World Cup 2026 to be most competitive ever: Meninga

Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga has predicted that the 2026 Rugby League World Cup in Australia will be the most competitive in the 70-year history of the tournament.

And Meninga said current players aspired to play in a World Cup the same way those of his era dreamed of going on a Kangaroo tour to England every four years.

The ARLC was awarded hosting rights by International Rugby League for RLWC2026, which will be the last to feature Men’s, Women’s and Wheelchair World Cups, and will include matches in Papua New Guinea, as well as Australia.

The men’s tournament will be contested by 10 teams, with the RLWC2022 quarter-finalists – Australia, Samoa, New Zealand, England, Lebanon, Tonga, Fiji and PNG – to be joined by two more nations after next year’s inaugural World Series.

With the overwhelming majority of players at RLWC2026 set to be drawn from the NRL, Meninga said the quality of the teams and standard of matches would be the best of any World Cup since the concept began in 1954 in France. 

“If you look at the number of Englishmen playing in the NRL now, the make-up of the England team in 2026 will be very formidable,” Meninga said.

“You have got more and more English players coming out here each year now and they are coming at a younger age, so they won’t be overawed.

“The percentage of Polynesians and Melanesians playing in the NRL is just over 50% so there will be some really strong Pacific Island teams, as well.

"Obviously, all of the Kangaroos and Kiwis players play in the NRL, so it is going to be very, very competitive.

“In fact, I think it will be the most competitive World Cup that has ever been - for men and for women, too.

“With the number of teams in the NRLW increasing there are more players who will be looking for an opportunity to play for their nations and the Pacific Islands will have formidable teams.”

Under Meninga, the Kangaroos won RLWC2017 in Australia and the last World Cup in England in 2022.

However, Tonga, in 2017, and Samoa, in 2022, have emerged as Pacific powerhouses, while Fiji has been a consistent force since 2008, and the Kumuls are also on the rise.

The World Cup is the pinnacle of our game, and it has taken over from the old Kangaroo tours, because there is now a World Cup every four years.

Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga

Samoa created history by becoming the first Pacific nation to qualify for a World Cup final in 2022 after a stunning extra-time semi-final defeat of England and they will have much greater support in Australia, as will Tonga, Fiji and PNG.

With the ARLC announcing that some matches would be staged in PNG, the Kumuls and Orchids are likely to have the added advantage of playing in front of their fanatical fans.

The Kumuls won last year’s Pacific Bowl final against Fiji at Santos National Stadium in Port Moresby, while the Kiwis triumphed over Australia in the final of the Pacific Championships by a record 30-0 scoreline.

In contrast to the last World Cup, which some nations entered without having played for three years due to COVID-19, Meninga said teams would be better prepared through regular international fixtures at the end of each season.

“By the time that 2026 comes around we will have had another two years of international rugby league, with the Pacific Championships and Samoa touring England this year, and then England coming here next year, plus the Pacific Championships again,” Meninga said.

“International rugby league is about the passion and the culture of all the nations, and it is a great time to be involved in rugby league.

“The World Cup is the pinnacle of our game, and it has taken over from the old Kangaroo tours, because there is now a World Cup every four years so that becomes a significant milestone in a player’s careers.”

Panthers superstar Nathan Cleary, who won the Kangaroos No.7 jersey from Daly Cherry-Evans at the last World Cup in England, said he was hoping to experience playing in RLWC2026 on Australian soil.

“The whole experience of the World Cup was something I really enjoyed, and I was lucky enough to do that in England, but now to be able to do it at home would be pretty amazing,” Cleary told NRL.com.

“I’m sure we will get a lot of fans behind it and get good crowds to the games. We saw teams like Samoa, who came out of nowhere to put on a show, get a lot of support in the last World Cup and I think that will be even more so in Australia.”