409 Referee: Liam Moore (England) Touch judges: James Child (England), Belinda Sharpe (Australia) Player of the Match: Edwin Ipape (Papua New Guinea)

19 October 2022 19:30 BST (UTC+01:00)

Wales	12–18	Cook Islands
Tries: Lloyd 13' Olds 27' Goals: Fozard (2/2) 15', 29'	Report	Tries: Gelling 22' Moale 59' S. Marsters 64' Goals: S. Marsters (3/4) 24', 40' pen, 61'

Leigh Sports Village, Leigh Attendance: 6,188 Referee: Robert Hicks (England) Touch judges: Rochelle Tamarua (New Zealand), Todd Smith (Australia) Player of the Match: Johnathon Ford (Cook Islands)

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24 October 2022 19:30 BST (UTC+01:00)

Tonga	32–6	Wales
Tries: Tupou (3) 21', 51', 71' Fifita 37' Koloamatangi 40' Niu 47' Goals: Lolohea (3/5) 38', 40', 49' Talakai (1/1) 72'	Report	Tries: Evans 17' Goals: Fozard (1/1) 18'

Totally Wicked Stadium, St Helens Attendance: 7,752 Referee: Kasey Badger (Australia) Touch judges: Mike Smaill (England), Rochelle Tamarua (New Zealand) Player of the Match: Daniel Tupou (Tonga)

25 October 2022 19:30 BST (UTC+01:00)

Papua New Guinea	32–16	Cook Islands
Tries: Tai (2) 14', 46' Laybutt 23' Martin 41' Lam 56' Olam 68' Goals: Martin (4/6) 24', 42', 57', 69'	Report	Tries: Ulberg 34' Gelling 60' Iro 77' Goals: S. Marsters (2/3) 3' pen, 35' Takairangi (0/1)

Halliwell Jones Stadium, Warrington Attendance: 6,273 Referee: Chris Kendall (England) Touch judges: Wyatt Raymond (Australia), Paki Parkinson (New Zealand) Player of the Match: Rhyse Martin (Papua New Guinea)

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30 October 2022 14:30 GMT (UTC±00:00)

Tonga	92–10	Cook Islands
Tries: Tupou (2) 1', 64' Taumalolo (2) 13', 20' Niu (3) 22', 29', 49' Penisini (4) 26', 32' (pen), 61', 74' Lolohea (2) 35', 58' Kaufusi 40' I. Katoa 44' Amone 78' Goals: I. Katoa (14/16) 15', 21', 24', 28', 31', 33', 37', 40', 46', 51', 62', 66', 76', 79'	Report	Tries: S. Marsters 69' Ti. Arona 80' Goals: S. Marsters (0/1) Ti. Arona (1/1) 80'

Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough Attendance: 8,342 Referee: Ashley Klein (Australia) Touch judges: Kasey Badger (Australia), Aaron Moore (England) Player of the Match: Jason Taumalolo (Tonga)

31 October 2022 19:30 GMT (UTC±00:00)

Papua New Guinea	36–0	Wales
Tries: Laybutt 6' Putt (2) 12', 46' Ngutlik (2) 18', 76' Russell 23' Goals: Martin (6/6) 6', 12', 18', 23', 46', 77'	Report

Eco-Power Stadium, Doncaster Attendance: 6,968 Referee: Gerard Sutton (Australia) Touch judges: Belinda Sharpe (Australia), James Child (England) Player of the Match: Nixon Putt (Papua New Guinea)

Knockout stage

Main article: 2021 Men's Rugby League World Cup knockout stage

The top 2 teams from each pool advanced to the quarter-finals. All quarter-finalists will automatically qualify for the 2025 Rugby League World Cup.

	Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final
	5 November – Wigan
	England	46
					12 November – London
	Papua New Guinea	6
					England	26
	6 November – Warrington
					Samoa (g.p.)	27
	Tonga	18
									19 November – Manchester
	Samoa	20
									Samoa	10
	4 November – Huddersfield
									Australia	30
	Australia	48
					11 November – Leeds
	Lebanon	4
					Australia	16
	5 November – Hull
					New Zealand	14
	New Zealand	24
	Fiji	18

Quarter-finals

4 November 2022 19:30 GMT (UTC±00:00)

Australia	48–4	Lebanon
Tries: Addo-Carr (5) 5', 16', 19', 45', 59' Mitchell 24' Murray (2) 30', 33' Martin 69' Goals: Cleary (6/9) 17', 31', 34', 46', 60', 70'	Report	Tries: Mansour 52' Goals: Moses (0/1)

John Smith's Stadium, Huddersfield Attendance: 8,206 Referee: Chris Kendall (England) Touch judges: Wyatt Raymond (Australia), Warren Turley (England) Player of the Match: Josh Addo-Carr (Australia)

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5 November 2022 14:30 GMT (UTC±00:00)

England	46–6	Papua New Guinea
Tries: Burgess 6' Makinson (5) 9', 18', 27', 58', 75' Young 14' Williams 21' Watkins 24' Goals: Makinson (5/9) 7', 20', 22', 26, 28'	Report	Tries: Ngutlik 70' Goals: Martin (1/1) 71'

DW Stadium, Wigan Attendance: 23,179 Referee: Liam Moore (England) Touch judges: Darian Furner (Australia), Jack Smith (England) Player of the Match: Tommy Makinson (England)

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5 November 2022 19:30 GMT (UTC±00:00)

New Zealand	24–18	Fiji
Tries: Mulitalo 25' Nikora 48' Manu 62' Rapana 78' Goals: Rapana (4/5) 27', 49', 64', 71' pen	Report	Tries: Sivo 11' Naiqama (2) 17', 43' Goals: Wakeham (3/3) 12', 19', 44'

MKM Stadium, Hull Attendance: 7,080 Referee: Gerard Sutton (Australia) Touch judges: Belinda Sharpe (Australia), Marcus Griffiths (England) Player of the Match: Joseph Manu (New Zealand)

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6 November 2022 14:30 GMT (UTC±00:00)

Tonga	18–20	Samoa
Tries: Tupou 7' Taukeiaho 32' S. Katoa 70' Goals: I. Katoa (3/4) 33', 49' pen, 71'	Report	Tries: Su'a 4' Luai 16' To'o 58' Goals: Crichton (4/4) 5', 18', 56' pen, 59'

Halliwell Jones Stadium, Warrington Attendance: 12,674 Referee: Ashley Klein (Australia) Touch judges: Robert Hicks (England), Kasey Badger (Australia) Player of the Match: Anthony Milford (Samoa)

Semi-finals

11 November 2022 19:45 GMT (UTC±00:00)

Australia	16–14	New Zealand
Tries: Addo-Carr 16' Holmes 30' Murray 53' Goals: Cleary (2/3) 18', 55'	Report	Tries: Hughes 11' Brown 37' Goals: Rapana (3/3) 13', 26' pen, 39'

Elland Road, Leeds Attendance: 28,113 Referee: Ashley Klein (Australia) Touch judges: Warren Turley (England), Wyatt Raymond (Australia) Player of the Match: Liam Martin (Australia)

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12 November 2022 14:30 GMT (UTC±00:00)

England	26–27 (g.p.)	Samoa
Tries: Whitehead 24' Bateman 44' Farnworth (2) 63', 77' Goals: Makinson (5/5) 25', 45', 63', 67' pen, 78'	Report	Tries: Lafai 6' Sao (2) 30', 56' Crichton (2) 48', 72' Goals: Crichton (3/5) 32', 49', 74' Drop goals: Milford (0/1) Crichton (1/1) 83'

Emirates Stadium, London Attendance: 40,489 Referee: Gerard Sutton (Australia) Touch judges: Darian Furner (Australia), Jack Smith (England) Player of the Match: Jarome Luai (Samoa)

