The World Club Challenge is a rugby league institution, and this year the Broncos will face Hull KR in the showcase clash that unofficially began in 1976.
Eastern Suburbs and St Helens played in that tie in Sydney, and then in 1987 the Sea Eagles faced Wigan in 1987 in England, with the Warriors reigning supreme.
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Of the 29 games played, English teams have won on 15 occasions — and they hold an impressive record when hosting.
In 24 World Club Challenge clashes in the Poms’ territory, they have come away with a winb 13 times, but interestingly have been outscored by touring teams 468 to 401 in total.
In the five games played in Australia, only Wigan and St Helens have won, with a 47-year gap spanning the Saints’ 2023 win and the Warriors’ 1976 dream.
Brian Noble and Trent Robinson are the most succesful coaches in World Club Challenge history, having won three from three each.
Craig Bellamy has also won three, but lost on a single ocassion while Wayne Bennett has only managed a victory twice in five attempts.
Brian McDermott, meanwhile, has been at the helm in four World Club Challenges, but has only tasted a win once, with a 25 per cent strike rate.
Ahead of the 2026 World Club Challenge, foxsports.com.au takes a look back at the top five biggest World Club Challenge clashes in history!
5. DROP GOAL FEAST AS ST HELENS BEAT BRONCOS — 2001
The Broncos were red-hot favourites coming into this clash, with Darren Lockyer at fullback, Shane Webcke and Petero Civoniceva in the front row and Gorden Tallis in the back row.
As such, this star-studded side took an 18-6 lead at Bolton’s Reebok Stadium.
Shaun Berrigan and Phillip Lee crossed for Brisbane in the first half, with Paul Sculthorpe the man who found the line for the Saints.
After the break Brad Myers found the line — until the hosts began a stunning comeback.
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Sean Long dived over and was met with some rough defence, getting the ball down in a crucial moment before Chris Joynt was the next to score, before being knocked out by Tallis after the grounding.
He benefited from a Paul Newlove pass inside after he made a break down the sideline, levelling the score.
Scunthorpe went on to kick the first of two field goals with around eight minutes on the clock, with the second being slotted by Long to seal a victory.
That’s the only name fans remember when they speak of this Wigan win.
The Warriors opened the scoring in the eighth minute, with a Bevan French cut-out pass finding winger Abbas Miski in space.
Nathan Cleary crossed next, with a Wigan error giving Mitch Kenny a golden opportunity to hit his halfback in space.
Miski was again in the action, with a string of inside passes after a break finding Kruise Leeming, but Dylan Edwards responded with a burrowing try of his own.
Next came a controversial moment, with Jake Wardle’s attempt to ground the ball being given a try on-field, before the Bunker ruled they didn’t have enough evidence to overturn the decision.
Then in stepped Field.
The first of his two staggering efforts came in the 69th minute, somehow dragging Taylan May out to stop what looked to be a certain try.
French was also denied what would have been an impressive chip-and-chase try after being deemed off-side, before Field once again defended for his life.
Once again it was May, who dived for the line as the gun fullback held the Panthers gun up over the line to secure a stunning victory.
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It was a time when shoulder charges were still legal, and a teenager named Sonny Bill Williams took advantage of that.
The 19-year-old made a statement with two ridiculous hits in successive tackles, the first on Ryan Bailey and the second downing Marcus Bai.
He had played in the centres and off the bench in the Bulldogs’ 2004 premiership and also earnt a New Zealand Test cap that year.
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But his ridiculous shots against Leeds are still sending shockwaves around the Yorkshire city.
Overall, the Bulldogs went down 39-32 with the Rhinos holding a 20-point lead at halftime at Elland Road, which proved to be a mountain too high for Canterbury.
A stunning Danny McGuire try was another highlight of the clash, but Bill Williams’ statement to the English crowd remains the most memorable moment of this clash.
Travelling to Penrith and facing a red-hot Panthers side was no easy task for St Helens.
The NRL’s reigning premiers boasted arguably the best player in the world at the time in Nathan Cleary, alongside the likes of Brian To’o, Isaah Yeo and Stephen Crichton.
St Helens, meanwhile boasted former NRL stars Konrad Hurrell and Will Hopoate alongside rising stars Lewis Dodd and Jack Welsby.
The Saints had won four-straight premierships, and the Panthers had lifted the second of their four-year tenure at the time.
And this game delivered everything you could want from a rugby league clash — it was pouring down with rain and had two salient moments.
St Helens kept the Panthers scoreless for 52 long minutes for the club’s faithful, having already crossed twice through Welsby and Hurrell to hold a 10-0 lead at halftime.
Izack Tago was the first to score for Penrith, before a 78th minute try from To’o handed Cleary a sideline conversion attempt to send the game to golden point.
He nailed it, and pointed to the veins in his arms with the ‘ice man’ celebration.
But it was the Saints who got the last laugh, with a Crichton knock on gifting them strong field position before Dodd slotted the field goal to secure a shock win.
“It is just unbelievable mate… everyone was writing us off,” Dodd said post-match.
Up until St Helens’ 2023 victory, the Warriors’ 1994 side were the only team to have ever won a World Club Challenge game on Australian soil.
There has only been five in the history of the fixture, but Wigan coming to ANZ Stadium to face a Broncos side who had won two-straight premierships would be no easy task.
North of 54,000 supporters attended the event, hoping to get a glimpse of Brisbane’s stars which included Steve Renouf, Kevin Walters, Allan Langer, Glenn Lazarus and Wendell Sailor.
But Wigan also boasted some elite players in Martin Offiah, Shaun Edwards, Frano Botica and Gary Connolly.
Stand-in coach Graeme West had just taken over, and the first try came through Denis Betts, with an Edwards bomb finding the floor and eventually being grounded by the back rower.
Barrie-Jon Mather was the next to cross, slicing through a gap and streaking away to find the line and take a 12-0 lead.
The Broncos hit back through Sailor, who ducked down the blind side and was unable to be stopped before Jason Robinson cleaned up an error and scored for Wigan in the second half.
Michael Hancock finished a messy sequence for Brisbane’s second and Julian O’Neill scored in the 60th minute to keep his side in the clash.
But ultimately it was the boot of Botica that proved the difference, with the Warriors stunning the world on Australian soil.
“To do it in England would have been difficult, but even more so in Brisbane and I think everyone had written us off,” winger Jason Robinson said to Love Rugby League.
