2018 Emerging Nations World Championship
Several nations that had not qualified, or were not eligible to qualify, for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup planned to contest an Emerging Nations tournament in Sydney in 2017 alongside the World Cup. However this tournament did not get support from the Rugby League International Federation, and did not go ahead. On 29 March 2017, the Rugby League International Federation announced that Australia will be host the tournament in 2018. The two-week-long tournament will be held in Western Sydney, New South Wales with games taking place in Windsor, St Marys and Cabramatta. Ten teams were already confirmed for the tournament by March 2017 with a number of others later also announcing their participation. 15 teams were expected to compete, though Canada, India, Latvia, and Thailand were not included in the final draw, for unspecified reasons. Four multi-country regional teams will compete in a parallel tournament. Tournament fixtures were announced on 17 July 2018.
Background
The 2018 Emerging Nations World Championship (ENWC) was a rugby league tournament held for Tier Two and Tier Three nations, the third edition of the Rugby League Emerging Nations Tournament.