Former Wallabies chief locked in as Lebanon’s 2026 Rugby League World Cup coach
Michael Cheika pictured in 2024
Former Wallabies boss and current Leicester Tigers head coach will again lead Lebanon in the upcoming 2026 Rugby League World Cup, it has been confirmed.
Cheika, who will depart the Tigers at the end of the 2025 Premiership campaign, is the son of Lebanese migrants and headed up the Cedars during the last Rugby League World Cup back in 2022.
Reaching the quarter-finals, where they were knocked out by eventual champions Australia, the Cedars automatically qualified for the 2026 World Cup.
Since his impending departure from Leicester was announced in January, Cheika has been heavily linked with both the Wales rugby union job and a return to the Wallabies, who he led to World Cup glory in 2015.
And though filling a vacancy in the 15-a-side-code is still a possibility, it’s been confirmed that he will be Lebanon’s head coach for next year’s Rugby League World Cup, which takes place across Australia and Papua New Guinea.
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Former Wallabies chief locked in as Lebanon’s 2026 Rugby League World Cup coach
Senior reporter Brad Walter confirmed the news via NRL.com with an in-depth feature surrounding how Cheika will lead a new six-person board in a groundbreaking and strategic collaboration agreement with the Lebanon Rugby League Federation.
The aim of the new board is to drive the growth of men’s and women’s rugby league, enhance domestic competitions and step up preparations for the 2026 Rugby League World Cup.
As part of his duties, the Cedars boss – who spent time in the England camp during last autumn’s Test series against Samoa – is trying to arrange matches for the end of this season.
Lebanon haven’t taken to the field since that quarter-final defeat to the Kangaroos in the last Rugby League World Cup back in November 2022.
Cheika said: “Hopefully I will be able to get there myself soon to run a clinic, go to some of the games and visit the clubs.
“That’s my heritage, I love to go there and see my family who are still there, but to also have the opportunity to be involved in some footy would be great.
“We ran a clinic over there before the World Cup in 2022 and we bought five players from Lebanon to the World Cup, which we will be looking to do again in the coming seasons.
“The Lebanese community doesn’t get to support many of its sporting teams on the world stage and when we were in the World Cup in 2022 so many people in Lebanon contacted me while that was going on, and got involved and got to watch it.
“It gives them an opportunity to see the national flag up on the world stage, and from an Australian diaspora point of view, there are so many good young kids playing with Lebanese heritage so hopefully we can help bring them through not only to the Test arena but to the NRL arena.
“I just think it is our responsibility, given we are lucky enough to be in these positions, to try to create something that has got longevity, and has got enjoyment, and the ability to perform in the shorter term with the World Cup next year.”
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