Ticket sales for the tournament, which begins on October 23 2021 were due to start in the summer but have been delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

More than 20,000 free tickets are being set aside for individuals who work in health and social care and in other sectors involved in dealing with the pandemic in the United Kingdom.

As part of the countdown to the tournament, team bases for the 21 nations involved in the men's, women's and wheelchair competitions will be revealed on June 10 2020 - which marks 500 days until the opening fixture.

Between the 500 days to go mark and September, organisers will release the schedules for all three tournaments, plus announce ticket tiers and pricing.

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, organisers have decided not to announce a date for these updates.

In September, tournament tickets will go on pre-sale to two groups with the rugby league family and corporate partners making up group one.

The second group eligible for pre-sale tickets are host cities and venues, plus residents within host cities and on venue databases in group two. 

Anyone who falls into any of these categories will be eligible for priority ticket sales before on October 23 2020 - exactly one year until the opening match - a public ballot opens.

The public ballot gives fans the chance to request tickets for as many individual fixtures as they wish until November 27 2020.

Fans will be notified if they have been successful in the ballot in December 2020 with any remaining tickets then going on general sale in early 2021.

“Other sports, clubs, leagues and events have been acutely impacted by COVID-19 and our planning needs to be aligned and proportionate with the global crisis and respectful of more immediate needs," said Jon Dutton, chief executive of RLWC2021. 

"We have done various aspects of scenario planning and we believe the current plan is the most suitable at this point, however we know we are required to be flexible and adapt as and when appropriate.

“The team has made the unanimous decision to provide 20,021 free tickets to key workers in the UK as our way of saying thank you. 

"The work, effort, dedication and sheer determination needs to be recognised and hopefully we can provide these local heroes and their families with something to look forward to next year.”