Serbia national rugby league team

Serbia

Team information
Nickname	White Eagles (Beli orlovi)
Governing body	Serbian Rugby League
Region	Europe
Head coach	Darren Fisher
Captain	Stevan Stevanović
Most caps	Dalibor Vukanović (34)
Top try-scorer	Stevan Stevanović (26)
Top point-scorer	Dalibor Vukanović (207)
Home stadium	Makiš Stadium, Belgrade
IRL ranking	11th
Uniforms
First colours
Team results
First international
Lebanon 102–0 Serbia  (19 October 2003)
Biggest win
Germany 6–90 Serbia  (22 April 2011)
Biggest defeat
France 120–0 Serbia  (22 October 2003)

The Serbia national rugby league team represents Serbia in the sport of rugby league football. They have competed in international competition since 2003 under the administration of the Serbian Rugby League.

They are coached by Englishman Darren Fisher, and captained by Stevan Stevanović.

The Serbian national team is now set to take on Wales in the World Cup Qualifiers. They have been hailed for making a brave, but brilliant selection in 20-year-old talent Sasha Cornelius Popovic. Popovic looks to establish himself strongly on the international stage, leading the team to their first World Cup.

Rugby League was first played in Serbia in 1953 when it was introduced by Dragan Marsicevic, secretary of the Yugoslav Sport Association.^{[citation needed]} Two French teams toured later that year, and in 1954 the clubs Partizan and Radnički were formed. These clubs played their first match on 26 April 1954. In 1961 a Yugoslav Rugby League team played its only game against a French Select XIII team in Banja Luka. The French team won 13–0. The sport died out soon afterwards due to the communist regime banning the sport.^{[citation needed]}

The rebirth of Serbian Rugby League Federation was on 10 November 2001 with the new federation been formed. There is now an eight team domestic competition between Dorcol Spiders, Morava Cheetahs, Red Star Belgrade, Belgrade University, Radnički Nova Pazova, Tsar Lazar, Soko, Stari Grad, and Niš.

Serbia has participated in the competition in 2003 and 2004. Serbia won the 2006 and 2007 Slavic Cup after beating Czech Republic 36–28 in Prague and 56–16 in Belgrade, respectively.

Serbia failed to qualify for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup, losing to Holland, Russia and Georgia in 2006, to be eliminated from the qualification process. Serbia won the 2007 and 2010 European Shield tournaments, by beating both Germany and Czech Republic on both occasions. Serbia took part in then European 2nd tier competition Euro Med Challenge in 2008. After being defeated 4-30 by Russia in Novi Sad and 14-20 by Lebanon in Bhamdoun, Serbs finished third. Serbia was a participant in the 2009 European Cup, having been drawn in a group alongside Wales and Ireland.

Serbia participated in the 2013 Rugby League World Cup qualifiers in October 2011. They played games against Italy, Lebanon and Russia, but were defeated in all three matches and so were ultimately unsuccessful in qualification for the tournament.

Serbia participated in the inaugural Balkans Cup tournament held in their own country. Serbia finished second in the tournament after a defeat to Greece who had a full squad of Australian born players in the final.^[1]

Serbia participated in the qualification for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup. The first stage of qualifying involved having to finish in the top three in their 2014–15 European Shield competition. During their qualification, Serbia created history after beating Russia for their first ever time on their eighth time of asking.^[2]

The final qualification tournament consisted of six teams: the top three teams from the European B tournament, the winners of the European C tournament and seeded nations Wales and Ireland. The tournament featured two groups of three teams playing in a single round-robin format. The winners of each group qualified for the World Cup, while the runners-up faced each other in a play-off match on 5 November 2016 to determine the final spot. A seeded draw took place to determine the groups on 5 November 2015. Serbia were placed in Group A. They took on Wales on 15 October 2016, in Llanelli Wales and Italy in Belgrade on 22 October for a place in the 2017 World Cup.^[3]

