Ireland have been ever-presents at the World Cup of Darts, never missing a single edition, but success has eluded them. Their closest brush came in 2019 when they reached the final, only to lose 3-1 to Scotland's Gary Anderson and Peter Wright. For the 2026 edition, Ireland travel to the Eisporthalle in Frankfurt with a new pairing: veteran William O'Connor, making his 16th consecutive appearance, alongside debutant Mickey Mansell, who switches allegiance from Northern Ireland.
O'Connor, dubbed 'Mr. World Cup of Darts', has partnered Mick McGowan, Connie Finnan, Steve Lennon, and Keane Barry over the years. The 2019 runner-up finish with Lennon remains the highlight. This year, Mansell steps in after Keane Barry's three-year stint, which yielded a quarter-final last year as the best result. Mansell previously represented Northern Ireland from 2012 to 2015, reaching the semi-finals once, but switched to Irish nationality earlier this year after being squeezed out by Daryl Gurney and Josh Rock.
O'Connor's form has been steady on the floor, highlighted by a run to the final at Players Championship event 20, where he beat Martin Schindler, Wessel Nijman, and Dave Chisnall before losing 8-5 to Ross Smith. However, on TV he has struggled, losing his opening match at the Winmau World Masters and going down 10-9 to Josh Rock at the UK Open. Mansell, world number 45, has also shown recent floor improvement, reaching the last 16 at events 19 and 20, but has not progressed past the second round in three European Tour appearances this year.
Ireland's group stage opponents are Singapore, featuring legend Paul Lim and Phuay Wei Tan, and debutants Uganda, who on paper should not trouble the experienced Irish pair. The article suggests that with uncertainties surrounding other nations—Belgium's Dimitri van den Bergh and Mike De Decker out of form, Germany's Martin Schindler struggling and Ricardo Pietreczko battling dartitis, Wales missing Gerwyn Price and fielding Nick Kenny, and Scotland debuting a new pairing of Gary Anderson and Cameron Menzies—Ireland could be one of the outsiders for the title.
