The schedule for the RUGBY LEAGUE WORLD CUP 2021 has been announced and for the first time in Rugby League World Cup history, the Men’s, Women’s and Wheelchair tournaments will take place together next year. All 61 matches will be played at venues across England between 23rd October and 27th November.  

Hosts England will take on Samoa at London’s St James Park on the opening day of the men’s tournament (23rd October), as reigning champions Australia kick off their campaign to retain their title against Fiji at the KCOM Stadium in Hull.

The women’s tournament gets underway on 9th November as England take on newcomers Brazil at Leeds’ Emerald Headingley Stadium, while the wheelchair tournament will starts at London’s Copper Box Arena and Liverpool’s M&S Bank Arena on 11th November.

If you’d like to sync the full schedule with your calendar, just go here. SYNC

The first game in round 1 for WALES MEN is against COOK ISLANDS MEN on Wednesday 27th October 2021, at Leigh Sports Village starting at 7:30pm. We then play round 2 against TONGA MEN on Monday 1st November at 7:30pm at the Totally Wicked Stadium in St Helens.

The round 3 match is against PAPAU NEW GUINEA MEN on Monday 8th November 2021 at 7:30pm at The Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster.

There’s no Wales Women in the tournament but our first Wheelchair Double Header is against champions FRANCE at the EIS Sheffield at 11am on Friday 12th November 2021. The round 2 Wheelchair Double Header is against the USA, again at the EIS on Monday 15th November at 7:30pm.

Round 3 at the EIS is against SCOTLAND on Thursday 18th November at 1:30pm. Followed by the Semi and finals, which of course we hope to be playing in.

It’s one hell of a schedule and if you’d like to see it, go here. SCHEDULE

The fixtures across the three tournaments will see Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium host its first ever Rugby League match, while Old Trafford will host both the men’s and women’s finals on 27th November 2021.

The World Cup will see 61 fixtures take place across the six-week run, as Australia look to retain their men’s and women’s titles from 2017.

In the women’s tournament, the holders will start their campaign with a fixture against Cook Island at York’s LNER Community Stadium on 10th November.

John Dutton is the RLWC2021 Chief Executive. He said……..

“This is a huge moment for the tournament and for millions of fans in England and around the world as we reveal the full fixture schedule.

The tournament has been gaining momentum over recent months and fans can really look forward to being part of this unique, global event. With match dates and locations confirmed, the excitement will only intensify.”

“RLWC2021 will bring together the very best that the sport has to offer, and you can see from the schedule that there is no end of world class, not-to-be-missed matches, across all three tournaments.”

Tickets for the Rugby League World Cup 2021 will be in huge demand, as you can imagine, especially after our distinct lack of live sport recently. They will be released in three stages; Priority Access, Ticket Ballot and General Sale.

Priority Access will be available from 21st September to the 13th October. These will be for key groups including loyal fans and the Rugby League community.

The Ticket Ballot will then take place on 23rd October, ahead of general sale opening to the public in 2021.

We reckon the best thing to do is get the dates in your calendar and get yourself signed up to the RLWC2021 mailing list for more information. You can do that right here. SIGN UP. When you do that you’ll get……

• Full details ahead of tickets going on sale in 2020
• Registration details for the 20,021 free ticket thank you to key workers
• Schedule information
• Access to exclusive content, news stories and competitions
• Details of volunteering opportunities
• The latest updates from across the tournament

The RLWC site is really good and they even have a free wall chart for us to download, we have and you can too right here. CHART

Finally, take a look at the InspirationALL site.

Rugby League is a way of life for communities across the North of England. It has rare access to hard-to-reach groups in some of the most deprived areas. Hosting the RLWC2021 will give the sport an even more powerful platform from which to connect with these people and improve their economic and social wellbeing. RLWC2021 will amplify these programmes for host partners that will see a long lasting legacy developed for the sport through the InspirationALL programme.