| Tourney Name: | 2008 Rugby League World Cup qualification |
| Num Teams: | 14 |
| Confederations: | 3 |
| Matches: | 9 |
| Prevseason: | 2000 |
| Nextseason: | 2013 |
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, five of them qualified based on their performance in these matches. The other five teams had qualified automatically.
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. 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.
| Team | Method of qualification | Date of qualification | Finals appearance | Last appearance | Previous best performance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Host | N/A | Final | Winners (1957, 1968, 1970, 1975, 1977, 1988, 1992, 1995, 2000) | |||
| Automatic qualifier | N/A | Champions | Runners-up (1988, 2000) | |||
| Automatic qualifier | N/A | No | Quarter-finals (2000) | |||
| Automatic qualifier | N/A | Semi Final | Runners-up (1975, 1995) | |||
| Automatic qualifier | N/A | No | Runners-up (1954, 1968) | |||
| Europe Pool A winners | 4 November 2007 | No | Group stage (2000) | |||
| Europe Pool B winners | 2 November 2007 | Quarter Final | Quarter-finals (2000) | |||
| Pacific Pool winners | 22 October 2006 | No | Group stage (1995, 2000) | |||
| Pacific runners-up | 7 October 2006 | Semi Final | Group stage (1995, 2000) | |||
| Repechage winners | 14 November 2007 | No | Quarter-finals (2000 |
| Team | Qualification | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 108 | 20 | +88 | 6 | Second Round | |
| 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 102 | 50 | +52 | 4 | Ejected from competition | |
| 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 68 | 123 | –55 | 2 | Failed to qualify for World Cup | |
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 42 | 127 | –85 | 0 |
Group A
| Team | Qualification | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 37 | 32 | +5 | 2 | |||
| 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 32 | 37 | –5 | 2 | Intercontinental playoff |
Group B
Lebanon hosted their home fixtures in England due to the political situation in the Middle East.[1]
| Team | Qualification | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 142 | 64 | 78 | 6 | |||
| 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 104 | 42 | 62 | 6 | Interncontinental playoff | ||
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 38 | 178 | −140 | 0 | Failed to qualify for World Cup |
Notes:
In early 2011, Ryan Tandy and his agent Sam Ayoub were charged in relation to alleged spot-fixing offences during a 2010 National Rugby League match, prompting speculation about the legitimacy of Ireland and Lebanon's two draws. The 2006 drawn match included Tandy representing Ireland and Ayoub's son Jai Ayoub representing Lebanon.[3] [4] Neither Tandy or Ayoub played in the 2007 match.[5] A police investigation in Australia was dismissed due to "jurisdictional issues."[6] Ireland coach Andy Kelly said in 2011 that he believes the games were played "openly and honestly," and that it was a coincidence both games were drawn.
| Team | Qualification | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 102 | 54 | 48 | 4 | |||
| 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 98 | 62 | 36 | 4 | |||
| 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 86 | 52 | 34 | 4 | Advances to the repechage round | ||
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 24 | 142 | −118 | 0 | Failed to qualify for World Cup |
Originally, the USA, Japan, South Africa and West Indies were going to compete in a four-team tournament at Bernie Robbins Stadium, Atlantic City, 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.[7]