Template:RLWC2021 teams

Team Method of
qualification
Date of
qualification
Total
times
qualified
Last
time
qualified
Current
consecutive
appearances
Previous best
performance
 England Hosts 27 October 2016 7[a] 2017 7 Runners-up (1975, 1995, 2017)
 Fiji 2017 Group D winners 10 November 2017 6 2017 6 Semi-finals (2008, 2013, 2017)
 Tonga 2017 Group B winners 11 November 2017 6 2017 6 Semi-finals (2017)
 New Zealand 2017 Group B runners-up 11 November 2017 16 2017 16 Winners (2008)
 Samoa 2017 Group B third place 11 November 2017 6 2017 6 Quarter-finals (2000, 2013, 2017)
 Australia 2017 Group A winners 11 November 2017 16 2017 16 Winners (11 times)
 Lebanon 2017 Group A third place 11 November 2017 3 2017 2 Quarter-finals (2017)
 Papua New Guinea 2017 Group C winners 12 November 2017 8 2017 8 Quarter-finals (2000, 2017)
 France Europe second round winners 11 November 2018 16 2017 16 Runners-up (1954, 1968)
 Wales Europe second round runners-up 11 November 2018 6[a] 2017 3 Semi-finals (1995, 2000)
 Jamaica Americas Championship winners 17 November 2018 1 1
 Ireland Europe third round Group A winners 9 November 2019 5[a] 2017 5 Quarter-finals (2000, 2008)
 Italy Europe third round Group A runners-up 9 November 2019 3 2017 3 Group stage (2013, 2017)
 Scotland Europe third round Group B winners 9 November 2019 5[a] 2017 5 Quarter-finals (2013)
 Greece Europe third round Group B runners-up 9 November 2019 1 1
 Cook Islands Inter-regional repechage winners 16 November 2019 3 2013 1 Group stage (2000, 2013)
Notes
  1. ^ a b c d Competed as part of Great Britain in nine previous tournaments, finishing as champions on three occasions (1954, 1960, 1972). The squads largely consisted of English players, but also featured Welsh players in every tournament. Scotland (1954, 1968, 1977, 1989–92) and Ireland (1957) were represented by native-born players in some tournaments.