Australia v New Zealand: men’s Rugby League World Cup – live

The story

Source: The Guardian Sport · NewTimes editorial text based on the source feed.

Updates as the Kangaroos and Kiwis open the tournament in Sydney Kick-off time is 8.05pm AEDT/10.05pm NZDT/10.05am BST Any thoughts?

Get in touch with an email Participants : The 2026 men’s RLWC features ten teams.

Eight of these qualified via their performances at the last world cup, back in 2022.

That is: Australia, New Zealand, England, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, PNG, and Lebanon.

The first seven countries in that list also happen to be the top seven on the IRL rankings; Lebanon are a lowly 23rd.

The remaining qualifiers, France and Cook Islands, won regional playoffs.

Cook Islands are ranked eighth in the world, by the way, France recently held that position but have slipped to 11th.

In other words, the cream of the crop will be on display.

The tournament will be played under NRL rules, including six players on the interchange bench wi