2000 Rugby League World Cup

The 2000 Rugby League World Cup was the twelfth World Cup for men’s national rugby league teams, held between 28 October and 25 November and hosted between the United Kingdom, Ireland and France. Australia won their ninth title by beating New Zealand 40-12 in the final at Old Trafford.

Following the success of the previous tournament, the World Cup was expanded to 16 teams and for the first time featured qualification rounds before the finals.

Summary
Following the success of the 1995 Rugby League World Cup, organisers decided to expand the 2000 tournament to 16 teams, 15 were invited while seven emerging nations were invited into a qualifying tournament to determine the 16th place.

The millennium World Cup attracted a record sponsorship of over £1 million from title Lincoln Financial Group, who had also sponsored Great Britain's Tests against New Zealand the previous year. The tournament also made a £2 million profit, despite attracting small crowds.

Despite its financial success the 2000 World Cup was seen as a failure, with too many blow out score lines and the inclusion of New Zealand Māori team being invited alongside the New Zealand National team. Despite being the only team to have to qualify to play in the World Cup, Lebanon were criticised for consisting entirely of Australians of Lebanese origin, which led to derisory comments in the media. The tournament also attracted criticism of its lack of marketing and poor crowds.

France performed creditably and had healthy attendances in games they hosted, while the much-derided Lebanon team also proved the catalyst for domestic competition in that country.

Qualifying
Six countries –, the , , , and  – competed for one available place in the tournament. Lebanon defeated the United States 62–8 in the final play-off match.

Teams
The 2000 World Cup tournament featured 16 teams:

Venues
The games were played at various venues in England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, France.

The Twickenham Stadium in London, the home of the English rugby union was the host stadium for the opening ceremony and match featuring hosts England and defending champions Australia.

Knockout stage
The top 2 teams from each pool advanced to the quarter-finals.

Try scorers

 * 10
 * 🇦🇺 Wendell Sailor


 * 9
 * 🇳🇿 Lesley Vainikolo


 * 6
 * 🇦🇺 Ryan Girdler
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Jamie Peacock
 * 🇳🇿 Richie Barnett
 * 🇳🇿 Willie Talau


 * 5
 * 🇦🇺 Bryan Fletcher
 * 🇦🇺 Adam MacDougall
 * 🇳🇿 Robbie Paul


 * 4


 * 🇦🇺 Trent Barrett
 * 🇦🇺 Brad Fittler
 * 🇦🇺 Matthew Gidley
 * 🇦🇺 Nathan Hindmarsh
 * 🇦🇺 Mat Rogers
 * Lote Tuqiri
 * 🇫🇷 Pascal Jampy
 * 🇳🇿 Tonie Carroll
 * Brian Leauma
 * 🇹🇴 Tevita Vaikona
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Lee Briers
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Kris Tassell


 * 3


 * 🇦🇺 Andrew Johns
 * 🇦🇺 Ben Kennedy
 * 🇦🇺 Darren Lockyer
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Kevin Sinfield
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Tony Smith
 * Atunasia Vunivialu
 * 🇫🇷 Claude Sirvent
 * Michael Withers
 * 🇱🇧 Hazem El Masri
 * 🇱🇧 Hassan Saleh
 * 🇳🇿 Nigel Vagana
 * 🇳🇿 Ruben Wiki
 * Shane Laloata
 * Laloa Milford
 * 🇹🇴 Fifita Moala


 * 2


 * 🇦🇺 Jason Croker
 * 🇦🇺 Scott Hill
 * Steve Berryman
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Andy Hay
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Sean Long
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Darren Rogers
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Paul Rowley
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Chev Walker
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Paul Wellens
 * 🇫🇷 Frédéric Banquet
 * 🇫🇷 Jean-Emmanuel Cassin
 * 🇫🇷 Rachid Hechiche
 * Brian Carney
 * Ryan Sheridan
 * 🇳🇿 Brian Jellick
 * 🇳🇿 Stacey Jones
 * 🇳🇿 Stephen Kearney
 * 🇳🇿 Ali Lauiti'iti
 * 🇳🇿 Tasesa Lavea
 * 🇳🇿 Quentin Pongia
 * 🇳🇿 Logan Swann
 * 🇳🇿 David Vaealiki
 * Boycie Nelson
 * Clinton Toopi
 * 🇵🇬 David Buko
 * 🇵🇬 Stanley Gene
 * 🇵🇬 John Wilshere
 * Henry Fa'afili
 * David Solomona
 * 🇹🇴 Duane Mann
 * 🇹🇴 Willie Mason
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Iestyn Harris
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Wes Davies


 * 1


 * 🇦🇺 Craig Gower
 * 🇦🇺 Brett Kimmorley
 * 🇦🇺 Gordon Tallis
 * 🇦🇺 Shane Webcke
 * Kevin Iro
 * Leroy Joe
 * Meti Noovao
 * Karl Temata
 * Tiri Toa
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Paul Deacon
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Andy Farrell
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Scott Naylor
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Leon Pryce
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Kris Radlinski
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Keith Senior
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Francis Stephenson
 * 🇫🇷 Patrice Benausse
 * 🇫🇷 Yacine Dekkiche
 * 🇫🇷 Arnaud Dulac
 * 🇫🇷 Jean-Marc Garcia
 * 🇫🇷 Jérôme Guisset
 * 🇫🇷 Julien Rinaldi
 * 🇫🇷 Gael Tallec
 * Tabua Cakacaka
 * Jone Kuraduadua
 * Eparama Navale
 * Waisale Sovatabua
 * David Barnhill
 * Martin Crompton
 * Michael Eagar
 * Mark Forster
 * Chris Joynt
 * Tommy Martyn
 * Steve Prescott
 * Luke Ricketson
 * 🇱🇧 Michael Coorey
 * 🇱🇧 Travis Touma
 * 🇳🇿 Richie Blackmore
 * 🇳🇿 Nathan Cayless
 * 🇳🇿 Henry Paul
 * 🇳🇿 Tony Puletua
 * 🇳🇿 Matt Rua
 * 🇳🇿 Craig Smith
 * David Kidwell
 * Wairangi Koopu
 * Steve Matthews
 * Paul Rauhihi
 * Hare Te Rangi
 * 🇵🇬 Eddie Aila
 * 🇵🇬 Marcus Bai
 * 🇵🇬 Raymond Karl
 * 🇵🇬 Alex Krewanty
 * 🇵🇬 Adrian Lam
 * 🇵🇬 Michael Mondo
 * 🇵🇬 Elias Paiyo
 * 🇵🇬 Lucas Solbat
 * 🇷🇺 Matt Donovan
 * 🇷🇺 Robert Ilyasov
 * 🇷🇺 Joel Rullis
 * Monty Betham
 * Willie Swann
 * Danny Arnold
 * Geoff Bell
 * David Maiden
 * Lee Penny
 * Scott Rhodes
 * Adrian Vowles
 * 🇹🇴 Daniel Foster
 * 🇹🇴 Paul Fisiiahi
 * 🇹🇴 David Fisiiahi
 * 🇹🇴 Lipina Kaufusi
 * 🇹🇴 Talite Liava'a
 * 🇹🇴 Nelson Lomi
 * 🇹🇴 Esau Mann
 * 🇹🇴 Martin Masella
 * 🇹🇴 Willie Wolfgramm
 * Leon Barnard
 * Brian Best
 * Coenraad Breytenbach
 * Quinton De Villiers
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Paul Atcheson
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Jason Critchley
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Keiron Cunningham
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Anthony Farrell
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Mick Jenkins
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Paul Sterling
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Ian Watson