The World Cup of Darts (12th to 15th June, 2025)

The World Cup of Darts is a rare team event on the PDC circuit. The tournament offers players the chance to join up and compete for their Country against other nations from around the world. It’s a format that is embraced by fans, and each edition is highly anticipated.

In 2025, the World Cup takes place at the Eissporthalle in Frankfurt, between the 12th and 15th of June, and there’s lots to look forward to across four great days of competition.

 

The Format

Forty teams take part in the World Cup of Darts, so the event gives some of the lesser-known nations a rare chance to shine on the big stage. Each team consists of two players. Nations with two or more tour card holders, the top two of each, are chosen to represent their Country. In cases where a nation has only one tour card holder, an additional player is invited based on their recent performance. For example, Australia will be represented by Damon Heta (a PDC-ranked tour card holder and Simon Whitlock, who lost his tour card in January 2025.

Of the forty national teams playing in the 2025 PDC World Cup of Darts Tournament, the top four seeded countries are given a bye to the second round.

The remaining 36 countries are divided into twelve groups of three teams and will compete in a first-round qualification stage. During that group phase, each side will play together once within their sections, known as a round-robin stage. The team that finishes at the top of each group will then progress to the second round.

From this point, a series of knockout rounds will follow, all the way up to the final. In 2025, the four seeded teams are England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and the eventual winner may well come from within that seeded group.

 

The Frontrunners

With the pairings confirmed, England will go into the World Cup of Darts as the favourites for success. Their position at the top of the market is strengthened by the team boasting the two most recent world champions within its ranks.

Luke Littler lifted the individual world trophy at Alexandra Palace at the start of 2025, and his success followed that of Luke Humphries a year earlier. According to PDC World Rankings, Humphries and Littler are the strongest players in the game right now, as well as the World Cup of Darts defending champions.

Having beaten Austria in last year’s final, many bets are being placed on the English pair this year. Across the betting community, sportsbook customers are taking advantage of special offers and combining the odds with a casino welcome bonus as they look to maximise value.

England will start as short-odds favourites, but there will be plenty of challenges from within the home nations.

 

The Chasing Pack

Wales will offer a strong challenge after their pairing was confirmed. 2021 PDC World Champion Gerwyn Price will team up with Jonny Clayton, and they are the nation most likely to upset England this year.

Price and Clayton are a formidable partnership that has claimed the World Cup of Darts in 2020 and again in 2023. If there are any slips in the Littler-Humphries camp, Wales are set to take advantage.

The veteran pairing of Peter Wright and Gary Anderson is flying the flag for Scotland in 2025. As a partnership, the duo won this tournament in 2019, and Wright lifted the trophy, along with John Henderson, two years later. The Scots are likely to remain competitive in 2015.

The list of seeded teams is completed by Northern Ireland, who Daryl Gurney and Josh Rock represent. They’ve yet to make an impact in this tournament, but any seeded nation will be dangerous.

 

Outsiders to Watch

Ahead of the 2024 World Cup, few darts enthusiasts would have given Austria much chance of reaching the final. The team of Mensur Suljovic and Rowby-John Rodriguez defied the odds before going down 10-6 to England at the death.

This was the second time in four years that the Austrian pair had reached the final. This year, Suljovic is teamed up with Rowby-John’s younger brother, Rusty-Jake Rodriguez, but nobody should write them off.

Traditionally, the Netherlands has always been strong in the World Cup of Darts. The Netherlands won the tournament's first edition in 2010 and followed that up with success in 2014, 2017 and 2018.

Michael van Gerwen played in those three most recent wins, but Mighty Mike will not be taking part this year. His absence may hurt Dutch chances, but the pair of Gian van Veen and Danny Noppert can still offer a threat.

Elsewhere, there could be some danger among the underdogs. William O’Connor was part of the Republic of Ireland team that finished second in 2019, and he partners up with the promising Keane Barry. With the experience of Simon Whitlock and Damon Heta, Australia will also be hopeful of progressing deep into the tournament.

Whoever rises to the top we are certain to enjoy four great days of top-class darting action. There may be some notable absentees, but many of the game’s best throwers are in contention at the 2025 World Cup of Darts, and this year’s edition has the potential to be the most dramatic yet.