World Darts Championship - Draw, seeds, prize money

5 days ago 2

Recently crowned world number one Luke Littler is the defending champion as the 2026 PDC World Darts Championship takes place at Alexandra Palace in London.

Littler is one of nine previous winners to be playing in this year's competition and the 18-year-old is into the quarter-finals with wins over Lithuania's Darius Labanauskas, Wales' David Davies, Austria's Mensur Suljovic and England's Rob Cross.

A record 128 players entered this year's competition, an increase of 32 from last year's extravaganza, including five players from the Women's Series - also a record.

When does the World Darts Championship take place?

Luke Littler holding the World Darts Championship trophy

The 2026 World Darts Championship started on Thursday, 11 December and there were 13 consecutive days of action until a three-day break between 24-26 December.

The fourth round will be completed on 30 December, with another rest day on 31 December followed by the four quarter-finals across two sessions on Thursday, 1 January 2026.

After that, both semi-finals will be played on Friday, 2 January in an evening session.

The final takes place on Saturday, 3 January in the evening.

What is the draw and seedings?

The top 32 ranked players were seeded for the tournament. Unlike recent years, the top 32 entered in the first round, instead of the second.

Seeded players are denoted in brackets

Fourth round

Top half

Luke Littler (1) 4-2 Rob Cross (17)
Luke Woodhouse (25) v Krzysztof Ratajski
James Hurrell 0-4 Ryan Searle (20)
Jonny Clayton (5) v Andreas Harrysson

Bottom half

Luke Humphries (2) v Kevin Doets
Charlie Manby v Gian van Veen (10)
Michael van Gerwen (3) v Gary Anderson (14)
Justin Hood v Josh Rock (11)

Third round

Top half

Luke Littler (1) 4-0 Mensur Suljovic
Damon Heta (16) 0-4 Rob Cross (17)
Andrew Gilding 1-4 Luke Woodhouse (25)
Wesley Plaisier 3-4 Krzysztof Ratajski
Stephen Bunting (4) 3-4 James Hurrell
Martin Schindler (13) 0-4 Ryan Searle (20)
Jonny Clayton (5) 4-3 Niels Zonneveld
Andreas Harrysson 4-2 Ricardo Pietreczko

Bottom half

Luke Humphries (2) 4-2 Gabriel Clemens
Nathan Aspinall (15) 3-4 Kevin Doets
Ricky Evans 2-4 Charlie Manby
Gian van Veen (10) 4-1 Madars Razma
Michael van Gerwen (3) 4-1 Arno Merk
Gary Anderson (14) 4-3 Jermaine Wattimena (19)
Justin Hood 4-1 Ryan Meikle
Josh Rock (11) 4-1 Callan Rydz

Second round

Top half

Luke Littler (1) 3-0 David Davies
Joe Cullen (32) 1-3 Mensur Suljovic
Damon Heta (16) 3-0 Stefan Bellmont
Rob Cross (17) 3-1 Ian White
Chris Dobey (8) 1-3 Andrew Gilding
Luke Woodhouse (25) 3-0 Max Hopp
Gerwyn Price (9) 0-3 Wesley Plaisier
Ryan Joyce (24) 1-3 Krzysztof Ratajski
Stephen Bunting (4) 3-0 Nitin Kumar
Dirk van Duijvenbode (29) 2-3 James Hurrell
Martin Schindler (13) 3-0 Keane Barry
Ryan Searle (20) 3-0 Brendan Dolan
Jonny Clayton (5) w/o Dom Taylor - Clayton given a bye
Michael Smith (28) 1-3 Niels Zonneveld
Andreas Harrysson 3-0 Motomu Sakai
Dave Chisnall (21) 2-3 Ricardo Pietreczko

Bottom half

Luke Humphries (2) 3-0 Paul Lim
Wessel Nijman (31) 0-3 Gabriel Clemens
Nathan Aspinall (15) 3-0 Leonard Gates
David Munyua 0-3 Kevin Doets
James Wade (7) 2-3 Ricky Evans
Charlie Manby 3-0 Adam Sevada
Gian van Veen (10) 3-1 Alan Soutar
Darren Beveridge 1-3 Madars Razma
Michael van Gerwen (3) 3-1 William O'Connor
Peter Wright (30) 0-3 Arno Merk
Gary Anderson (14) 3-1 Connor Scutt
Jermaine Wattimena (19) 3-2 Scott Williams
Danny Noppert (6) 2-3 Justin Hood
Jonny Tata 2-3 Ryan Meikle
Josh Rock (11) 3-0 Joe Comito
Daryl Gurney (22) 2-3 Callan Rydz

