Rugby League World Cup — Records & Statistics
Team, match and attendance records computed directly from our full tournament archive, plus a set of individually-sourced notable individual performances turned up during that research.
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Most World Cup titles: Australia with 12. Biggest final win: 34–2 (2013 Rugby League World Cup). Highest final crowd: 74,468 (2013 Rugby League World Cup).
Team records
| Record | Nation | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Most titles | Australia | 12 |
| Most finals reached | Australia | 15 (12 won, 3 lost) |
| Most tournament appearances | Australia | 16 of 16 |
| Most times hosting | France | 7 tournaments |
Match & tournament records
| Record | Detail | Tournament |
|---|---|---|
| Biggest final win margin | 34–2 (Australia beat New Zealand) | 2013 Rugby League World Cup |
| Highest final attendance | 74,468 | 2013 Rugby League World Cup |
| Lowest final attendance | 4,231 | 1972 Rugby League World Cup |
| Highest average tournament crowd | 35,820 | 1957 Rugby League World Cup |
| Lowest average tournament crowd | 8,235 | 2000 Rugby League World Cup |
| Largest field | 16 teams | 2000 Rugby League World Cup |
| Smallest field | 4 teams | 1954 Rugby League World Cup |
Notable individual performances
Not an exhaustive top-scorers database — we don't have complete player-by-player stats for every match of all 16 tournaments. These are the genuine, individually-sourced highlights turned up during our tournament-by-tournament research (see each linked tournament's own Sources list for the underlying citation).
| Record | Value | Player | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Most goals kicked in a single World Cup tournament | 25 goals (50 points) | Eric Simms (Australia) | 1968, including a then-record 8 goals in the tournament-opening match against Great Britain, repeated against New Zealand. |
| Most goals kicked in a single World Cup match | 10 goals | Eric Simms (Australia) | v New Zealand, opening match, 1970. |
| Fastest try in a World Cup final | Within seconds of kick-off | Bob Fulton (Australia) | 1970 final v Great Britain — described by Wikipedia as probably the fastest try in the format's international history at that point. |
| Most tries scored by an individual at one World Cup | 7 tries | Billy Slater (Australia) | 2008 tournament — the beaten finalists' Johnathan Thurston topped the overall points-scoring table the same year. |
| Individually decisive score in a World Cup final | Golden-point field goal | Stephen Crichton (Samoa) | 2021/2022 semi-final v England — sent Samoa to their first ever World Cup final. |
| Highest individual points-scoring performance against a fellow World Cup nation | 48 points in one match | Hazem El Masri (Lebanon) | v Morocco (104-0), 2000 World Cup qualifying — at the time the most points ever recorded by one player in an international rugby league match. |
All-time combined table
Every nation's Rugby League World Cup record, all editions combined — appearances, titles and runner-up finishes in one table, the same "all tournaments as one giant table" view football reference sites like worldfootball.net run for the FIFA World Cup.
| Rank | Nation | Played | Titles | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Australia | 16 | 12 | 3 |
| 2 | Great Britain | 9 | 3 | 4 |
| 3 | New Zealand | 16 | 1 | 3 |
| 4 | England | 7 | 0 | 3 |
| 5 | France | 16 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | Samoa | 6 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | Papua New Guinea | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Fiji | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | Tonga | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Wales | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | Ireland | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | Scotland | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Italy | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | Lebanon | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | United States | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Cook Islands | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | South Africa | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | Greece | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | Jamaica | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | Russia | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Finals head-to-head
Every pair of nations that has met in a World Cup final, with the overall final record between them. This covers final-match meetings only — a full pool-stage head-to-head would need the complete match-by-match archive we don't have yet (see the Venues page for the same disclosure on group-stage data).
| Pair | Finals | Record | Tournament(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia vs Great Britain | 6 | Australia 4–2 Great Britain | 1957, 1960, 1970, 1972, 1977, 1989–1992 |
| Australia vs New Zealand | 4 | Australia 3–1 New Zealand | 1985–1988, 2000, 2008, 2013 |
| Australia vs England | 3 | Australia 3–0 England | 1975, 1995, 2017 |
| Australia vs France | 1 | Australia 1–0 France | 1968 |
| Australia vs Samoa | 1 | Australia 1–0 Samoa | 2021 |
| France vs Great Britain | 1 | France 0–1 Great Britain | 1954 |
← Rugby League · Champions list · All-time records · Grand Final results · All competitions · Venues · Teams · Players