In the lead up to the World Cup qualifiers, Serbia played Spain in Valencia and ran out 64-4 winners a dominant display in the first ever meeting between these two nations.^[4]

In the first World Cup qualifier against a Wales side full of Super League and Championship players, Serbia lost, 50–0, proving that there is still a long way to go but that there was some slight improvement from last time the two nations meet in 2009 when Serbia lost 88–8.^[5]

In the second and final game of World Cup qualifying Serbia needed victory over Italy to send them through to a one-game playoff against Russia but lost the game at the Makiš Stadium in Belgrade, 14–62, which was a result against an Italian team with many NRL and English Super League players who were Australians of Italian heritage.^[6] On 10 November 2016, 15 years was celebrated since the re-forming of Serbian Rugby League a milestone occasion.^[7]

Serbia were eliminated very early in qualifying, but caught a lucky break when Russian Rugby League Federation were disqualified due to internal issues. Serbia reluctantly took Russia's place in the final stages of qualifying but were easily eliminated losing on 26 October 2019 to Scotland 86–0 in Glasgow , then losing the deciding match in Belgrade to Greece on 9 November 2019 by another embarrassing score-line of 6–82.

Also see Category:Serbia national rugby league team coaches.

• The 21-man national team selected for the 2026 World Cup European Qualifiers.
• The club listed is the club for which the player last played a competitive match prior to the call-up.

Nicholas O'Meley (Burleigh Bears), Nick Cotric (Catalans Dragons), Andrej Mora (Dorcol Tigers), David Nofoaluma, Sasha Popovic (Glebe Dirty Reds), Jake O’Meley (Lakes United Seagulls), Ilija Cotric (Mounties), Jesse Soric (NZ Warriors), Aleksandar Pavlovic, Djordje Krnjeta, Dzavid Jasari, Enis Bibic, Strahinja Stoiljkovic, (Partisan 1953), Jordan Grant (Penrith Panther), Stefan Arsic (Radnicki Nis), Marko Jankovic, Milos Calic, Nikola Djuric, Rajko Trifunovic, Vojislav Dedic, Vuk Strbac (Red Star), Joshua Coric (St George Illawarra).

Below is table of the official representative rugby league matches played by Serbia at test level up until 27 October 2024:

Opponent	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Win %	For	Aga	Diff
Bosnia and Herzegovina	1	1	0	0	100%	50	4	+46
Bulgaria	2	2	0	0	100%	78	36	+42
Canada	1	1	0	0	100%	36	8	+28
Czech Republic	5	4	0	1	75%	186	82	+92
France†	4	0	0	4	0%	22	284	–262
Georgia	2	0	0	2	0%	22	89	–67
Greece	5	2	0	3	25%	144	190	–46
Germany	5	4	0	1	80%	238	61	+177
Hungary	1	1	0	0	100%	50	0	+50
Ireland	2	0	0	2	0%	16	106	–90
Italy	8	4	0	4	100%	196	230	–34
Lebanon	4	0	0	4	0%	24	282	–258
Montenegro	2	2	0	0	100%	76	50	+26
Morocco	3	0	1	2	0%	30	122	–92
Netherlands	5	0	0	5	0%	66	180	–114
Philippines	1	0	0	1	0%	12	18	–6
Russia	9	2	0	7	22.22%	174	236	–62
Scotland	1	0	0	1	0%	0	86	–86
Spain	2	2	0	0	100%	88	24	+64
Ukraine	5	5	0	0	100%	218	50	+168
Wales	3	0	0	3	0%	8	186	–178
Total	70	29	1	40	41.43%	1,688	2,320	–632

†Includes matches played against the France Espoirs side.^[8]

World Cup record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	L	D
1954	did not enter
1957
1960
1968
1970
1972
1975
1977
1985-88
1989-92
1995
2000
2008	Failed to Qualify
2013
2017
2021
2026
Total	0 Titles	0/14	0	0	0	0

