| Year: | 2017 |
| World Cup qualification (Europe play-off) | |
| Home: | Italy |
| Away: | Russia |
| Home League: | FIRL |
| Away League: | RRLF |
| Home Total: | 76 |
| Away Total: | 0 |
| Home Abbr: | ITA |
| Away Abbr: | RUS |
| Home Half1: | 46 |
| Away Half1: | 0 |
| Home Half2: | 30 |
| Away Half2: | 0 |
| Date: | 4 November 2016 |
| Stadium: | Leigh Sports Village |
| Mom Title: | Man of the Match |
| Mom: | Terry Campese (Italy) |
| Referee: | Chris Campbell (England) |
| Attendance: | 450 |
The 2017 Rugby League World Cup Europe qualification play-off was a rugby league match that was played on 4 November 2016 at Leigh Sports Village in England. The match decides who was the final European country to qualify for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup, with Italy defeating Russia 76–0.[1]
On 3 October 2014, the 2017 Rugby League World Cup qualifying competition was announced with three more qualification places being announced for European countries after England, France and Scotland had already qualified courtesy of reaching the 2013 World Cup knock-out stage.[2]
In the final round of European Qualification there were two groups of 3 with the countries that topped both pools advancing straight into the 2017 World Cup while the teams placed second headed into a one-off play-off match held at the Leigh Sports Village to see who will be the 14th and final country to qualify for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.
Italy qualified for the play-off match after finishing second in group A. They were almost in no need of a play-off match after being 40 minutes away from causing a shock result over Wales in Monza.
| width=10% | Opposition | width=5% | PF | width=5% | PA | width=15% | Date | width=20% | Venue | width=8% | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 62 | 14 | 22 October 2016 | 1,037 | ||||||||
| 14 | 20 | 29 October 2016 | 839 |
Russia qualified for the play-off match after finishing second in group B.
| width=10% | Opposition | width=5% | PF | width=5% | PA | width=15% | Date | width=20% | Venue | width=8% | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | 6 | 15 October 2016 | 427 | ||||||||
| 16 | 70 | 29 October 2016 | 867 |
Head coach: 
Cameron Ciraldo
Italy named a 19-man squad.[3]
| width=35% | Club | width=65% | Player |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dean Parata | |||
| Patrik Ziliotti | |||
| Joel Riethmuller | |||
| Joe Tramontana | |||
| Jayden Walker | |||
| Terry Campese, Josh Mantellato | |||
| Christophe Calegari | |||
| Giuseppe Pagani | |||
| Gavin Hiscox | |||
| Gioele Celerino | |||
| Justin Castellaro, Ryan Ghietti, Col Wilkie | |||
| Kieran Quabba | |||
| Richard Lepori | |||
| Sacramento Express | Mirco Bergamasco | ||
| Shannon Wakeman | |||
| Chris Vitalini | |||
| Brenden Santi | |||
| Ryan Tramonte | |||
| Chris Centrone |
Head coach: Denis Korolev
Russia announced their 29-man squad on 19 September 2016, which was later reduced to a 19-man squad.[4] [5] Similar to Italy, Russia was unchanged from the initial World Cup qualifiers.
| width=35% | Club | width=65% | Player |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kirill Kosharin | |||
| Viacheslav Eremin, Andrey Kuznetsov | |||
| Ivanovo White Sharks | Ivan Troitskii | ||
| Vadim Buryak, Leonid Kalinin, Maxim Tsinkovich | |||
| Petr Botnarash, Mikhail Burlutskii, Sergey Gaponov, Anatoly Grigorev, Sergei Konstantinov, Aleksandr Lysokon, Maksim Suchkov, Denis Tiulenev, Vladimir Vlasyuk, Nikolay Zagoskin | |||
| Anton Iunisov, Iustin Petrushka | |||
| Dmitry Bratko, Igor Chuprin, Vadim Fedchuk |
|
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With the win Italy became the 14th, and final, team to qualify for the 2017 World Cup.[6]