The generation of axial and lateral magnetic fields due to the interaction of intense laser fields with a plasma is investigated analytically. For a CO2 laser of 10.6 μm wavelength and 5×1014 W cm−2 power flux with a plasma of temperature 3 keV, the numerical results show that the magnitude of the lateral magnetic field dominates over the axial field, and the peak value of the lateral field is at less than the critical density, whereas the axial magnetic field peaks at the critical density level. This axial field combined with the lateral field may allow the construction of a new type of tokamak, and may also be important for studying energy transport in laser-fusion schemes.