1954 Rugby League World Cup
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
1954 Rugby League World Cup result: Great Britain won the title, beating France 16–12 in the final. Hosted by France.
Full match archive (7 games)
Groups
World Cup Table
| Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | Diff | Pts | Form |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great Britain | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 67 | 32 | +35 | 5 | WDW |
| France | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 50 | 31 | +19 | 5 | WDW |
| Australia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 52 | 58 | -6 | 2 | LWL |
| New Zealand | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 34 | 82 | -48 | 0 | LLL |
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 Oct 1954 | France 22–13 New Zealand | Parc des Princes, Paris, France | N/A |
| 31 Oct 1954 | Australia 13–28 Great Britain | Stade de Gerland, Lyon, France | N/A |
| 7 Nov 1954 | Australia 34–15 New Zealand | Stade Vélodrome, Marseille, France | N/A |
| 7 Nov 1954 | France 13–13 Great Britain | Stadium de Toulouse, Toulouse, France | N/A |
| 11 Nov 1954 | France 15–5 Australia | Stade Marcel Saupin, Nantes, France | N/A |
| 11 Nov 1954 | Great Britain 26–6 New Zealand | Stade Chaban Delmas, Bordeaux, France | N/A |
Knockout stage
Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13 Nov 1954 | Great Britain 16–12 France | Parc des Princes, Paris, France | 30,368 |
Tournament facts
| Host | France |
| Dates | 30 October – 13 November 1954 |
| Teams | 4 |
| Games played | 7 |
| Players used | 66 |
| Average crowd | 19,761 |
Teams (4)
Context
The first Rugby League World Cup of any code — the concept was a French initiative, born out of the French game's post-war financial hardship; the trophy itself was donated by the French federation.
Rugby league's first ever World Cup — in fact the first World Cup staged by either code of rugby, six years before the sport of association football had its own idea copied back at it repeatedly for the rest of the century. Matches were spread across six French cities (Paris, Marseille, Toulouse, Lyon, Bordeaux and Nantes), each a rugby league stronghold in a France still rebuilding the professional game after Vichy France banned it outright during the Second World War. Great Britain won the tournament by beating hosts France in the final in Paris, a result that also doubled as validation of the French code's revival. The six host venues ranged from the 20,000-capacity Stade Marcel-Saupin in Nantes up to the 49,000-capacity Stade Vélodrome in Marseille, reflecting how deeply professional rugby league had already taken root across provincial France by the mid-1950s, not just in Paris. The trophy itself, donated by French federation figure Paul Barrière and reportedly worth eight million francs at the time, later gave its name to the modern World Cup trophy — renamed the Paul Barrière Trophy ahead of the 2017 edition in his honour. Total attendance across the seven matches reached 138,329, and England hooker Jimmy Ledgard finished the tournament's leading points-scorer with 29, while Great Britain's Gordon Brown scored a tournament-high six tries.
Sources
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