First round

First quarter

Luke Littler (1) 3-0 Darius Labanauskas
Mario Vandenbogaerde 0-3 David Davies
Joe Cullen (32) 3-0 Bradley Brooks
Mensur Suljovic 3-1 David Cameron
Damon Heta (16) 3-1 Steve Lennon
Raymond van Barneveld 0-3 Stefan Bellmont
Rob Cross (17) 3-0 Cor Dekker
Ian White 3-2 Mervyn King
Chris Dobey (8) 3-1 Xiaochen Zong
Andrew Gilding 3-1 Cam Crabtree
Luke Woodhouse (25) 3-1 Boris Krcmar
Martin Lukeman 1-3 Max Hopp
Gerwyn Price (9) 3-0 Adam Gawlas
Lukas Wenig 1-3 Wesley Plaisier
Ryan Joyce (24) 3-0 Owen Bates
Krzysztof Ratajski 3-0 Alexis Toylo

Second quarter

Stephen Bunting (4) 3-2 Sebastian Bialecki
Richard Veenstra 2-3 Nitin Kumar
Dirk van Duijvenbode (29) 3-2 Andy Baetens
James Hurrell 3-1 Stowe Buntz
Martin Schindler (13) 3-1 Stephen Burton
Keane Barry 3-0 Tim Pusey
Ryan Searle (20) 3-0 Chris Landman
Brendan Dolan 3-1 Tavis Dudeney
Jonny Clayton (5) 3-1 Adam Lipscombe
Dom Taylor 3-0 Oskar Lukasiak
Michael Smith (28) 3-0 Lisa Ashton
Niels Zonneveld 3-0 Haupai Puha
Ross Smith (12) 2-3 Andreas Harrysson
Thibault Tricole 0-3 Motomu Sakai
Dave Chisnall (21) 3-0 Fallon Sherrock
Ricardo Pietreczko 3-1 Jose de Sousa

Third quarter

Luke Humphries (2) 3-1 Ted Evetts
Jeffrey de Graaf 1-3 Paul Lim
Wessel Nijman (31) 3-0 Karel Sedlacek
Gabriel Clemens 3-0 Alex Spellman
Nathan Aspinall (15) 3-1 Lourence Ilagan
Mickey Mansell 2-3 Leonard Gates
Mike de Decker (18) 2-3 David Munyua
Kevin Doets 3-1 Matthew Dennant
James Wade (7) 3-0 Ryusei Azemoto
Ricky Evans 3-0 Man Lok Leung
Cameron Menzies (26) 2-3 Charlie Manby
Matt Campbell 1-3 Adam Sevada
Gian van Veen (10) 3-1 Cristo Reyes
Alan Soutar 3-2 Teemu Harju
Dimitri Van den Bergh (23) 0-3 Darren Beveridge
Madars Razma 3-1 Jamai van den Herik

Fourth quarter

Michael van Gerwen (3) 3-1 Mitsuhiko Tatsunami
William O'Connor 3-0 Krzysztof Kciuk
Peter Wright (30) 3-0 Noa-Lynn van Leuven
Kim Huybrechts 1-3 Arno Merk
Gary Anderson (14) 3-2 Adam Hunt
Connor Scutt 3-2 Simon Whitlock
Jermaine Wattimena (19) 3-2 Dominik Grullich
Scott Williams 3-0 Paolo Nebrida
Danny Noppert (6) 3-1 Jurjen van der Velde
Nick Kenny 0-3 Justin Hood
Ritchie Edhouse (27) 0-3 Jonny Tata
Ryan Meikle 3-0 Jesus Salate
Josh Rock (11) 3-1 Gemma Hayter
Niko Springer 1-3 Joe Comito
Daryl Gurney (22) 3-2 Beau Greaves
Callan Rydz 3-0 Patrik Kovacs

What is the prize money?

A record-breaking £5m prize pool is on offer at the tournament, with £1m going to the winner.

Any player hitting a nine-darter will be awarded an additional £60,000. One lucky fan in attendance will also receive £60,000 from the tournament sponsor, as will Prostate Cancer UK.

