Rugby League World Cup hosts
Seven countries have hosted and co-hosted the Rugby League World Cup. England, France, Australia and New Zealand have hosted the World Cup on multiple occasions and the tournament has never been played outside its traditional 'heartlands' in these areas. The International Rugby League is responsible for picking hosts. From 1954 to 1960 the world cup was held triennially, however from 1960 to 2008 World Cups were sporadic. In this time period hosts were picked and tournaments were arranged between the four traditional rugby league playing countries and the IRL. From 2013 World Cups were held quadrennially and countries have to send an application and bids to the IRL to host the World Cup as more teams participate in international rugby league. List of hosts Men's NB: As Great Britain was the IRL nation until 1995, the United Kingdom is used to refer to host nations before this time regardless of the number of home nations which actually hosted the tournament. Women's NB: As Great Britain was the IRL nation until 2003, the United Kingdom is used to refer to host nations before this time regardless of the number of home nations which actually hosted the tournament. Wheelchair Host bids (Men's only from 2030) 2013 Bids: / Australia bid for the 2013 World Cup following their success of hosting the 2008 World Cup. The Rugby Football League (RFL) also submitted a bid for England and Wales to host the World Cup for the first time since 2000. The RFL bid was later accepted. Winners: / 2017 Bids: / / South Africa bid to host the 2017 World Cup hoping to be the first African nation to host a rugby league World Cup believing that they help grow the game internationally. Australia also bid for the hosting rights again but with the help of New Zealand to co host. The RLIF accepted Australia and New Zealand's bid to host the 2017 World Cup as there would be more chance of the tournament being a success although South Africa was praised for their growing domestic game. Winners: / / 2021 (Held in 2022) Bids: / Withdrawn bids On 15 April 2015, the UAE expressed interest in biding for the World Cup with a formal bid being later materialised. The UAERL believed the country has the facilities, as well as the financial backing and infrastructure to host the World Cup. The bid was later cancelled after rugby union officials in the UAE had the leader of the bid arrested for "managing a sporting body which is not registered and therefore not recognised by the relevant government authority". On 25 November 2015 England's RFL announced it had government backed plans to host the 2021 World Cup after the success of 2013. The RFL put in an official bid for the 2021 World Cup on 30 June 2016 with £15m funding from the government and the aim to have over 1 million spectators. The USARL put a bid in with the hope to grow the sport