2017 Rugby League World Cup qualifying
Fourteen teams will participate in the 2017 Rugby League World Cup. In August 2014 it was announced that seven teams had been granted automatic qualification, with four regional qualification tournaments selecting the remaining seven teams.[1] Qualification began in earnest on 9 May 2015 when Spain played Latvia in a knock-out match, although the European Group B competition (which was used as a preliminary qualification tournament) began on 17 May 2014. As of 12th December 2015, 11 teams have qualified.
Contents
Qualified teams
Eight teams automatically qualified for the World Cup. Seven of the teams which reached the quarter-finals of the 2013 World Cup were granted automatic qualification; the other quarter-finalists, USA, were denied automatic qualification due to an internal governance dispute and instead forced to enter the qualification process.[2] Papua New Guinea were granted automatic qualification as co-hosts in 2015.[3]
Team | Method of qualification |
Date of qualification |
Finals appearance |
Last appearance |
Consecutive finals appearances |
Previous best performance |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Australia | Host | 19 February 2014 | 15th | 2013 | 15 | Winners (1957, 1968, 1970, 1975, 1977, 1988, 1992, 1995, 2000, 2013) |
New Zealand | Host | 19 February 2014 | 15th | 2013 | 15 | Winners (2008) |
England | Automatic qualifier | 5 August 2014 | 6th | 2013 | 5 | Runners-up (1975, 1995) |
Fiji | Automatic qualifier | 5 August 2014 | 4th | 2013 | 4 | Semi-final (2008, 2013) |
France | Automatic qualifier | 5 August 2014 | 15th | 2013 | 15 | Runners-up (1954, 1968) |
Samoa | Automatic qualifier | 5 August 2014 | 5th | 2013 | 5 | Quarter-finals (2000, 2013) |
Scotland | Automatic qualifier | 5 August 2014 | 4th | 2013 | 4 | Quarter-finals (2013) |
Papua New Guinea | Host | 8 October 2015 | 7th | 2013 | 7 | Quarter-finals (2000) |
Tonga | Asia-Pacific play-off winner | 17 October 2015 | 5th | 2013 | 5 | Group stage (1995, 2000, 2008, 2013) |
Lebanon | Middle East-Africa play-off winner | 31 October 2015 | 2nd | 2000 | 1 | Group stage (2000) |
United States | Americas qualifying group winner | 12 December 2015 | 2nd | 2013 | 2 | Quarter-finals (2013) |
Europe
Three teams will qualify from this region. A two-group, round-robin tournament will take place in autumn 2016 to determine the qualifying nations - this will be contested by the winners of the European C tournament, the top three teams from the European B tournament, and seeded nations Wales and Ireland.[4]
Preliminary rounds
Preliminary play-off
9 May 2015 | Latvia | 12–32 | Spain | Upesciema Stadionā, Riga |
- Latvia was eliminated and Spain advanced to the European C tournament.[5]
European Championship C
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The winners of the European C tournament advanced to the final qualifying tournament.
Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Difference | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Spain | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 116 | 34 | +82 | 4 |
Malta | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 60 | 40 | +20 | 2 |
Greece | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 106 | -102 | 0 |
26 September 2015 | Spain | 40–30 | Malta | Valencia, Spain |
10 October 2015 | Malta | 30–01 | Greece | Marsa, Malta |
17 October 2015 | Greece | 4–76 | Spain | Athens, Greece |
- ^ Malta were awarded a 30-0 victory by the RLEF after Greece defaulted. The Hellenic Federation of Rugby League has struggled to keep financially stable due to Greece's recent economic troubles. The Greek side was unable to make the trip to Malta following the withdrawal of two sponsors.[6]
European Championship B
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The top three teams from the 2014–15 European B tournament advanced to the final qualifying tournament.
Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Difference | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Serbia | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 196 | 73 | +123 | 10 |
Russia | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 137 | 31 | +106 | 8 |
Italy | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 142 | 54 | +88 | 6 |
Ukraine | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 80 | 256 | –176 | 0 |
17 May 2014 | Serbia | 40–14 | Ukraine | Zeleznicar Stadium, Nis |
24 May 2014 | Russia | 24–18 | Ukraine | Vereya Stadium, Vereya |
21 June 2014 | Russia | 20–6 | Serbia | Nara Stadium, Narofominsk |
5 July 2014 | Italy | 54–12 | Ukraine | Stadio Comunale, Gemona del Friuli |
26 July 2014 | Italy | 22–18 | Russia | Stadio Comunale, Gemona del Friuli |
10 September 2014 | Serbia | 45–6 | Italy | Makiš Stadium, Belgrade |
16 May 2015 | Serbia | 20–15 | Russia | Makiš Stadium, Belgrade |
20 June 2015 | Italy | 14–21 | Serbia | Stadio Comunale, Gemona del Friuli |
4 July 2015 | Ukraine | 20–34 | Russia | Makiš Stadium, Belgrade1 |
18 July 2015 | Ukraine | 12–40 | Italy | National University of Ukraine, Irpin |
12 September 2015 | Russia | 26–6 | Italy | Fily Stadium, Moscow |
12 September 2015 | Ukraine | 4–64 | Serbia | FC Locomotive Stadium, Chop |
- Notes
- ^ Match moved to neutral territory due to travel restrictions following the 2014–15 Russian military intervention in Ukraine[7]
Primary round
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The final qualification tournament will consist of 6 teams - the top three teams from the European B tournament, the winners of the European C tournament and seeded nations Wales and Ireland. The tournament will feature two groups of three teams playing in a single round-robin format. The winners of each group will qualify for the World Cup, while the runners-up will face each other in a play-off match on 5 November 2016 to determine the final spot. A seeded draw will take place to determine the groups on 5 November 2015.
Key to colours in pool tables
|
|
---|---|
Qualifies for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup | |
Qualifies for play-off match for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup | |
Fails to qualify for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup |
Group A
Team
|
Pld | W | D | L | TF | PF | PA | +/− | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wales | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | 0 |
Serbia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | 0 |
Italy | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | 0 |
15 October 2016 | Wales | v | Serbia | Stebonheath Park, Llanelli |
22/23 October 2016 | Serbia | v | Italy | |
29 October 2016 | Italy | v | Wales | Stadio Brianteo, Monza |
Group B
Team
|
Pld | W | D | L | TF | PF | PA | +/− | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Russia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | 0 |
Ireland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | 0 |
Spain | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | 0 |
15 October 2016 | Russia | v | Spain | Fili Stadium, Moscow |
22/23 October 2016 | Spain | v | Ireland | |
29/30 October 2016 | Ireland | v | Russia |
Qualifying play-off
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5 November 2016 | Group 1 runner-up | v | Group 2 runner-up | Leigh Sports Village, Leigh, England |
Asia-Pacific
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Two qualifying places were initially allocated to this region. Papua New Guinea were granted automatic qualification in 2015 after being confirmed as co-hosts, leaving one additional team to qualify from this region. A single play-off between Tonga and Cook Islands determined the final qualifier.
17 October 2015 | Tonga | 28–8 | Cook Islands | Campbelltown Stadium, Campbelltown, Australia |
Americas
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One team qualified from this region. A three-team round robin tournament was held in Florida in December 2015 to determine the qualifier.[8]
Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
United States | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 54 | 38 | +16 | 4 |
Jamaica | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 32 | 38 | –6 | 1 |
Canada | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 42 | 52 | –10 | 1 |
4 December 2015 | United States | 20–14 | Jamaica | Hodges Stadium, Jacksonville, Florida |
8 December 2015 | Canada | 18–18 | Jamaica | Spec Martin Stadium, DeLand, Florida |
12 December 2015 | United States | 34–24 | Canada | Hodges Stadium, Jacksonville, Florida |
Middle East-Africa
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One team qualified from this region. A two match series was held between South Africa and Lebanon to determine the qualifier.[9]
25 October 2015 | South Africa | 12–40 | Lebanon | Brakpan Stadium, Pretoria |
31 October 2015 | South Africa | 16–50 | Lebanon | Brakpan Stadium, Pretoria |
References
- ↑ QUALIFICATION DETAILS FOR 2017 RUGBY LEAGUE WORLD CUP ANNOUNCED, rlef.eu.com, 3 August 2014
- ↑ Scotland qualify for 2017 World Cup after RLIF announce seven automatic places for quarter-finalists from 2013 World Cup dailymail.co.uk, 3 August 2014
- ↑ Papua New Guinea to co-host Rugby League World Cup
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- ↑ Rugby League World Cup Qualifiers Awarded to Jacksonville & Deland, FL.
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