How does the World Cup of Darts work?
- Published
The 2026 World Cup of Darts starts on Thursday, 11 June and lasts for four days in Frankfurt, Germany.
Northern Ireland are the defending champions after the duo of Josh Rock and Daryl Gurney won 10-9 in a thrilling final against Wales' Jonny Clayton and Gerwyn Price 12 months ago.
For the second year running, England's team will consist of Luke Littler and Luke Humphries, the top two ranked players in the world.
Each team consists of the two best-ranked players from each nation based on the Professional Darts Corporation's Order of Merit on 11 May.
The two players in each team will throw three darts each and alternate throughout the match.
A total of 40 nations compete at the World Cup of Darts.
The four top-ranked nations - England, Netherlands, Northern Ireland and Scotland - will receive a bye into the second round, which consists of 16 nations.
The other 12 second round spots are determined via the results of the group stage, where 36 teams compete.
Those 36 nations are split into 12 round robin groups of three, with the group winners advancing to the second round.
The top 16 nations are seeded, with the nations ranked between five and 16 separated in the groups to face two unseeded nations in the group stage.
Rankings are determined by the joint-rankings of players.
Wales would have been a seeded nation. However, Gerwyn Price has withdrawn from the competition.
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Luke Littler and Luke Humphries make up the English team for a second year running, having suffered a shock second round exit at the hands of Germany 12 months ago
Which players and nations are taking part?
A total of 80 players from 40 nations are taking part.
The numbers next to each nation indicate the seeding.
Bye to the second round
1. England (Luke Humphries and Luke Littler)
2. Netherlands (Michael van Gerwen and Gian van Veen)
3. Northern Ireland (Josh Rock and Daryl Gurney)
4. Scotland (Gary Anderson and Cameron Menzies)
Group stage
Group A
5. Germany (Martin Schindler and Ricardo Pietreczko)
Philippines (Alexis Toylo and Paolo Nebrida)
New Zealand (Jonny Tata and Ben Robb)
Group B
6. Belgium (Mike de Decker and Dimitri van den Bergh)
Hong Kong (Man Lok Leung and Lok Yin Lee)
Slovenia (Benjamin Pratnemer and Stefano Bozicek)
Group C
7. Wales (Jonny Clayton and Nick Kenny)
Lithuania (Darius Labanauskas and Mindaugas Barauskas)
Thailand (Sarayut Ouamuapa and Sorawis Rodman)
Group D
8. Republic of Ireland (William O'Connor and Mickey Mansell)
Singapore (Paul Lim and Phuay Wei Tan)
Uganda (Patrick Ocheng and Juma Said)
Group E
9. Poland (Krzysztof Ratajski and Sebastian Bialecki)
Portugal (Luis Camacho and Jose de Sousa)
Switzerland (Stefan Bellmont and Marcel Walpen)
Group F
10. Sweden (Jeffrey de Graaf and Oskar Lukasiak)
South Africa (Cameron Carolissen and Devon Petersen)
Mongolia (Altantülkhüür Myagmarsüren and Ganzorig Lkhagvasüren)
Group G
11. Australia (Damon Heta and Adam Leek)
United States (Adam Sevada and Stowe Buntz)
Canada (Jim Long and David Cameron)
Group H
12. Czech Republic (Karel Sedlacek and Petr Krivka)
India (Nitin Kumar and Ankit Goenka)
Denmark (Andreas Toft Jorgensen and Jonas Graversen)
Group I
13. Austria (Mensur Suljovic and Rusty-Jake Rodriguez)
China (Qingyu Zhan and Xiaochen Zong)
France (Thibault Tricole and Nicolas Thuillier)
Group J
14. Latvia (Madars Razma and Valters Melderis)
Italy (Michele Turetta and Riccardo Castelli)
Trinidad and Tobago (Joshua Balfour and James Walklin)
Group K
15. Croatia (Boris Krcmar and Pero Ljubic)
Japan (Motomu Sakai and Haruki Muramatsu)
Spain (Cristo Reyes and Jose Justicia)
Group L
16. Finland (Jani Haavisto and Jonas Masalin)
Norway (Cor Dekker and Kent Joran Sivertsen)
Hungary (Patrik Kovacs and Pal Szekely)
What is the format of the World Cup of Darts?
All rounds are played as one-off doubles matches.
During the group stage all matches are played in a best-of-seven legs format.
In the second round, quarter-finals and semi-finals, matches are best-of-15 legs.
In the final the number of legs is again increased to be best-of-19.
When are the matches?
The 36 group stage matches are taking place on Thursday and Friday.
Thursday will consist of an evening session starting at 18:00 BST. Friday will have both an afternoon and evening session, starting at 11:00 BST and 18:00 BST respectively.
The 12 second-round matches will take place on Saturday.
The quarter-finals, semi-finals and final will take place on Sunday.
On both days, there will be sessions starting at 12:00 BST and 18:00 BST.
Josh Rock and Daryl Gurney became the first pair from Northern Ireland to win the World Cup of Darts in 2025
World Cup of Darts prize money
A total prize pot of £500,000 is available, an increase of £50,000 from 12 months ago.
The winning team will earn a combined £100,000, with the runners-up taking £48,000.
All teams in the group stage are guaranteed at least £5,000, while teams in the knockout rounds will earn a minimum of £10,000.
Prize money (per team)
Winners: £100,000
Runners-up: £48,000
Losing semi-finalists: £30,000
Losing quarter-finalists: £20,000
Losing second-round teams: £10,000
Second-place finish in group: £6,000
Third-place finish in group: £5,000
World Cup of Darts winners
The first edition of the World Cup of Darts was in 2010, becoming an annual competition from 2012.
Six different nations have won the competition and there have been nine different winning pairs.
Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis won it four times for England, and Van Gerwen and Raymond van Barneveld three times for the Netherlands.
Of the pairs competing at the 2026 World Cup, only defending champions Northern Ireland have a full team of previous winners.
2025: Northern Ireland (Josh Rock and Daryl Gurney)
2024: England (Luke Humphries and Michael Smith)
2023: Wales (Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton)
2022: Australia (Damon Heta and Simon Whitlock)
2021: Scotland (Peter Wright and John Henderson)
2020: Wales (Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton)
2019: Scotland (Gary Anderson and Peter Wright)
2018: Netherlands (Michael van Gerwen and Raymond van Barneveld)
2017: Netherlands (Michael van Gerwen and Raymond van Barneveld)
2016: England (Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis)
2015: England (Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis)
2014: Netherlands (Michael van Gerwen and Raymond van Barneveld)
2013: England (Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis)
2012: England (Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis)
2010: Netherlands (Raymond van Barneveld and Co Stompe)
This article is the latest from BBC Sport's Ask Me Anything team.
