World Club Challenge 2026: Dates, schedule, kick-off times as Super League champions Hull KR take on NRL champions Brisbane Broncos
Dates, kick-off times, history, key match-ups ahead of the World Club Challenge 2026; Watch the World Club Challenge between Hull KR and Brisbane Broncos from 7pm on Thursday February 19 live on Sky Sports
Monday 16 February 2026 13:35, UK
Ahead of the World Club Challenge 2026, we take you through all you need to know as Hull KR take on Brisbane Broncos for the prize of being on top of the rugby league world...
What is the World Club Challenge?
The World Club Challenge sees the champions of the Super League take on the NRL victors to be crowned champions of world rugby league.
Think of it as the Champions League of rugby league, the best of one country's competition facing off against the best of another. It is Man City vs Inter Milan. It is Liverpool vs Real Madrid. It is Bayern Munich vs Paris Saint-Germain.
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Cricket is more your thing? Think of it as a one-off match between the winners of the Vitality Blast and the Big Bash.
Eighty minutes to determine who is on top of the world.
The NRL has 14 World Club Challenge wins to its name but Super League is just ahead with 15.
The Sydney Roosters and Wigan Warriors are the most successful clubs with Roosters having wins in 1976, 2003, 2014, 2019, with Wigan's wins coming in 1987, 1991, 1994, 2017, and 2024.
When and where is it taking place?
The 2026 World Club Challenge is taking place on Thursday February 19 at the MKM Stadium in Hull.
This is not Hull KR's usual stadium, they play weekly at Craven Park, but to maximise the number of fans they can get in, they have moved down the road to their rivals Hull FC's home.
How sweet it would be for them to be on top of the world on the Black and Whites' turf!
Coverage will begin on Sky Sports from 7pm, with kick-off at 7.30pm.
Why is the World Club Challenge important?
To understand why the World Club Challenge is important, you need to put both competitions in context. So, let's start with the NRL.
To play in the NRL is to play in the Premier League of Australia; rugby league is their main sport and if you play in it you are a superstar.
You are in the limelight and you have to perform.
For Super League, the World Club Challenge presents a massive opportunity to show that the European equivalent can beat the best the Australian competition has to offer.
It is often presumed the NRL is a superior standard to Super League - the World Club Challenge is the chance to prove that belief wrong, as clubs have done over and over again.
St Helens did it in Australia and Wigan Warriors on home soil in 2024 - the last time the event took place as it was cancelled last year. Now it is Hull KR's turn.
Who has won it before?
There have been 12 different winners of the World Club Challenge.
Sydney Roosters and Wigan Warriors have won it on five occasions; Leeds Rhinos, St Helens, Bradford Bulls, and Melbourne Storm on three occasions; Brisbane Broncos twice; and Manly Sea Eagles, Widnes Vikings, St George Illawarra Dragons, South Sydney Rabbitohs, and North Queensland Cowboys once.
The most recent Super League teams to win it were St Helens and Wigan Warriors.
St Helens beat all the odds when they went to Australia and defeated Penrith with a golden point drop goal, Lewis Dodd writing himself into rugby league folklore.
To say the Saints were underdogs is an understatement, the general manager of Canterbury Bulldogs Phil Gould tweeting Penrith would be able to declare at half-time.
It was the first win for a British side in Australia since Wigan Warriors' win over Brisbane Broncos in 1994, and Paul Wellens' side secured a "monumental victory" for the Super League competition, the catalyst for the Panthers travelling over to England to then face Wigan.
Wigan then managed to battle past the Panthers too in a tough 16-12 win at the DW Stadium, keeping the trophy in the northern hemisphere.
What can we expect from the contest?
Hull KR have headed into the Super League season as one of the favourites and rightly so given they currently have every single trophy in their cabinet after their historic treble. However, they lost to York on opening night so Super League is already serving up surprises!
They proved why they were Super League's best in 2025 and head coach Willie Peters has no plans of slowing down as they look to head to Las Vegas with another trophy in their grasp.
However, they take on an absolutely STACKED Brisbane Broncos side.
The likes of Mikey Lewis and Jez Litten took on Broncos' Reece Walsh and Patrick Carrigan in the recent Ashes loss so they will have learnings and lessons they can take into this contest.
Not only that, Peters was assistant coach for the Kangaroos and so may have found out a few ways to slow down some of Brisbane's superstars.
Super League teams love to defy the odds in these contests and KR will be no different.
How can I watch?
The World Club Challenge is live from 7pm on Thursday February 19 on Sky Sports Mix and Sky Sports+.
The match then kicks-off at 7.30pm.
2026 Super League - key dates and what to look out for
- World Club Challenge: Thu Feb 19: Hull KR vs Brisbane Broncos, 7:30pm (Sky Sports)
- Rugby League in Las Vegas: Sat Feb 28: Hull KR vs Leeds Rhinos, 11.30pm (Sky Sports)
- Super League's 30th birthday: Thu Mar 26: Castleford Tigers vs Bradford Bulls, 8pm (Sky Sports)
- Rivals Round: April 3-April 5
- Super League in Paris: Sat Jun 6: Catalans Dragons vs Wigan Warriors (Paris), 6:30 UK (Sky Sports)
- Magic Weekend: July 4-July 5
- Rivals Round reversed: July 23-July 26
- Elimination Play-offs: September 19-September 20
- Play-off semi-finals: September 26-September 27
- Grand Final: October 3, Old Trafford.
Sky Sports will again show every game of the Super League live this season - including two matches in each round exclusively live, with the remaining five matches each week shown on Sky Sports+