Balkans Cup record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	L	D
2014	Second place	2/4	2	1	1	0
2017	Champions	1/3	2	2	0	0
2019	to be determined
Total	1 Titles	2/2	4	3	1	0

Date	Score	Opponent	Competition	Venue	Attendance
19 October 2003	0–102	Lebanon		Olympic Stadium, Tripoli
22 October 2003	0–120	France		Municipal Stadium, Beirut
25 October 2003	4–58	Morocco		Olympic Stadium, Tripoli
18 June 2005	10–26	Netherlands	2005 European Nations Qualifiers	FK Radnički Novi Beograd, Belgrade
24 July 2005	44–12	Georgia		Dinamo Stadium, Tbilisi	8,000
13 May 2006	10–45	Georgia	2008 World Cup Qualifying – Europe	FK Radnički Novi Beograd, Belgrade	500
4 June 2006	6–44	Russia		FK Radnički Novi Beograd, Belgrade	500
17 June 2006	26–38	Netherlands		, Rotterdam	250
12 August 2006	34–26	Czech Republic	2006 Slavic Cup	Ragbyove hřiště v Edenu, Prague
7 July 2007	38–6	Germany	2007 European Shield	Fritz-Grunebaum Sportpark, Heidelberg	264
18 August 2007	56–16	Czech Republic		FK Radnički Novi Beograd, Belgrade	650
20 September 2008	4–30	Russia	2008 Euro-Med Challenge	FK Kabel, Novi Sad	500
5 October 2008	14–20	Lebanon		Municipal Stadium, Beirut	1,000
18 October 2009	0–82	Ireland	2009 European Cup	Spollanstown, Tullamore	295
25 October 2009	8–88	Wales		FK Smederevo Stadium, Smederevo	93
8 November 2009	14–42	Italy		Llynfi Road, Maesteg
17 July 2010	56–4	Czech Republic	2010 European Shield – West	RK Petrovice, Prague	100
July 2010	40–14	Germany		FK Radnički Novi Beograd, Belgrade	300
22 April 2011	90–6	Germany		TuS Hochspeyer, Kaiserslautern
30 September 2011	10–4	Ukraine	Milan Kosanovic Cup	Ada Ciganlija Stadium, Belgrade
16 October 2011	4–96	Lebanon	2013 World Cup Qualifiers - Europe	Olympic Stadium, Tripoli
23 October 2011	6–52	Italy		Makiš Stadium, Belgrade
29 October 2011	28–36	Russia		Makiš Stadium, Belgrade
12 May 2012	24–25	Germany	2012-13 European Shield	Fritz-Grunebaum Sportpark, Heidelberg
6 September 2012	24–18	Italy		Makiš Stadium, Belgrade	600
22 September 2012	20–21	Russia		Nara Stadium, Naro-Fominsk
18 May 2013	46–10	Germany		Makiš Stadium, Belgrade
25 May 2013	10–24	Russia		Makiš Stadium, Belgrade
14 September 2013	20–32	Italy		Stadio Augusteo, Este
17 May 2014	40–14	Ukraine	2014–15 Rugby League European Championship B	Železničar Stadium, Niš	750
21 June 2014	6–20	Russia		Nara Stadium, Naro-Fominsk
10 September 2014	45–6	Italy		Makiš Stadium, Belgrade
17 October 2014	50–0	Hungary	2014 Balkans Cup	Makiš Stadium, Belgrade
19 October 2014	50–22	Greece		Makiš Stadium, Belgrade
16 May 2015	20–15	Russia	2014–15 Rugby League European Championship B	Makiš Stadium, Belgrade
22 May 2015	8–68	France		Stade Gilbert Brutus, Perpignan
20 June 2015	21–14	Italy	2014–15 Rugby League European Championship B	Stadio comunale di Tegilo Veneto, Gemona del Friuli
12 September 2015	64–4	Ukraine		Avanhard Stadium, Uzhhorod
5 February 2016	12–18	Philippines		New Era Stadium, Cabramatta
24 September 2016	64–4	Spain		Quatre Carreres, Valencia
15 October 2016	0–50	Wales
22 October 2016	14–62	Italy		Makiš Stadium, Belgrade
8 October 2017	50–8	Greece		, Belgrade
8 October 2017	50–20	Bulgaria		FC Heroj Polet, Belgrade
13 October 2018	18–36	Russia		, Moscow
20 October 2018	24–20	Spain		, Belgrade
26 October 2019	0–86	Scotland		Lochinch Sports Ground, Glasgow
9 November 2019	6–82	Greece		Makiš Stadium, Belgrade
6 June 2021	50–4	Bosnia and Herzegovina	2021 Serbia tour of the Balkans	NK Rijeka, Vitez
19 June 2021	28–16	Bulgaria		FC Trebich, Sofia
27 June 2021	22–12	Montenegro		FK Arsenal Stadium, Tivat
4 July 2021	22–12	Albania		Kompleksi Zmijani, Shkodër	≈100
3 October 2021	66–10	Russia	2021 European Championship B	City Stadium, Paraćin	≈500
9 October 2021	54–18	Ukraine		FK Heroj Polet, Belgrade	≈150
13 May 2023	40–6	Greece	Friendly	Nea Smyrni Stadium, Athens	≈1,000
27 May 2023	52–4	Italy	Friendly	Rugby Club Pasian di Prato, Udine
26 August 2023	28–16	Czech Republic	Friendly	Městský Stadion, Krupka
25 September 2023	10–78	France	Friendly	FC Obilic, Belgrade
14 October 2023	10–40	Netherlands	Friendly	RC Zwolle, Zwolle
17 February 2024	52–34	Montenegro	Friendly	Stadion u Parku, Tivat
28 September 2024	6–52	Netherlands	Friendly	FC Masinac, Niš
22 October 2024	0–48	Wales	2026 World Cup European Qualifiers	Stade Albert Domec, Carcassonne
26 October 2024	50–10	Ukraine	Friendly	Stade Municipal, Saint-Estève

