The Middle East-Africa Rugby League Championship (MEA) is a rugby league football competition for national teams from the Middle East and Africa which is organised by the Rugby League European Federation. The first tournament was held in 2015 as a part of the qualification process for the

2017 Rugby League World Cup The 2017 Rugby League World Cup was the fifteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup tournament and took place in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea between 27 October and 2 December 2017. The tournament featured the national teams ...

, and was followed by tournaments in 2019 and 2020 with an expanded structure.

History

The MEA Championship began in 2015 as a part of the qualification process for the

in order to determine the sole participant from the Middle East and Africa. Lebanon defeated South Africa in both fixtures and secured world cup qualification in addition to winning the first championship title. The tournament was reborn in 2019 as a championship between select nations in the Middle East and Africa. The 2017 edition featured national teams only from West Africa including eventual winners Nigeria, as well as Morocco, Ghana and Cameroon. The Rugby League European Federation announced in 2020 that an additional tournament was planned for 2020, and that thereafter the tournament would be held on a bi-annual basis. The 2020 edition will be held at

Tuks Stadium Tuks Stadium (sometimes referred to as ABSA Tuks Stadium for sponsorship reasons) is a soccer stadium in Hatfield, Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, an ...

, in Pretoria, South Africa and will see the return of current title holders Nigeria, alongside previous participants Morocco, Lebanon and South Africa.

Appearances

Seven nations have taken part in the three MEA Championships held to date: * - 1 appearance * - 1 appearance * - 2 appearance * - 1 appearance * - 2 appearance * - 2 appearance * - 1 appearance

Results

Results by nation

Notes

References

External links

{{International Rugby League Rugby league international tournaments African rugby league competitions