Final

Main article: 2021 Men's Rugby League World Cup final

19 November 2022 16:00 GMT (UTC±00:00)

Australia	30–10	Samoa
Tries: Mitchell (2) 14', 80' Tedesco (2) 18', 69' Martin 30' Murray 53' Goals: Cleary (3/5) 19', 55', 70' Addo-Carr (0/1)	Report	Tries: To'o 61' Crichton 71' Goals: Crichton (1/2) 63'

Old Trafford, Manchester Attendance: 67,502 Referee: Ashley Klein (Australia) Touch judges: Jack Smith (England), Warren Turley (England) Player of the Match: James Tedesco (Australia)

Statistics

Final standings

Pos	Grp	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Final result
1	B	Australia	6	6	0	0	286	42	+244	12	Champions
2	A	Samoa	6	4	0	2	197	142	+55	8	Runners-up
3	A	England (H)	5	4	0	1	268	61	+207	8	Eliminated in semi-finals
4	C	New Zealand	5	4	0	1	188	62	+126	8
5	D	Tonga	4	3	0	1	166	54	+112	6	Eliminated in quarter-finals
6	B	Fiji	4	2	0	2	116	84	+32	4
7	D	Papua New Guinea	4	2	0	2	92	86	+6	4
8	C	Lebanon	4	2	0	2	122	108	+14	4
9	C	Ireland	3	1	0	2	72	82	−10	2	Eliminated in group stage
10	A	France	3	1	0	2	56	116	−60	2
11	D	Cook Islands	3	1	0	2	44	136	−92	2
12	B	Italy	3	1	0	2	38	130	−92	2
13	D	Wales	3	0	0	3	18	86	−68	0
14	B	Scotland	3	0	0	3	18	142	−124	0
15	C	Jamaica	3	0	0	3	20	190	−170	0
16	A	Greece	3	0	0	3	20	200	−180	0

Updated to match(es) played on 23 November 2022. Source: World Cup 2022
(H) Hosts

Top try scorers

Rank	Player	Team	Tries
1	Josh Addo-Carr	Australia	12
2	Dom Young	England	9
3	Tommy Makinson	England	7
4	Louis Senior	Ireland	6
	Josh Mansour	Lebanon
	Daniel Tupou	Tonga
7	Campbell Graham	Australia	5
	Tim Lafai	Samoa
	Will Penisini	Tonga
8	Elliott Whitehead	England	4
	Ryan Hall
	Jake Maizen	Italy
	Abbas Miski	Lebanon
	Peta Hiku	New Zealand
	Dallin Watene-Zelezniak
	Taylan May	Samoa
	Tesi Niu	Tonga

Top goal scorers

Rank	Player	Team	Goals
1	Stephen Crichton	Samoa	28
2	Nathan Cleary	Australia	26
3	Isaiya Katoa	Tonga	21
4	Marc Sneyd	England	20
	Tommy Makinson
6	Brandon Wakeham	Fiji	15
	Mitchell Moses	Lebanon
8	Jordan Rapana	New Zealand	14
9	Arthur Mourgue	France	10
10	Valentine Holmes	Australia	7

Top points scorers

Rank	Player	Team	Points
1	Stephen Crichton	Samoa	73
2=	Nathan Cleary	Australia	68
	Tommy Makinson	England
4	Isaiya Katoa	Tonga	50
5	Josh Addo-Carr	Australia	48
6	Jordan Rapana	New Zealand	40
7	Dom Young	England	36
	Rhyse Martin	Papua New Guinea
9	Mitchell Moses	Lebanon	30
10	Arthur Mourgue	France	28

