1968 Rugby League World Cup
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
1968 Rugby League World Cup result: Australia won the title, beating France 20–2 in the final. Hosted by Australia & New Zealand.
Full match archive (7 games)
Groups
World Cup Table
| Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | Diff | Pts | Form |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 93 | 26 | +67 | 6 | WWW |
| France | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 49 | -23 | 4 | WWL |
| Great Britain | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 50 | 46 | +4 | 2 | LLW |
| New Zealand | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 36 | 84 | -48 | 0 | LLL |
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25 May 1968 | New Zealand 10–15 France | Carlaw Park, Auckland, New Zealand | 18,000 |
| 25 May 1968 | Australia 25–10 Great Britain | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, Australia | 62,256 |
| 1 Jun 1968 | Australia 31–12 New Zealand | Lang Park, Brisbane, Australia | 23,608 |
| 2 Jun 1968 | France 7–2 Great Britain | Carlaw Park, Auckland, New Zealand | 15,760 |
| 8 Jun 1968 | Australia 37–4 France | Lang Park, Brisbane, Australia | 32,664 |
| 8 Jun 1968 | Great Britain 38–14 New Zealand | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, Australia | 14,105 |
Knockout stage
Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 Jun 1968 | Australia 20–2 France | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, Australia | 54,290 |
Tournament facts
| Host | Australia & New Zealand |
| Dates | 25 May – 10 June 1968 |
| Teams | 4 |
| Games played | 7 |
| Players used | 75 |
| Average crowd | 31,526 |
Teams (4)
Context
The first co-hosted World Cup, and the first tournament to prearrange a dedicated final match rather than settle the title on table position.
The first World Cup with a genuine, prearranged final rather than a round-robin table deciding the champion, and the first played under the newly-introduced limited-tackle rule (four tackles). Australia went through the pool stage unbeaten and beat France comfortably in the final at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Kangaroos goalkicker Eric Simms landed 25 goals across the tournament, a World Cup record at the time. The pool match between Great Britain and Australia drew 62,256 fans, the biggest crowd for any World Cup match until 1992, and the tournament turned a profit for the first time in the competition's history. Australia's win made it back-to-back titles after 1957, and remains the tournament most closely associated with the code's move to the modern limited-tackle rule that shapes the sport to this day. Simms had actually made his international debut in the tournament's opening match, kicking a then-record eight goals against Great Britain and repeating the feat against New Zealand on the way to his 25-goal, 50-point tournament haul. Total attendance across the seven matches reached 220,683, and the Great Britain-Australia pool clash alone drew 62,256 — a World Cup attendance record that stood until the 1990s. Simms played his club football for South Sydney, and the limited-tackle rule his goalkicking exploited had itself only been adopted two years earlier, in 1966, specifically to stop teams simply refusing to pass or kick and running down the clock with dead, uncontested possession — a loophole most notoriously exploited by Workington Town in a 1951 semi-final.
Sources
← 1960 Rugby League World Cup1970 Rugby League World Cup →
← Rugby League · Champions list · All-time records · Grand Final results · All competitions · Venues · Teams · Players