England kept their hopes of reaching the semi-finals of the 2026 Men’s IRL Rugby League World Cup alive with a 34-12 victory over Papua New Guinea in Wollongong.

The final group-stage fixture was a must-win for England, who needed victory to maintain their hopes of progressing to the last four. However, their fate remains out of their hands, with Sunday’s clash between Tonga and Samoa set to determine whether they advance.

England made a sensational start, racing into a 22-0 lead inside the opening 20 minutes.

Warrington winger Matty Ashton opened the scoring, finishing superbly out wide before full-back AJ Brimson continued his impressive World Cup campaign by crossing for England’s second try after just 11 minutes.

Dom Young was next to get on the scoresheet, claiming his fifth try of the tournament, before Wigan half-back Harry Smith capped a devastating opening spell by racing away to score England’s fourth.

Brimson added a penalty goal on the stroke of half-time to send England into the break with a commanding 24-0 advantage.

Papua New Guinea responded with renewed determination after the restart and began to put England under pressure. Dudley Dotoi got the Kumuls on the scoreboard inside the opening ten minutes of the second half, finishing out wide before London half Gairo Voro quickly added a second try to reduce the deficit to 24-12.

Despite their spirited comeback, PNG were unable to build further momentum, with handling errors from both sides disrupting the flow of the game.

England eventually regained control, with Morgan Knowles powering his way over to score and restore their three-score advantage, before Mikey Lewis raced away to cross out wide and eventually seal the win for England.

The result keeps England’s semi-final hopes alive, but they must now wait for Sunday’s meeting between Samoa and Tonga to discover their fate.