The 16th staging of the PDC World Cup of Darts is underway at the Eissporthalle in Frankfurt, running from 11-14 June 2026. The tournament features 40 national teams competing for a total prize fund of £500,000, with the winning team sharing £100,000. Northern Ireland are the defending champions after Josh Rock and Daryl Gurney beat Wales 10-9 in the 2025 final.
The top four seeded nations—England (Luke Littler and Luke Humphries), Netherlands (Gian van Veen and Michael van Gerwen), Northern Ireland, and Scotland (Gary Anderson and Cameron Menzies)—enter in the second round. The remaining 36 teams began group stage action on Thursday evening. Notably, Gerwyn Price has decided to spend the week with his family, leaving Wales to be represented by Jonny Clayton and Nick Kenny.
Thursday's results saw several seeded teams struggle. Belgium, seeded sixth, lost 4-2 to Hong Kong despite a strong performance from Mike De Decker and Dimitri Van den Bergh. Germany, seeded fifth, impressed with a 4-0 win over the Philippines, averaging 101.90. Wales beat Lithuania 4-1, while Ireland defeated Singapore 4-1. Poland eased past Portugal 4-1, and Austria beat China 4-1. However, Australia, seeded 11th, suffered a 4-3 loss to the United States, and Croatia lost 4-3 to Japan. Finland also fell 4-3 to Norway.
Group standings after the first round of matches show Germany, Hong Kong, Wales, Ireland, Poland, Sweden, United States, Czech Republic, Austria, Latvia, Japan, and Norway all leading their respective groups with two points. The group stage continues on Friday with matches scheduled from 12:00 and 19:00 local time, followed by the second round on Saturday and the knockout stages on Sunday.
Multiple pundits have weighed in with predictions. Samuel Gill of DartsNews.com sees Scotland winning the title, citing Gary Anderson's leadership. Lucas Michael picks Netherlands as champions, while Bram Coenen favours England. Nicolas Gayer also backs England, noting that Wales' chances diminished with Price's withdrawal. Pieter Verbeek and Mats Leering both consider England the clear favourites, with the latter highlighting Netherlands and Northern Ireland as potential challengers. The tournament promises plenty of drama as the world's best battle for national pride in Frankfurt.
