The World Cup of Darts is back for another instalment, heading back to Frankfurt in Germany.
Taking place from June 12 to June 15, the team event will see 40 nations battle it out to become world champions on the oche.
It is the 15th edition of the competition, which began back in 2010 as part of PDC chairman Barry Hearn’s plan to expand professional darts.
The Netherlands were the inaugural winners, with the partnership of Raymond van Barneveld and Co Stompe doing the business in Houghton-le-Spring in Sunderland.
How does the World Cup of Darts work?
The 40-team format continues into this year’s event, with the top four teams seeded and given a bye into the second round.
The other 36 will battle it out in a group stage.
There will be 12 groups of three, with the winners of each group progressing to the next stage.
In the first round, matches will be best of seven legs, before the second round, quarter-finals, and semi-finals are best of 15 legs.
The final will be a marathon best of 19 legs.
Where are England ranked?
England are the defending champions and come into this tournament as very heavy favourites.
They defeated Austria 10-6 in the final at Eissporthalle, knocking Wales off their perch.
The win broke a new record, with England sealing their fifth World Cup title.
Who is playing for England at the World Cup of Darts?
It will be Littler’s debut in the competition after Humphries was joined by Michael Smith for the 2024 triumph.
Who is playing at the World Cup of Darts?
Here are all 40 teams that will take to the stage in Frankfurt…
- 1. England (Luke Humphries and Luke Littler)
- 2. Wales (Jonny Clayton and Gerwyn Price)
- 3. Scotland (Gary Anderson and Peter Wright)
- 4. Northern Ireland (Josh Rock and Daryl Gurney)
- Netherlands (Danny Noppert and Gian van Veen, fifth seeds)
- Italy (Michele Turetta and Massimo Dalla Rosa)
- Hungary (Gyorgy Jehirszki and Gergely Lakatos)
- Belgium (Mike de Decker and Dimitri van den Bergh, sixth seeds)
- Latvia (Madars Razma and Valters Melderis)
- Philippines (Lourence Ilagan and Paolo Nebrida)
- Germany (Martin Schindler and Ricardo Pietreczk, seventh seeds)
- Portugal (Jose de Sousa and Bruno Nascimento)
- Singapore (Paul Lim and Phuay Wei Tan)
- Republic of Ireland (William O’Connor and Keane Barry, eighth seeds)
- Gibraltar (Craig Galliano and Justin Hewitt)
- China (Xiaochen Zong and Lihao Wen)
- Poland (Krzysztof Ratajski and Radek Szaganski, ninth seeds)
- South Africa (Cameron Carolissen and Devon Petersen)
- Norway (Cor Dekker and Kent Joran Sivertsen)
- Canada (Matt Campbell and Jim Long, 10th seeds)
- Malaysia (Tengku Shah and Tan Jenn Ming)
- Denmark (Denjamin Drue Reus and Andreas Hyllgaardhus)
- Sweden (Jeffrey de Graaf and Oskar Lukasiak, 11th seeds)
- Lithuania (Darius Labanauskas and Mindaugas Barauskas)
- France (Thibault Tricole and Jacques Labre)
- Austria (Mensur Suljovic and Rusty-Jake Rodriguez, 12th seeds)
- Spain (Daniel Zapata and Ricardo Fernandez)
- Australia (Damon Heta and Simon Whitlock)
- United States (Danny Lauby and Jules van Dongen, 13th seeds)
- Hong Kong (Man Lok Leung and Lok Yin Lee)
- Bahrain (Sadeq Mohamed and Hasan Bucheeri)
- Czech Republic (Karel Sedlacek and Petr Krivka, 14th seeds)
- India (Nitin Kumar and Mohan Goel)
- Chinese Taipei (Teng Lieh Pupo and An-Sheng Lu)
- Croatia (Pero Ljubic and Boris Krcmar, 15th seeds)
- Japan (Ryusei Azemoto and Tomoya Goto)
- Switzerland (Stefan Bellmont and Alex Fehlmann)
- Finland (Teemu Harju and Marko Kantele, 16th seeds)
- New Zealand (Haupai Puha and Mark Cleaver)
- Argentina (Jesus Salate and Victor Guillin)
When are England playing in the World Cup of Darts?
England won’t play until the third day of the tournament, when the knockout stages begin.
They join the draw in the second round, on June 14, at the top of the tournament tree.
What is the World Cup of Darts schedule?
The group games will be played across the first couple of days – Thursday June 12 and Friday June 13.
The last 16 will be played on Saturday across an afternoon session beginning at midday, and an evening session that starts at 6pm UK time, gearing up for a mega Sunday.
The quarters, semis, and final will all be played on the same day, with the last eight starting at 12pm, and the semis and final at 6pm.
How does seeding work for the World Cup of Darts?
Ranking are based on the PDC’s Order of Merit.
Teams with the lowest combined PDC rank are seeded, and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland complete the quartet alongside England.
Jonny Clayton and Gerwyn Price will play for Wales, and Gary Anderson and Peter Wright don the tartan.
As for Northern Ireland, their team is made up of Josh Rock and Daryl Gurney.
All four seeds enter the tournament in the second round.
What is the World Cup of Darts prize money?
There is a total prize fund of £450,000, with the winner’s share at £80,000.
The runners-up receive £50,000, and the semi-finalists take home £30,000.
Those that make it to the last eight pocket £20,000, and teams that are knocked out in the last 16 receive £9,000.
Second and third in the group stages go home with £5,000 and £4,000 respectively.
