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Australia have been confirmed as the host nation for the 2026 Rugby League World Cup, with some games also set to take place in Papua New Guinea.
The Kangaroos are the current world champions and will now get the chance to defend their title on home soil in two years time.
France was due to stage the World Cup in 2025 but failed to receive the required backing from the government, so withdrew.
Australia will now take it on and will also host the women's and wheelchair World Cups at the same time.
Let's take a look at what we know so far.
World Cup dates
The full schedule for the 2026 Rugby League World Cup has yet to be unveiled, but the tournament will take place in October/November.
Competing nations
Had it taken place in 2025, the World Cup was set to feature 16 nations, but this has now been cut to just 10 teams for 2026.
Eight teams have qualified so far and they are as follows:
Australia, England, Fiji, Lebanon, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Tonga.
The eight will be joined by two more nations after next year's inaugural World Series.
Eight teams will take place in the women's and wheelchair World Cups.
Host nation
Australia will be the host nation of the 2026 World Cup, but as things stand, the states and venues that host the fixtures, have yet to be decided.
But in an exciting development for the game of Rugby League, some games will also be held in Papua New Guinea.
The International Rugby League (IRL), the governing body, are keen to see the game expand in the Pacific, and handing PNG some fixtures, will help the cause.
Tonga and Samoa have already emerged as Pacific 'powerhouses' and will be looking to shine once again in 2026.
Competition will be strong
Australia will of course be the hot fancies to win the 2026 World Cup and defend the title they won in England in 2022.
Wherever the tournament was played, that would be the case, but on home soil they will be even stronger.
However they will not have it all their own way and Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga has predicted the 2026 World Cup will be stronger than ever before.
Meninga puts that down to the fact that a whole host of players, who will be at the world cup, will be playing their rugby league in the NRL.
More and more English players are heading over to the NRL to play and are holding their own with the best in the competition.
Young players such as Dominic Young, Will Pryce, Morgan Smithies and Kai Pearce-Paul are all catching the eye.
In two years time, they will be even stronger, which will bode well for England's chances of doing well down under.
"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," Meninga was also quick to point out.
