England’s potential paths to glory as 2026 Rugby League World Cup schedule revealed

Now that the schedule for the 2026 Rugby League World Cup has been revealed, England’s potential paths to glory have been unveiled.

Great Britain won three World Cups: with the most recent of those successes coming in 1972 when their triumph was earned via league placing having finished top of the group stage before drawing 10-10 with Australia in the final.

Since then, no British side has been crowned champions of the rugby league world – with England yet to lift a World Cup having suffered a gut-wrenching defeat to Australia in the 2017 final and then lost their semi-final against Samoa in 2022.

Now, Shaun Wane’s side will go again – with the 2026 edition taking place Down Under across Australia and Papua New Guinea.

As unlikely as it seems given the 3-0 whitewash defeat they have just suffered on home soil against Australia, five games stand between England and a first-ever World Cup triumph.

Format explainer

In 2026, the World Cup group stage adopts a rather strange format. There are three groups, with the four nations in Group A – Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and the Cook Islands – all playing one another.

Those in Groups B and C however, which comprise of three nations apiece, go up against the three teams in the opposing group.

Group A includes England, Samoa and Lebanon. England will not play either of those.

Instead, they will take on every side from Group C – Tonga, Papua New Guinea and France.

England’s Group Stage Fixtures

* All kick-off times stated relate to BST/GMT

Saturday, October 17

• England v Tonga – HBF Park, Perth (10.05am)

Saturday, October 24

• England v France – HBF Park, Perth (7.35am)

Friday, October 30

• England v Papua New Guinea – WIN Stadium, Wollongong (9.05am)

Group B and C are essentially in a combined six-team league, and at the end of the group stage when each team has played their three games, the top two sides will progress into the semi-finals.

So, here’s a look at England’s two potential paths to glory…

If England top Group B/C

You’d imagine England would need to win all three of their group games to top the combined league.

If they do finish first, they’ll then play the runners-up from Group A. There could be a shock sprung, of course, but the expectation will be that New Zealand finish second in Group A.

If that is the case, England will meet the Kiwis in the semi-finals on November 7 at the McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle (9.05am KO).

Victory there would see England progress into the final, which takes place on November 15 at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane (8.35am KO).

There, the winners of the semi-final between Group A’s winners and the runners-up in Group B/C would await.

If England finish second in Group B/C

In theory, not finishing top of Group B/C would hand England a tougher semi-final.

A second-place finish would see them meet the winners of Group A at the semi-final stage, and that is likely to be Australia.

If England do finish second, their semi-final would take place on November 8 at the Allianz Stadium in Sydney (9.05am KO).

And if they were to pull off a shock with victory there, they would then progress into the final on November 15 at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane (8.35am KO).

In this scenario, England would know who their potential final opponents were before their own semi-final came around.

Those potential final opponents would stem from a semi-final between Group A’s runners-up and the winners of Group B/C.