Papua New Guinea at the Rugby League World Cup

Papua New Guinea have competed in seven editions of the Rugby League World Cup. Their best finish is the quarter-finals, which they have reached in two tournaments.

Tournament history

World Cup record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	L	D
1954–1977	Did not participate
1985–88	Fourth place	4/5	8	2	6	0
1989–92	Fifth place	5/5	8	0	8	0
1995	Group stage	6/10	2	0	1	1
2000	Quarter-finals	6/16	4	3	1	0
2008	Group stage	10/10	3	0	3	0
2013	Group stage	13/14	3	0	3	0
2017	Quarter-finals	5/14	4	3	1	0
2021	Qualified
2025	To be determined
Total	0 Titles		32	8	23	1

Tournaments

Key

Colour	Meaning
	Qualifiers to the next round

1985-1988

Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Difference	Points
Australia	8	6	0	2	252	91	+161	121
New Zealand	8	5	1	2	158	86	+72	111
Great Britain	8	4	2	2	203	90	+113	10
Papua New Guinea	8	2	0	6	84	325	−241	41
France	8	1	1	6	35	140	−105	3

¹ France's 1987 away fixtures against Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea were scratched and each team awarded two points as the French were unable to tour Australasia that year due to financial difficulties.

1989-1992

Key to colours in group tables
Advances to the Final

Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Difference	Points
Australia	8	8	0	0	236	68	+168	16
Great Britain	8	5	0	3	215	79	+136	10
New Zealand	8	5	0	3	203	120	+83	10
France	8	2	0	6	80	247	−167	4
Papua New Guinea	8	0	0	8	84	304	−220	0

1995

Further information: 1995 Rugby League World Cup Group B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
New Zealand	2	2	0	0	47	30	+17	4	Advanced to knockout stage
Tonga	2	0	1	1	52	53	−1	1
Papua New Guinea	2	0	1	1	34	50	−16	1

Round	Score	Opposition	Venue
Group Stage	28–28	Tonga	The Boulevard, Hull
	6-22	New Zealand	Knowsley Road, St Helens

2000

Further information: 2000 Rugby League World Cup

Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Diff	Points
Papua New Guinea	3	3	0	0	69	42	27	6
France	3	2	0	1	104	37	67	4
Tonga	3	1	0	2	96	76	20	2
South Africa	3	0	0	3	24	138	−114	0

Round	Score	Opposition	Venue
Group Stage	23–20	France	Charlety Stadium, Paris
	16–0	South Africa	Stadium de Toulouse, Toulouse
	30–22	Tonga	Stadium Municipal d'Albi, Albi
Quarter-Final	8–22	Wales	Auto Quest Stadium, Widnes

2008

Further information: 2008 Rugby League World Cup

Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Diff	Points
Australia	3	3	0	0	128	16	112	6
New Zealand	3	2	0	1	90	60	30	4
England	3	1	0	2	60	110	-50	2
Papua New Guinea	3	0	0	3	34	126	−92	0

Round	Score	Opposition	Venue
Group Stage	22–32	England	Willows Sports Complex, Townsville
	6–48	New Zealand	Robina Stadium, Gold Coast
	6–46	Australia	Willows Sports Complex, Townsville

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2013

Main article: 2013 Rugby League World Cup

Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Diff	Points
New Zealand	3	3	0	0	146	34	112	6
Samoa	3	2	0	1	84	52	32	4
France	3	1	0	2	15	78	-63	2
Papua New Guinea	3	0	0	3	22	103	−81	0

Round	Score	Opposition	Venue
Group Stage	8–9	France	Craven Park, Hull
	4–38	Samoa	Craven Park, Hull
	10–56	New Zealand	Headingley, Leeds

2017

Main article: 2017 Rugby League World Cup Group C

See also: 2017 Rugby League World Cup inter-group matches

Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
Papua New Guinea	3	3	0	0	128	12	+116	6	Advanced to knockout stage
Ireland	3	2	0	1	76	32	+44	4
Wales	3	0	0	3	18	156	−138	0

Round	Score	Opposition	Venue
Group Stage	50–6	Wales	National Football Stadium
	14-6	Ireland	National Football Stadium
	64-0	United States	National Football Stadium
Quarter-Final	6–36	England	Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, Melbourne

2021

Further information: 2021 Rugby League World Cup Group D

18 October 2022	Tonga	v	Papua New Guinea	Totally Wicked Stadium, St Helens
25 October 2022	Papua New Guinea	v	Cook Islands	Halliwell Jones Stadium, Warrington
31 October 2022	Papua New Guinea	v	Wales	Eco-Power Stadium, Doncaster

Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Diff	Points
Papua New Guinea	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tonga	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Wales	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Cook Islands	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0