Papua New Guinea have competed in seven editions of the Rugby League World Cup. Their best finish is the quarter-finals, which they have reached in two tournaments.
| World Cup record | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | GP | W | L | D | ||
| 1954–1977 | Did not participate | |||||||
   1985–88 | Fourth place | 4/5 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 0 | ||
| 1989–92 | Fifth place | 5/5 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0 | ||
| 1995 | Group stage | 6/10 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 2000 | Quarter-finals | 6/16 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | ||
 2008 | Group stage | 10/10 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
  2013 | Group stage | 13/14 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
  2017 | Quarter-finals | 5/14 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2021 | Qualified | |||||||
| 2025 | To be determined | |||||||
| Total | 0 Titles | 32 | 8 | 23 | 1 | |||
| Colour | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Qualifiers to the next round |
| Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Difference | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 252 | 91 | +161 | 121 |
| New Zealand | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 158 | 86 | +72 | 111 |
| Great Britain | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 203 | 90 | +113 | 10 |
| Papua New Guinea | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 84 | 325 | −241 | 41 |
| France | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 35 | 140 | −105 | 3 |
1 France's 1987 away fixtures against Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea were scratched and each team awarded two points as the French were unable to tour Australasia that year due to financial difficulties.
| Key to colours in group tables |
|---|
| Advances to the Final |
| Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Difference | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 236 | 68 | +168 | 16 |
| Great Britain | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 215 | 79 | +136 | 10 |
| New Zealand | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 203 | 120 | +83 | 10 |
| France | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 80 | 247 | −167 | 4 |
| Papua New Guinea | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 84 | 304 | −220 | 0 |
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Zealand | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 30 | +17 | 4 | Advanced to knockout stage |
 Tonga | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 52 | 53 | −1 | 1 | |
| Papua New Guinea | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 34 | 50 | −16 | 1 |
| Round | Score | Opposition | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Group Stage | 28–28 | Tonga | The Boulevard, Hull |
| 6-22 | New Zealand | Knowsley Road, St Helens |
| Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Diff | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Papua New Guinea | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 69 | 42 | 27 | 6 |
| France | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 104 | 37 | 67 | 4 |
| Tonga | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 96 | 76 | 20 | 2 |
 South Africa | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 24 | 138 | −114 | 0 |
| Round | Score | Opposition | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Group Stage | 23–20 | France | Charlety Stadium, Paris |
| 16–0 | South Africa | Stadium de Toulouse, Toulouse | |
| 30–22 | Tonga | Stadium Municipal d'Albi, Albi | |
| Quarter-Final | 8–22 | Wales | Auto Quest Stadium, Widnes |
| Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Diff | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 128 | 16 | 112 | 6 |
| New Zealand | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 90 | 60 | 30 | 4 |
| England | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 60 | 110 | -50 | 2 |
| Papua New Guinea | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 34 | 126 | −92 | 0 |
| Round | Score | Opposition | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Group Stage | 22–32 | England | Willows Sports Complex, Townsville |
| 6–48 | New Zealand | Robina Stadium, Gold Coast | |
| 6–46 | Australia | Willows Sports Complex, Townsville |
| Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Diff | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Zealand | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 146 | 34 | 112 | 6 |
 Samoa | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 84 | 52 | 32 | 4 |
| France | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 15 | 78 | -63 | 2 |
| Papua New Guinea | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 22 | 103 | −81 | 0 |
| Round | Score | Opposition | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Group Stage | 8–9 | France | Craven Park, Hull |
| 4–38 | Samoa | Craven Park, Hull | |
| 10–56 | New Zealand | Headingley, Leeds |
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Papua New Guinea | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 128 | 12 | +116 | 6 | Advanced to knockout stage |
 Ireland | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 76 | 32 | +44 | 4 | |
| Wales | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 18 | 156 | −138 | 0 |
| Round | Score | Opposition | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Group Stage | 50–6 | Wales | National Football Stadium |
| 14-6 | Ireland | National Football Stadium | |
| 64-0 |  United States | National Football Stadium | |
| Quarter-Final | 6–36 | England | Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, Melbourne |
| 18 October 2022 | Tonga | v | Papua New Guinea | Totally Wicked Stadium, St Helens |
| 25 October 2022 | Papua New Guinea | v |  Cook Islands | Halliwell Jones Stadium, Warrington |
| 31 October 2022 | Papua New Guinea | v | Wales | Eco-Power Stadium, Doncaster |
| Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Diff | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Papua New Guinea | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tonga | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wales | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cook Islands | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |