World Cup of Darts Preview
The PDC World Cup of Darts begins on June 27th at the Eissporthalle in Frankfurt, Germany. Fresh off the Premier League Darts finals, the tournament welcomes the two best-ranked players from 40 participating nations.
It is the only major tournament on the PDC tour played in pairs, making it a highlight of the tour. Every player represents their nation instead of themselves, as they would in every other tournament in the PDC. The opening two group games take place on the 27th of June.
World Cup of Darts Format
The PDC introduced a new format to the tournament in 2023. Nations ranked in the top four receive an automatic seeding to the second round. England, Wales, Scotland and the Netherlands have been seeded at the top. The remaining 36 compete in the group stages, with 12 groups of three. The top nation from each group progresses to the second round. From there, every match is a straight knockout format.
They play the group stages over the best of seven legs, the second round-semi-finals best of 15 and the final over the best of 19. Here are the 40 nations competing in the tournament and the players representing them.
Seeded Nations
- England: Luke Humphries and Michael Smith
- Wales: Jim Williams and Jonny Clayton
- Netherlands: Michael van Gerwen and Danny Noppert
- Scotland: Peter Wright and Gary Anderson
- Belgium: Dimitri van den Bergh and Kim Huybrechts
- Northern Ireland: Josh Rock and Brendan Dolan
- Germany: Martin Schindler and Gabriel Clemens
- Australia: Damon Heta and Simon Whitlock
- Ireland: William O’Connor and Keane Barry
- Austria: Rowby-John Rodriguez and Mensur Suljović
- Poland: Krzysztof Ratajski and Radek Szagański
- Czech Republic: Adam Gawlas and Karel Sedláček
- Croatia: Boris Krčmar and Romeo Grbavac
- France: Thibault Tricole and Jacques Labre
- Sweden: Jeffrey de Graaf and Oskar Lukasiak
- United States: Danny Lauby and Jules van Dongen
Unseeded Nations
- Bahrain: Duda Durra and Basem Mahmood
- Canada: David Cameron and Matt Campbell
- China: Chengan Liu and Zong Xiao Chen
- Chinese Taipei: Teng Lieh Pupo and An Sheng Lu
- Denmark: Benjamin Reus and Claus Bendix Nielsen
- Finland: Teemu Harju and Marko Kantele
- Gibraltar: Craig Galliano and Justin Hewitt
- Guyana: Sudesh Fitzgerald and Norman Madhoo
- Hong Kong: Lok Yin Lee and Man Lok Leung
- Hungary: Gábor Jagicza and Nándor Major
- Iceland: Pétur Gudmundsson and Arngrimur Olafsson
- Italy: Massimo Dalla Rosa and Michele Turetta
- Japan: Ryusei Azemoto and Tomoya Goto
- Latvia: Valters Melderis and Madars Razma
- Lithuania: Mindaugas Barauskas and Darius Labanauskas
- Malaysia: Mohd Bin Jantan and Siik Hwang Wong
- New Zealand: Haupai Puha and Ben Robb
- Norway: Cor Dekker and Hakon Bjorge Helling
- Philippines: Christian Perez and Alexis Toylo
- Portugal: José de Sousa and David Gomes
- Singapore: Harith Lim and Paul Lim
- South Africa: Cameron Carolissen and Johan Geldenhuys
- Spain: José Justicia and Jesús Noguera
- Switzerland: Stefan Bellmont and Bruno Stockli
Every match in the tournament works in a 1,1,2,2 format. For example, if England played Wales, the order of throw would go: Humphries/Williams, Smith/Clayton, Humphries/Williams etc. until one player doubles out to win the leg for their team.
World Cup of Darts Schedule
The tournament takes place over three days from 27th-30th June with all matches played at the Eissporthalle. Group stage matches culminate on June 28th, second-round matches on the 29th and the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final, all take place on June 30th.
Group Stages 27th-28th June
Twelve group-stage matches will take place on the opening day of the tournament. Hosts Germany headline the first day when Gabriel Clemens and Martin Schindler clash with New Zealand’s Haupai Puha and Ben Robb. Former champions Simon Whitlock and Damon Heta will also play on opening day. Heta has been in excellent form on the tour, sitting 11th in the PDC Order of Merit with £483,250 in prize money. They are worth 25/1 to win the World Cup of Darts with our online sports betting site. Let’s take a look at the group stage schedule in full.
Thursday, June 27th
- Sweden vs Spain (K)
- Czech Republic vs Bahrain (H)
- France vs Latvia (J)
- Croatia vs Malaysia (I)
- Republic of Ireland vs Lithuania (E)
- Poland vs Norway (G)
- USA vs Portugal (L)
- Belgium vs Singapore (A)
- Northern Ireland vs South Africa (B)
- Germany vs New Zealand (C)
- Australia vs Japan (D)
- Austria vs China (F)
Friday, June 28th – Afternoon Session (11:00 am)
- Group Stage – Second Matches x12
- Loser First Match vs Team 3
Evening Session (6:00 pm)
- Group Stage – Final Matches x12
- Winner First Match vs Team 3
Second Round 29th June
Eight second-round games will take place the day after the group stages finish. England, Wales, the Netherlands, and Scotland have automatically qualified for the knockout stage due to their seeding. They play these matches over the best of 15 legs.
Saturday, June 29
- Afternoon Session (Noon)
- Second Round x4
- Evening Session (6:00 pm)
- Second Round x4
Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals and Final June 30th
The final knockout rounds take place on one day. The quarter and semi-finals will be played over the best of 15 legs and the final the best of 19.
Sunday, June 30
- Afternoon Session (Noon)
- Quarter-Finals
- Evening Session (6:00 pm)
- Semi-Finals
- Final
World Cup of Darts Predictions and Betting Tips
Prediction: England to win the World Cup of Darts
When looking at past winners of the World Cup, the Netherlands and England have been the most successful. Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis won four tournaments together between 2012 and 2016. Although the two were longtime rivals in PDC premier events, they banded together to win four tournaments in five years.
Previous Winners
- 2010: The Netherlands (van Barneveld/Stompe) 4-2(p) Wales (Webster/Bates)
- 2012: England (Taylor/Lewis0 4-3(p) Australia (Whitlock/Nicholson)
- 2013: England (Taylor/Lewis) 3-1 Belgium (Kim Huybrechts/Ronny Huybrechts)
- 2014: The Netherlands (van Gerwen/van Barneveld) 3-0 England (Taylor/Lewis)
- 2015: England (Taylor/Lewis) 3-2 Scotland (Anderson/Wright)
- 2016: England (Taylor/Lewis) 3-2 The Netherlands (van Gerwen/van Barneveld)
- 2017: The Netherlands (van Gerwen/van Barnevekd) 3-1 Wales (Webster/Price)
- 2018: The Netherlands (van Gerwen/van Barneveld) 3-1 Scotland (Anderson/Wright)
- 2019: Scotland (Anderson/Wright) 3-1 Ireland (Lennon/O’Connor)
- 2020: Wales (Price/Clayton) 3-0 England (Smith/Cross)
- 2021: Scotland (Wright/Henderson) 3-1 Austria (Suljovic/Rodriguez)
- 2022: Australia (Heta/Whitlock) 3-1 Wales (Price/Clayton)
- 2023: Wales (Price/Clayton) 10-2 Scotland (Wright/Anderson)
England is the favourite according to the darts odds heading into the tournament, represented by world number one Luke Humphries and third-rank Michael Smith. Luke Humphries entered 2024 on the back of his World Championships win in January, beating Luke Littler 7-4 in the final. Cool Hand finished as runner-up in the Premier League in May and showed with his performances why he is the best in the world.
Former World Champion Smith had a great campaign too. He reached the semi-finals of the Premier League and won a Players Championship in Hildesheim. England is priced at 4/7 in online betting and with the number one and three-ranked players in the world representing, it is hard to see past them.
Michal van Gerwen and Raymon van Barneveld won three tournaments together in 2014, 2017 and 2018 for the Netherlands. Barney also won the inaugural World Cup in 2010 with Co Stompé. MVG will enter the World Cup for the 12th time in his career alongside teammate Danny Noppert. Mighty Mike is one of the greatest players of all time, currently ranked 2nd. He is the most decorated player in the tournament with an incredible 47 PDC Premier Event wins to his name. Noppert is ranked 12th with £458,250 in 2024. They are England’s biggest threat in the tournament, priced 5/1 on our online sportsbook.
Wales has been excellent in the tournament since Johnny Clayton and Gerwyn Price joined forces in 2018 and the Dragons will be the defending champions here. Together Price and Clayton have reached three finals, winning two. However, Price pulled out of the competition on Wednesday due to an unknown injury with Jim Williams taking his place. The 44th-ranked Welshman finished in the last 32 of the World Championships in December and has racked up £120,750 in prize money this tour, but has not achieved anything close to what Price has.
