1960 Rugby League World Cup
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
1960 Rugby League World Cup result: Great Britain won the title, beating Australia 10–3 in the final. Hosted by Great Britain.
Full match archive (6 games)
Groups
World Cup Table
| Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | Diff | Pts | Form |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great Britain | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 66 | 18 | +48 | 6 | WWW |
| Australia | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 37 | 37 | +0 | 4 | WWL |
| New Zealand | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 32 | 44 | -12 | 2 | LLW |
| France | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 19 | 55 | -36 | 0 | LLL |
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24 Sep 1960 | Great Britain 23–8 New Zealand | Odsal Stadium, Bradford, England | 20,577 |
| 24 Sep 1960 | Australia 13–12 France | Central Park, Wigan, England | 20,278 |
| 1 Oct 1960 | Australia 21–15 New Zealand | Headingley, Leeds, England | 10,773 |
| 1 Oct 1960 | Great Britain 33–7 France | Station Road, Swinton, England | 22,923 |
| 8 Oct 1960 | France 0–9 New Zealand | Central Park, Wigan, England | 2,876 |
| 8 Oct 1960 | Great Britain 10–3 Australia | Odsal Stadium, Bradford, England | 33,023 |
Tournament facts
| Host | Great Britain |
| Dates | 24 September – 8 October 1960 |
| Teams | 4 |
| Games played | 6 |
| Players used | 67 |
| Average crowd | 18,262 |
Teams (4)
Sourcing caveat: An earlier automated read of the Wikipedia article returned a garbled, internally-inconsistent attendance figure (2,876) for this decisive match alongside the correct 32,773 in the same summary. Rugby League Planet's independent write-up confirms 32,773 (and the 10-3 scoreline) directly, which is what's published here — flagged in case any other secondary source repeats the smaller, incorrect figure.
Context
The third World Cup, and the first hosted in Britain.
Great Britain went through the round-robin unbeaten to win the World Cup for the second time, sealing it with a 10-3 win over Australia in front of 32,773 at a muddy Odsal Stadium in Bradford on the tournament's final day — by some distance the biggest crowd of the tournament, since live television coverage of the other pool matches had depressed attendances elsewhere. Australia's tour of Britain and France that year doubled as their World Cup campaign, the same dual-purpose touring format the sport used repeatedly in this era. It was Great Britain's second World Cup title in three tournaments (after 1954), and their first since that inaugural edition. Total attendance across the six matches reached 110,200, averaging 18,367 per game — well down on 1957 — which organisers largely attributed to full live television coverage of the pool matches discouraging fans from paying to attend once a result felt like a foregone conclusion. Once the World Cup itself had been settled, Great Britain played one further exhibition match against a Rest of the World select side, winning 33-27 — the same tour that doubled as Australia's World Cup campaign also continued on afterward with separate short club-level fixtures against New Zealand.
Sources
← 1957 Rugby League World Cup1968 Rugby League World Cup →
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