Greece to host Ireland in play-off for World Series berth

Greece and Ireland will be aiming to keep their RLWC2026 hopes alive when they meet in Athens on October 12 for a place in the Women's 2025 World Series. 

Following the recent release of the IRL World Rankings, ninth placed Greece - as the higher ranked nation - will host Ireland (10th) after both teams finished second in their pools at the European World Cup qualifying tournament from which France and Wales booked their tickets to Australia in 2026.

The winner will join representatives of the Middle East & Africa, Americas and Asia-Pacific regions in the inaugural 2025 World Series to determine the final women's berth for RLWC2026, alongside Australia, New Zealand, England, Papua New Guinea, France, Wales and the winner of the end-of-year Pacific qualifying tournament.

Ireland finished second in Group A of the European qualifiers after losing away to Wales and narrowly beating Netherlands in Dublin, while Greece’s win in Athens over Serbia secured them second place in Group B and they leapfrogged Ireland in the rankings as a result.

Greece coach Jim Minadakis, commented: “We learned a lot from the first phase of the World Cup qualifiers and, if we want to keep this dream alive, we must prepare well and improve if we are to beat what will be a strong Ireland side.

"We will continue select players from our growing women’s domestic competition, of which I am immensely proud.”

Photo: Ireland edged out Netherlands to finish second in Group A of the European World Cup qualifers.

"We are currently planning and finalising our training schedule to prepare the team for the challenging away match with Greece. My main priority now sustain our momentum and build towards a World Cup berth in the coming year and beyond.”