The 2021 Men's Rugby League World Cup qualification was the qualifying process which will decide the 8 teams that would join the 8 quarter-finalists from the 2017 World Cup including the hosts England, who received an automatic spot, at the 2021 Rugby League World Cup. The process commenced in June 2018, with the commencement of the 2018–19 Rugby League European Championship C tournament, which acted as the first round for European qualification.
Background In October 2016, England was announced as the host the tournament, granting them automatic qualification.
In March 2017, the RLIF confirmed that the 8 quarter-finalists from the 2017 World Cup would receive automatic qualification to the 2021 tournament, along with details of how many slots each region will be allocated: "Seven teams will be qualified from Europe, six from the Asia-Pacific, two from the Americas, and one from a play-off series hosted in Middle East/Africa." Because Lebanon gained automatic qualification, a repechage play-off between the 2nd placed Middle East/Africa team (behind Lebanon), 2nd placed Americas team (behind the Americas qualifying team), and the 7th placed Asia-Pacific team (behind the 6 auto qualifiers) will take place instead of qualifying 2 Americas teams.
The RLIF requires participating nations to hold full or affiliate level membership. The Netherlands are the only such nation that opted to not participate.
Qualified teams
Europe were the only European team to have been guaranteed qualification as they are hosting the tournament. , , , , and all failed to reach the quarter finals of the 2017 World Cup. With the World Cup expanding to 16 teams in 2021, one extra European slot was available in comparison to the 2017 tournament.
The qualification structure is as follows: First round: 4 teams, who are the top-ranked teams in Europe excluding , play in round-robin matches for the 2018 European Championship. The winners and runners-up qualify for the World Cup, with third and fourth place advancing to the third round. Second round: 6 teams divided into two pools of three teams play round-robin matches with the winners and runners-up of each pool qualifying for the World Cup.
First round
The 2018 European Championship acted as the first round of European qualification for the 2021 World Cup and automatically qualified 2 teams to the World Cup; France and Wales. The bottom two nations; Ireland and Scotland, became the top seeds in the third round.
Second round
The second round of European qualification allowed four of the six teams to advance to the World Cup. It was scheduled for October and November 2019 and consisted of , , , , and . The six teams were split into two round-robin pools. The winners and runner-up in each pool qualified for the 2021 World Cup. There was no European qualification to the intercontinental play-off. The qualifiers were Ireland and Italy from Pool A and Scotland and Greece from Pool B.
Pool A
Pool B
Americas
The Americas group comprised four teams and was played as a single elimination knock-out tournament. won the group beating in the first round and then in the final. qualified for the intercontinental play-off by finishing as the runner-up of the tournament.
Inter-regional Repechage The intercontinental play-off consisted of the Americas championship runner up (United States), 7th highest ranked Asia-Pacific team (Cook Islands), and the 2nd highest ranked Middle East-Africa team (South Africa). Cook Islands played South Africa in a preliminary match, which Cook Islands won. They then defeated the United States in the final play-off match, clinching the final place at the World Cup.
Team details FB 1Kayal IroWG 2Paul UlbergCE 3Marata NiukoreCE 4Reubenn RennieWG 5Steven MarstersFE 6Brad Takairangi (c)HB 7Troy DarganPR 8Sam MataoraHK 9Aaron TeroiPR 10Tepai MoeroaSR 14Vincent RennieSR 12Reuben PorterLK 13Pride Petterson-RobatiInterchange:BE 11Brody TamaruaBE 15Eli NoovaoBE 16Moses Noovao-McGrealBE 17John PunaCoach: Tony Iro FB 1Will Smith JnrWG 2Keegan TurnerCE 3Byron HutchinsonCE 4Esje EsterhuizenWG 5Darren O'DonovanFE 6Bevan De VriesHB 7Kam Cryer (c)PR 8Joel TubbsHK 9Edward ProudlerPR 10Ashley BullSR 11Shane Gillham (c)SR 12Ayden PerryLK 13Jonathan SoaresInterchange:BE 14Jason KingBE 15Seth BuckleyBE 18Louis MussonBE 20Allan KasselmanCoach:
Team details FB 1Corey MakelimWG 2Ryan BurroughsCE 3Bureta FaraimoCE 4Elijah IerikoWG 5Jamil RobinsonFE 6Rory HumphreysHB 7Connor DonehuePR 14Mark Offerdahl (c)HK 9Kristian FreedPR 15Sonny PettybourneSR 11Matt ShipwaySR 12Daniel HowardLK 13Eddy PettybourneInterchange:BE 10Tim StubbsBE 17Joe EichnerBE 18Charlie JonesBE 19Kevin Reed JrCoach: Sean Rutgerson FB 1Kayal IroWG 2Paul UlbergCE 3Reubenn RennieCE 4Anthony GellingWG 5Steven MarstersFE 6Brad TakairangiHB 7Troy DarganPR 8Sam MataoraHK 9Aaron TeroiPR 10Vincent RennieSR 11Alex Glenn (c)SR 12Marata NiukoreLK 13Dominique Peyroux Interchange:BE 14Moses Noovao-McGrealBE 15Adam TangataBE 16Uiti BakerBE 17Tevin AronaCoach: Tony Iro
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