Wales Rugby League World Cup qualifiers announced

Wales were beaten 36-0 by Papua New Guinea in their last international match

Wales will begin their bid to qualify for the men's 2026 Rugby League World Cup against Serbia in Carcassonne, France, on 22 October.

The winners will face the winners of France v Ukraine in Perpignan four days later.

If Wales win both those games, they will qualify for the inaugural 2025 World Series and face Jamaica, South Africa and Cook Islands.

Each side will play each other once, with the top two sides progressing to the World Cup.

Australia will host the men's, women's and wheelchair World Cups in October and November 2026, with games also in Papua New Guinea.

The Kangaroos have won the men's tournament a record 12 times, including the past three editions.

The men's tournament has been cut from 16 teams to 10, while there will be eight teams in each of the women's and wheelchair tournaments.

The women's team qualified for the first time as they defeated Netherlands 48-6 in June.

Wales' wheelchair side have also booked their place as they were semi-finalists in the last World Cup in 2021.

Wales men's head coach John Kear said: “We’re excited by the challenge and opportunity that lies ahead of us in the autumn.

“Whenever a Welshman pulls on that red jersey, they take their performance to another level and that’s what we’ll have to do to be successful in these fixtures.

"It was fantastic to see our women’s team qualify for a first ever World Cup in June.

"We’ll be doing everything we can to take one step closer to joining them.”

Wales last played a full international at the 2022 Rugby League World Cup as they were beaten 36-0 by Papua New Guinea in their final pool D match.

France defeated Wales 34-10 in a friendly in June 2022, the last time the sides met.