2008 Rugby League World Cup qualifying matches took place from April 2006 to November 2007. Of the ten teams to compete in the

2008 Rugby League World Cup The 2008 Rugby League World Cup was the thirteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup since its inauguration in 1954, and the first since the 2000 tournament. The tournament was held in Australia from 26 October, culminating in the final b ...

, five of them qualified based on their performance in these matches. The other five teams had qualified automatically.

Qualified teams

6 Asian-Pacific teams qualified for the World Cup; 3 qualified automatically, with the top 2 in the Pacific qualifying group also reaching the finals. Samoa finished third in the Pacific qualifying group and earned a qualification spot by winning the

repechage Repechage (; french: repêchage, "fishing out, rescuing") is a practice in series competitions that allows participants who failed to meet qualifying standards by a small margin to continue to the next round. A well known example is the wild car ...

. 4 European teams qualified for the World Cup. 2 qualified automatically, with a further 2 finals berths for the winner of each European qualifying group. No teams from the Atlantic qualifying group reached the finals, with the USA losing at the repechage semi-final stage.

Europe

First round

Second round

Group A Group B
In early 2011, Ireland and Lebanon's two draws, which involved

Ryan Tandy Ryan Tandy (20 September 1981 – 28 April 2014) was international rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. He played as a in the National Rugby League for the St. George Illawarra Dragons, South Sydney Rabbitohs, Wests Tige ...

and Jai Ayoub, became subject to police investigation as the two had been connected to match-fixing.

Pacific

Atlantic

Originally, the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

were going to compete in a four-team tournament at

Bernie Robbins Stadium Surf Stadium is a 5,500-seat baseball stadium in Atlantic City, New Jersey that opened in 1998 and has been mostly closed since 2009, although some renovation was performed in 2011 and 2012. The stadium was officially renamed as Surf Stadium in Ap ...

Atlantic City Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, Boardwalk (entertainment district), boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020 United States censu ...

, from 21–28 October. However, the West Indies and South Africa withdrew before the draw, and a one-off match was played between Japan and the USA.

Repechage

Semi-finals

Final

*Therefore, Samoa qualified for the final position at the World Cup to be held in Australia in 2008.

References

Sources

"World Cup European Preliminary Qualifying Tournament – Euro B"
Rugby League European Federation website, retrieved 8 May 2006
"Rugby League World Cup 2008 – European Qualifying Group"
Rugby League European Federation website, retrieved 15 May 2006
"Impressive Georgia Outrun Dutch in 2nd Half"
Rugby League European Federation website, retrieved 28 May 2006
"World Cup 2008 – European Qualifying Ground"
Rugby League European Federation website, retrieved 20 June 2006

Scotland Rugby League website, retrieved 16 July 2006. {{2007 in rugby league 2006 in rugby league 2007 in rugby league Qualifying 2006 in Welsh rugby league 2007 in Welsh rugby league 2006 in Dutch sport 2006 in Russian sport 2006 in Georgian sport 2006 in Serbian sport 2006 in Scottish sport 2007 in Scottish sport 2006 in Irish sport 2007 in Irish sport 2006 in Lebanese sport 2007 in Lebanese sport 2007 in Russian sport 2006 in Tongan sport 2006 in Fijian sport 2006 in Samoan sport 2006 in Cook Islands sport 2006 in American sports 2006 in Japanese sport 2007 in American sports 2007 in Samoan sport