Australia will be the top ranked team when the Rugby League World Cup starts in October ©Getty Images

Reigning champions Australia will head into the 2017 Rugby League World Cup as the best ranked team in the world.

The latest rankings have been released by the Rugby League International Federation (RLIF) and have the Australians in first place.

They will hold onto this position heading into the World Cup, scheduled to take place between October 26 and December 2.

Australia are co-hosts for the tournament with New Zealand, who are second in the rankings, and Papua New Guinea, who are 15th in the latest standings.

Completing the top five places are England, Scotland and Samoa.

New Zealand are second in the rankings ©Getty Images
New Zealand are second in the rankings ©Getty Images

There are two new teams featuring in the world rankings for the first time with Uruguay and Thailand taking the total amount of teams in the standings to 42.

Uruguay have gone into 41st place, while Thailand have jumped straight up to 35th.

The biggest climbers in the rankings are Hungary, who have moved up five places to 33rd.