Player discipline

Yellow cards Rank Player Team Yellow cards 1 Angus Crichton   Australia 1 Reubenn Rennie   Cook Islands Tom Burgess   England Viliame Kikau   Fiji Liam Byrne   Ireland Robbie Mulhern Michael Lawrence   Jamaica Jalal Bazzaz   Lebanon Jaxson Rahme Jared Waerea-Hargreaves   New Zealand McKenzie Yei   Papua New Guinea Anthony Milford   Samoa Jaydn Su'a Junior Paulo Luke Bain   Scotland Dale Ferguson Kane Linnett Lachlan Walmsley

Red cards Rank Player Team Red cards 1 Adam Doueihi   Lebanon 1

See also

• 2021 Women's Rugby League World Cup
• 2021 Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup
• International rugby league in 2022
• Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on rugby league

Notes

1. Smaill is a New Zealander who is currently based in England.^[15]
2. Vella is an Australian who is currently based in England.^[16]
3. Match originally scheduled to be played at Rochdale^[20][21]

References

1. Walter, Brad (26 August 2021). "New dates announced for rescheduled World Cup". nrl.com. Retrieved 27 August 2021.^{[permanent dead link]}
2. Walter, Brad (5 August 2021). "2021 World Cup officially postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic". nrl.com. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
3. "Rugby League World Cup to feature 16 teams in 2021". Sky Sports. 2 February 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
4. Darbyshire, Drew (21 October 2019). "Women and wheelchair players to receive equal pay to men at 2021 World Cup". Love Rugby League. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
5. Ed, Dixon (2 July 2020). "2021 Rugby League World Cup and IRL team up on broadcast production - SportsPro Media". www.sportspromedia.com. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
6. Sutcliffe, Steve (19 November 2022). "Australia 30-10 Samoa: Kangaroos claim third consecutive World Cup with hard-fought victory". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
7. "Statement from the RLIF Board meeting - March 28th 2017". rlif.com. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
8. "Rugby League World Cup 2021". www.rlwc2021.com. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
9. "Rugby League World Cup 2021 draw: England drawn with Samoa, France and Greece". BBC Sport. 16 January 2020. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
10. "Rugby League World Cup 2021: How will Thursday's draw work?". BBC Sport. 15 January 2020. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
11. "Rugby League World Cup Squads: Men's, Women's, Wheelchair". Rugby League International Federation. 9 September 2022. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
12. "2021 Rugby League World Cup: Emirates Stadium among host venues but Wigan misses out". BBC Sport. 29 January 2019. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
13. "Kangaroos to be united in Manchester: World Cup team bases announced". National Rugby League. 10 June 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
14. "Rugby League World Cup 2021 announces tournament Match Officials". Rugby League World Cup. 5 October 2022. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
15. . rugby-league.com. Archived from the original on 31 January 2021.
16. "James Vella". rugby-league.com. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
17. Bower, Aaron (27 September 2022). "Rugby League World Cup rule changes including captain's call and disciplinary". YorkshireLive. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
18. "Updated list of Rugby League World Cup warm-up games as tournament draws closer". 23 August 2022.
19. "Rochdale AFC release statement following venue change for England versus Fiji". LoveRugbyLeague. 27 July 2022. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
20. "England to face Fiji in World Cup warm-up at Rochdale". www.rugby-league.com. 20 April 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
21. "England versus Fiji postponed until October 2022". www.rugby-league.com. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
22. "Jamaica to have pre-World Cup game against Cumbria". TotalRL.com. 2 September 2022. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
23. McAllister, Josh (23 August 2022). "England Knights name squad as Scotland confirm World Cup warm-up fixture". LoveRugbyLeague. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
24. "World Cup semi-finalists Tonga to meet France in Halifax RLWC2021 warm-up game".
25. Thomson, Doug (9 August 2022). "Wales confirm World Cup warm-up fixture". TotalRL.com. Total RL. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
26. "Tackle one: Greece is the word". rlwc2021.com. RLWC2021. 23 August 2022. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
27. . 13 May 2022. Archived from the original on 13 May 2022. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
28. . Archived from the original on 20 October 2022. Retrieved 20 October 2022.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2021 Rugby League World Cup.

• Official website