2013 RUGBY LEAGUE WORLD CUP

 

Host Nation - Great Britain (England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales) with possible games in France.

Number of Teams - 14

2013 World Cup Snapshot - Just prior to the 2008 Rugby League World Cup the RFL (Rugby Football League) confirmed that England had drawn up plans to host the 2013 World Cup. On the back of the success of the 2008 World Cup the ARL (Australian Rugby League) also intended to bid to rehost the tournament. After much speculation on the 28th of July 2009 Richard Lewis announced that Great Britain would be hosting the tournament.

The 2013 Rugby League World Cup will be the 14th instalment of the oldest rugby World Cup tournament on the planet. Most games will be played in England with Ireland, Scotland, Wales and France also in contention to host games. The 2013 World Cup will build on the success of the 2008 World Cup. On the 23rd of February 2010 after a meeting by the Rugby League International Federation (RLIF) in Singapore, it was announced to everyone's surprise that the number of participating nations would increase from 10 to 14 for the 2013 Rugby League World Cup.

The other major change announced by the RLIF on the 23rd of February is that 12 nations would automatically qualify with the remaining two places contested via 8 teams in World Cup qualifying games. The RLIF are set to announced all teams taking part in the World Cup and the qualifiers towards the end of the 2010 season and possibly around the Four Nations tournament.

Richard Lewis from the RFL has indicated that the 2013 Rugby League World Cup will see a majority of games played in rugby league heartlands in the North of England. The official World Cup launch will be during the 2010 season with the tournament scheduled for late in 2013 after the NRL and Super League seasons.

The World Cup qualifiers are set to start in 2011 involving eight teams playing for the remaining two places available.

2013 Rugby League World Cup Group Format

Fourteen teams will be split up into four groups. More then likely the highly successful Super Pool will be retained with a possible change to how teams qualify for the semi-final.

Group One - 4 teams

Group Two - 4 teams

Group Three - 3 teams

Group Four - 3 teams

2013 Rugby League World Cup Finals Format

The format is still to be released but it is possible that the top teams in Group One and Two will qualify for the semi final while the 2nd place teams in Group One and Two will battle it out against the winners of Group Three and Four in qualifying semi final.

The winners of the qualifying semi final will meet the winners of Group One and Two in the Semi Final the following week.

The winner of both semi-finals will play each other a week later in the World Cup Final at Wembley Stadium.

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