IRL Men's World Rankings v t
Official rankings as of December 2024
Rank	Change	Team	Pts %
1		Australia	100
2		New Zealand	86
3		England	84
4	1	Tonga	63
5	1	Samoa	54
6	1	Papua New Guinea	53
7	1	Fiji	44
8		France	30
9	2	Serbia	23
10		Cook Islands	22
11	1	Netherlands	22
12	5	Wales	18
13	2	Malta	17
14	6	Ukraine	13
15	1	Greece	12
16	7	Lebanon	12
17	4	Italy	11
18	2	Ireland	9
19	1	Jamaica	8
20	1	Czech Republic	8
21	2	Chile	8
22	3	Scotland	7
23	4	Philippines	7
24	7	United States	7
25	1	Poland	5
26	2	South Africa	5
27	5	Germany	5
28	3	Norway	5
29	4	Brazil	4
30	4	Kenya	4
31	10	Canada	4
32		Montenegro	4
33	2	North Macedonia	3
34	15	Argentina	3
35	5	Albania	2
36		Bulgaria	2
37	7	Ghana	2
38	9	Nigeria	2
39	5	Turkey	1
40	3	Cameroon	1
41	2	Japan	1
42	4	Spain	1
43	1	Colombia	1
44	1	El Salvador	0
45		Russia	0
46	1	Bosnia and Herzegovina	0
47	3	Hong Kong	0
48	3	Solomon Islands	0
49	8	Vanuatu	0
50		Niue	0
51	1	Latvia	0
52	2	Denmark	0
53	2	Belgium	0
54	4	Estonia	0
55	9	Sweden	0
56	12	Morocco	0
48	9	Hungary	0
Complete rankings at INTRL.SPORT

• Rugby league in Serbia

• ragbiliga.rs
• Serbia: European Rugby League