Winner: £1,000,000
Runner-up: £400,000
Semi-final losers: £200,000
Quarter-final losers: £100,000
Fourth-round losers: £60,000
Third-round losers: £35,000
Second-round losers: £25,000
First-round losers: £15,000

Who is the favourite to win?

Littler entered as favourite off the back of winning six major finals in 2025.

Luke Humphries, Littler's predecessor as both world champion and world number one, faced Littler in three finals this year and is the current world number two.

World number three Michael van Gerwen is also in the mix, looking to avenge last year's final defeat and add to his three world titles, with his most recent coming in 2019.

Young players making a big run at the World Championship include Josh Rock and Gian van Veen, whose respective form saw them both enter the world's top 12 before the tournament.

Which women were in the draw?

Beau Greaves shakes hands with Daryl Gurney

Beau Greaves topped this year's Women's Series and carried the highest hopes of becoming only the second female player to win a match in the tournament, after Fallon Sherrock won twice at the event in December 2019.

She took 22nd seed Daryl Gurney to a deciding set but just fell short of a place in the second round.

Three qualification places were on offer from the Women's Series, along with a spot for the Women's Matchplay winner, a title taken by Lisa Ashton.

Ashton lost 3-0 to 2023 world champion Michael Smith in the first round on 11 December.

With Greaves qualifying in her own right as runner-up on the development tour, that meant Women's Series runner-up Sherrock, Noa-Lynn van Leuven in fourth and Gemma Hayter, who finished fifth, joined third-placed Ashton.

Van Leuven, who became the first transgender player to appear at the tournament last year, was beaten by two-time champion Peter Wright this time.

Sherrock lost in straight sets in the first round to Dave Chisnall, while Hayter took a set off Northern Ireland's World Cup winner Rock in a 3-1 defeat.

What is the format?

The format is set play, unlike other tournaments which are a race to a number of legs.

A set consists of the best of five legs or race to three.

Only in matches where players are level on sets and legs in the deciding set do players need to win by two clear legs.

First and second round: Best of five sets
Third and fourth round: Best of seven sets
Quarter-finals: Best of nine sets
Semi-finals: Best of 11 sets
Final: Best of 13 sets

Who are the previous champions?

Phil Taylor is the most successful player in the history of the PDC World Darts Championship, winning 14 of his 16 world titles between 1995 and 2013.

His previous two titles came before a group of leading players broke away from the British Darts Organisation to form their own governing body, now known as the PDC, in 1993.

The past five years have produced five different world champions, with English trio Littler, Humphries and Smith winning the past three.

Littler and Humphries will hope to join the exclusive club of players to have won multiple PDC world titles, with only six managing to achieve that feat so far.

2025: Luke Littler
2024: Luke Humphries
2023: Michael Smith
2022: Peter Wright
2021: Gerwyn Price
2020: Peter Wright
2019: Michael van Gerwen
2018: Rob Cross
2017: Michael van Gerwen
2016: Gary Anderson
2015: Gary Anderson
2014: Michael van Gerwen
2013: Phil Taylor
2012: Adrian Lewis
2011: Adrian Lewis
2010: Phil Taylor
2009: Phil Taylor
2008: John Part
2007: Raymond van Barneveld
2006: Phil Taylor
2005: Phil Taylor
2004: Phil Taylor
2003: John Part
2002: Phil Taylor
2001: Phil Taylor
2000: Phil Taylor
1999: Phil Taylor
1998: Phil Taylor
1997: Phil Taylor
1996: Phil Taylor
1995: Phil Taylor
1994: Dennis Priestley

How many nine-darters were hit last year?

Two players hit nine-darters during the 2025 World Darts Championship.

Dutchman Christian Kist was the first player to hit one, doing so in a first-round defeat by Madars Razma.

Australia's Damon Heta hit one in the third round, but like Kist it came in a defeat as he went out to Luke Woodhouse.

How to follow on the BBC

Throughout the tournament, there will be daily round-ups on the BBC Sport website and app.

There will also be live text coverage of the biggest matches as the tournament progresses.

During Thursday's opening night, there was a dedicated preview show on BBC Radio 5 Live, featuring interviews with Littler, Humphries and Van Gerwen. Presenter James Gregg will provide updates on BBC Sounds throughout the competition.

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