Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium is expected to win hosting rights for the 2026 Rugby League World Cup final.
Australia will host the delayed and twice relocated tournament with minimal support from New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, with the men’s World Cup shrinking to ten teams next year after it was 16 at the last iteration in England.
It has been widely tipped that Sydney – with Allianz Stadium the likely venue – was going to receive the final, but News Corp is now reporting the Queensland government has swooped in to win the rights to the match.
While not confirmed yet, Suncorp Stadium is no stranger to hosting big matches, including Origins and previous World Cup finals, with Brisbane hosting the final in each of Australia’s last two home tournaments, 2008 and 2017.
On those occasions, Australia lost to New Zealand 34-20 (2008) and got the better of England 6-0 (2017) in a low-scoring affair.
The ten teams for the 2026 version will be confirmed this weekend, with the Cook Islands taking on South Africa in a shootout for the final spot. France recently beat Jamaica for the other qualification spot in the northern hemisphere, while the other eight teams are the sides that qualified for the quarter-finals at the last World Cup in Australia, England, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga, Lebanon and Fiji.
The draw will then be announced with the NRL looking to make the most of the current groundswell of support for the international game, with crowds up in both hemispheres.
The Australian NRL authorities were recently handed full control of the draw by the IRL.