Williams will be the only player from the top four seeded nations who has never won a PDC Premier Event. The Quiff is not the top player that Price is and this puts a serious dent in their World Cup hopes. Wales have received a bye to the second round but Clayton may have to do some heavy lifting here. They have slipped to fourth favourites to win the tournament at 10/1 in the World Cup betting since Price’s omission.
World Cup of Darts Outsiders and Longshots
The World Cup of Darts is one of the most exciting dates on the PDC Tour calendar and its unique format can provide shocks throughout the tournament. In 2022, Australian pair Damon Heta and Simon Whitlock stunned the Welsh pairing of Gerwyn Price and Johnny Clayton to win their first-ever World Cup. They were not among the World Cup betting favourites but beat some top nations on their way to victory.
Heta has been in a rich vein of form since exiting the World Championships in the last 16 in December. The Heat won a Players Championship in Leicester and reached the semi-finals of the UK Open. He boasts impressive wins over Luke Littler, Nathan Aspinall, and Rob Cross on the tour in 2024. Simon Whitlock may not be the same player we saw throughout the 2010s, but he has previous in the tournament and Heta can do the heavy lifting. A longshot bet on Australia winning the World Cup for the second time is worth a small wager at 25/1.
Day One Tips World Cup of Darts
Although the top four ranks receive byes to the second round, there is still a lot of talent in the group stages. Northern Ireland, Belgium, and Germany all have players ranked in the top 25 representing them at the World Cup.
Belgium’s Dimitri van den Bergh has been in excellent form this year. He won his first major in four years in February when he beat Luke Humphries in the UK Open final in an 11-10 thriller. He has also claimed a Players Championship and reached the semi-finals of the Masters, currently ranked 8th in the world. His teammate Kim Huybrechts has performed fairly well, ranked 36th with £165,000 in prize money. We like a bet on Belgium to hit over 1.5 180s in their group opener against Singapore.
Gabriel Clemens and Martin Schindler will headline the opening night representing the host nation. They play against New Zealand pairing Haupai Puha and Ben Robb. Germany’s duo is much stronger, ranked 24th and 23rd respectively. However, Puha has been impressive on the tour, despite his ranking. He has beaten top players like Nathan Aspinall, Dave Chisnall, and Josh Rock. Darts betting markets have Germany as heavy favourites, but Puha can help push them. We like a bet on over 5.5 legs in the match, worth 11/10.
Ireland and Northern Ireland’s World Cup of Darts Chances
Ireland and Northern Ireland have been seeded for the World Cup of Darts. Northern Ireland narrowly missed out on a bye to the second round with the team of Josh Rock and Brendan Dolan seeded sixth. William O’Connor and Keane Barry have been seeded ninth.
Dolan has a Player’s Championship to his name in 2024 after reaching the quarter-finals of the World Championship last year. He is one of a small handful of players along with Whitlock and Suljovic to have played in every World Cup of Darts.
This year will mark Josh Rock’s first appearance at the World Cup with Dolan pairing with Daryl Gurney in previous years. The youngster is ranked 18th in the world, racking up £372,750 in prize money. Rock recovered well following his shock second-round exit in the World Championship in December.
He has finished runner-up in a PC7 tournament, reached the quarter-finals of the European Grand Prix and was competitive in Premier Events against Rob Cross and Joe Cullen. Rock and Dolan should reach the knockout rounds with few issues and can join Australia with an outside chance of winning the tournament. Northern Ireland is 25/1 to win the World Cup with our online sportsbook.
William O’Connor and Keane Barry will represent Ireland. O’Connor was part of the Ireland duo that reached the World Cup final in 2019, alongside Steve Lennon. They lost to Scotland on that day. The Magpie is ranked 45th and has had a decent campaign with £113,000 in prize money.
Barry is another youngster like Rock on an upward trajectory. He turns 22 the week of the tournament and has shown promise in 2024. Dynamite reached the last 16 of the UK Open before losing to 6th-ranked Englishman Rob Cross. The best is yet to come for Barry and he can show his class at the World Cup. Ireland are big outsiders at 66/1, though will be expectant of a strong showing.
World Cup of Darts Prize Fund
The increasing popularity of the sport has allowed for more lucrative sponsorship deals in recent years. The inaugural 2010 World Cup had a prize pot of £150,000. This has increased over the last decade and a half to £450,000 in 2024. They have split the prize money as follows:
- Winners: £80,000
- Runners-Up: £50,000
- Semi-finalists: £30,000
- Quarter-finalists: £20,000
- Last 16 (Second round): £9,000
- Second in the group: £5,000
- Third in the group: £4,000
