Rugby League World Cup 2030 to be staged in Pacific-USA with eligibility rules updated and Tonga, Samoa given Tier 1 status

The competitions will be played with a 'Magic Round' format that will see the teams arrive in a host city for a round of the tournaments before moving on.

The IRL board has also approved changes to international eligibility rules to increase the pool of players available to nations and they have endorsed the elevation of Tonga and Samoa to Men's Tier 1 status, subject to consultation with both teams.

The elevation of Samoa and Tonga as Tier 1 nations would be in recognition of their performances on and off the field, with both nations reaching the semi-finals of RLWC26. Samoa became the first Pacific nation to play in a World Cup final in 2022, while Tonga are the only Tier 2 nation to have defeated Australia, England and New Zealand.

The IRL board has also agreed to extend the eligibility criteria for players to be eligible to represent their nation of heritage if either they, a parent, a grandparent or a great grandparent were born there, the great grandparent element being added.

The decision comes off the back of a submission from Cook Islands given their small population of less than 20,000 and the movement of Cook Islanders to larger countries for work, study or other purposes.

The wheelchair tournament looks set to be hosted in France at the same time, while the men's tournament will increase from 10 to 12 teams, with the women's increasing from eight to 10.

IRL chair Troy Grant said: "The IRL board has decided that the next Rugby League World Cup for men and women in 2030 will be staged in the Pacific-USA. The next Wheelchair World Cup is going to be run at the same time in France.

"This is a strategy to maximise the interest of broadcasters, government partners and fans in the current World Cup, which has regularly broken records for crowds and the number of television viewers because of the outstanding skill, intensity and passion of the players and teams.

"At the same time we want to take advantage of opportunities that are opening up in new frontiers where the Rugby League World Cup hasn't previously been played.

"The World Cup under its current format runs for five weeks and RLWC30 is going to be run in five locations across the Pacific and USA. We haven't decided where yet; we are going to market and will look at the strategic placement of which cities we go to.

"The cities will be ones that have the appropriate stadia to run matches over multiple days to get all of the pool matches played in one location.

"This will be similar to a Magic Round, so IRL Rugby League World Cup 2030 will arrive in town, the stadium will be activated and there will be a lot of opportunities to promote the teams and the game. The World Cup will then move to the next city that is identified.

"There are three weeks where every nation is involved and then we have semi-finals and finals.

"The format for what that will look like is yet to be decided and nations were asked for feedback during the IRL AGM and Congress in Sydney over the weekend."

The IRL board has also proposed that the 2034 Rugby League World Cup be played under a similar format in Europe, coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the game in France, which was behind the establishment of the World Cup in 1954.