A list of men and women international rugby league matches played throughout 2020 and does not include wheelchair rugby league international matches. A † denotes a recognised, but unofficial match that did not contribute to the IRL World Rankings.

Many fixtures scheduled were cancelled or rescheduled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The Kangaroo tour of England, Oceania Cup, and European Championship were all cancelled. The European Championship B, European Championship C, European Championship D and Americas Championship were all postponed until 2021, whilst the MEA Championship was postponed until a later date not confirmed.

As a result of the travel restrictions from COVID-19, only two respective men's and women's test matches were played in 2020; a men's international between Peru and Brazil in Sydney before the pandemic began, the Griffin Cup match between Germany and Netherlands, and a women's 'Clash of the Pacific' double-header in Auckland where Tonga and Niue, and New Zealand and Tonga played each other.

Season overview

Men's international tours
Start date	Touring side	Region	Results [Matches]
No international men's tours in 2020
Men's international friendlies
Start date	Home team	Away team	Winners
22 February 2020	Peru	Brazil	Brazil
26 September 2020	Netherlands	Germany	Netherlands
Men's international tournaments
Start date	Tournament		Winners
No international men's tournaments in 2020

Women's international tours
Start date	Touring side	Region	Results [Matches]
No international women's tours in 2020
Women's international friendlies
Start date	Home team	Away team	Winners
7 November 2020	Tonga	Niue	Tonga
7 November 2020	New Zealand	Samoa	New Zealand
Women's international tournaments
Start date	Tournament		Winners
No international women's tournaments in 2020

Rankings

The following were the rankings at the beginning of the season.

IRL Men's World Rankings
Official rankings as of 18 November 2019[1]
Rank	Change	Team	Points %
1	2	New Zealand	100.00%
2	1	Australia	91.82%
3	1	England	85.34%
4		Tonga	60.66%
5		Fiji	36.57%
6	4	Papua New Guinea	28.53%
7		Samoa	22.09%
8	2	France	16.69%
9	1	Scotland	15.00%
10	1	Lebanon	11.81%
11	5	Greece	11.38%
12		Ireland	11.36%
13	1	Italy	7.86%
14	3	Wales	7.75%
15	4	Serbia	0.00%
16	1	Malta	6.77%
17	1	Norway	5.63%
18	3	United States	5.39%
19	4	Poland	5.35%
20	7	Jamaica	5.04%
21	1	Hungary	4.27%
22	3	Czech Republic	4.16%
23	5	Cook Islands	3.87%
24	7	Turkey	3.51%
25	1	Netherlands	3.29%
26	4	Spain	3.18%
27	6	Canada	2.81%
28		Nigeria	2.51%
29	2	Solomon Islands	2.32%
30	10	Sweden	2.16%
31	4	Germany	1.95%
32	1	Chile	1.86%
33		Ghana	1.80%
34	16	Morocco	1.69%
35	3	Vanuatu	1.47%
36		South Africa	1.46%
37	8	Russia	1.41%
38		Cameroon	1.31%
39	2	Ukraine	1.21%
40	1	Colombia	1.06%
41	4	Brazil	0.50%
42		Belgium	0.30%
43	4	Denmark	0.13%
44	4	Bulgaria	0.10%
45	4	Latvia	0.07%
*Change from July 2019
Complete rankings at INTRL.SPORT

IRL Women's World Rankings
Official rankings as of 18 November 2019[1]
Rank	Change	Team	Points %
1		Australia
2		New Zealand
3		England
4	2	Papua New Guinea
5	1	Canada
6	1	France
7	2	Cook Islands
8		Italy
9		Serbia
10		Fiji
11		Turkey
12		Samoa
13		Brazil
14	6	Lebanon
15		Greece
*Change from July 2019
Complete rankings at INTRL.SPORT

February

Peru vs Brazil men in Australia

22 February 2020 17:00 AEDT (UTC+11:00)

Peru	14–30	Brazil
Tries: N. Ibarburu, Sommers, Zarate Goals: G. Altamirano (1/3)	Report	Tries: Araújo, De Araujo, Howison, Jackson, Viñas Goals: Nunes (5/5)

Hillier Oval, Sydney Attendance: 350 Referee: Matthew Middelton (Australia)

September

Germany men in Netherlands

Griffin Cup

26 September 2020 17:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)

Netherlands	20–18	Germany
Tries: Longhurst, Farrell, Schoenmaker Goals: Gout (4/4)	Report	Tries: Hampson (2), Seidler Goals: Billsborough (1/1), Esser (1/1), Doughton (1/1)

RC Zwolle, Zwolle[2] Referee: Jaroslav Bzoch (Czech Republic)

November

Tonga vs Niue women in New Zealand

7 November 2020 14:00 NZDT (UTC+13:00)

Tonga	66–8	Niue
Tries: Hufanga (3), Taulanga (2), Filimoe'atu (2), Sikei (2), Vailea, Huni, Maumau-Pinomi Goals: Hufanga (9/12)	Report Highlights	Tries: Kamutoa, Hiko

Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland[3]

Samoa women in New Zealand

7 November 2020 16:00 NZDT (UTC+13:00)

New Zealand	28–8	Samoa
Tries: Stephens (2), Hansen, Hireme-Smiler, Vaha'akolo, Tamarua Goals: Hansen (2/4), Paul (0/2)	Report Video Replay	Tries: Lemanu, Tufuga Goals: Eli (0/2)

Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland[3] Referee: Viggo Rasmussen