2025 PDC World Cup of Darts: Prediction, draw, pairings, prize money, where to watch and free tips

England head into the event not only as the firm favourites but also as the defending champions having claimed the 2024 crown against Austria.

Luke Humphries and Michael Smith stormed to the title as the pair ended England’s seven year wait for World Cup success.

Smith has since endured a woeful season in which his PDC ranking has plummeted. As a result, Bully Boy will be replaced at this year’s event by the current world champion, Luke Littler.

On paper, the team of Humphries and Littler seem near unstoppable. The two men have dominated darts for the last couple of years, sharing the vast majority of titles between them.

However, just because both men play extraordinary darts individually, that doesn’t necessarily mean they will make a great team. 

England’s poor record at the event cannot be ignored either. Last year’s triumph was their first since 2016, with Netherlands, Scotland, Wales and Australia winning the tournament in-between.

Wales, who last won the event back in 2023, have got consistency on their side. Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton have been teammates for a long time, reaching three finals together as a duo.

What’s more, both men are playing good darts with Price reaching the Premier League semi-final last month and Clayton picking up solid results on the PDC pro tour – including two recent tournament wins.

Scotland have won the World Cup on two previous occasions, but their chances of a third aren’t great. Gary Anderson and Peter Wright are far from their peak but could utilise their experience to reach the latter rounds.

Northern Irish pair of Josh Rock and Daryl Gurney will be looking to cause some damage as they join the home nations in the knockout stages.

There are a couple of teams worth watching outside of the top four seeds. Netherlands are certainly one of them as Danny Noppert and Gian van Veen take centre stage for the Oranje.

Michael van Gerwen will miss the event for the third straight year as he continues to deal with some well documented personal issues.

One-time finalists Belgium will also look to make a serious dent in their campaign as Mike De Decker and Dimitri Van den Bergh team up.

This is certainly good news for Van den Bergh who had a fractious relationship with former teammate Kim Huybrechts. 

Hosts Germany, meanwhile, will feel rather optimistic as Ricardo Pietreczko teams up with recent Austrian Darts Open winner Martin Schindler. 

2025 World Cup of Darts tips

Nap – England to win 4/9

Dark horse – Netherlands to win 14/1

Good luck and please gamble responsibly.

2025 World Cup of Darts groups and pairings

Seeded Nations (Bye into the knockout stages)

England - Luke Humphries & Luke Littler

Wales - Jonny Clayton & Gerwyn Price

Scotland - Gary Anderson & Peter Wright

Northern Ireland - Josh Rock & Daryl Gurney

Group A

Netherlands - Danny Noppert & Gian van Veen

Italy - Michele Turetta & Massimo Dalla Rosa

Hungary - Gyorgy Jehirszki & Gergely Lakatos

Group B

Belgium - Mike De Decker & Dimitri Van den Bergh

Latvia - Madars Razma & Valters Melderis

Philippines - Lourence Ilagan & Paolo Nebrida

Group C

Germany - Martin Schindler & Ricardo Pietreczko

Portugal - Jose de Sousa & Bruno Nascimento

Singapore - Paul Lim & Phuay Wei Tan

Group D

Republic of Ireland - William O'Connor & Keane Barry

Gibraltar - Craig Galliano & Justin Hewitt

China - Xiaochen Zong & Lihao Wen

Group E

Poland - Krzysztof Ratajski & Radek Szaganski

South Africa - Cameron Carolissen & Devon Petersen

Norway - Cor Dekker & Kent Joran Sivertsen

Group F

Canada - Matt Campbell & Jim Long

Malaysia - Tengku Shah & Tan Jenn Ming

Denmark - Benjamin Drue Reus & Andreas Hyllgaardhus

Group G

Sweden - Jeffrey de Graaf & Oskar Lukasiak

Lithuania - Darius Labanauskas & Mindaugas Barauskas

France - Thibault Tricole & Jacques Labre

Group H

Austria - Mensur Suljovic & Rusty-Jake Rodriguez

Spain - Daniel Zapata & Ricardo Fernandez

Australia - Damon Heta & Simon Whitlock

Group I

United States - Danny Lauby & Jules van Dongen

Hong Kong - Man Lok Leung & Lok Yin Lee

Bahrain - Sadeq Mohamed & Hasan Bucheeri

Group J

Czech Republic - Karel Sedlacek & Petr Krivka

India - Nitin Kumar & Mohan Goel

Chinese Taipei - Pupo Teng-Lieh & An-Sheng Lu

Group K

Croatia - Pero Ljubic & Boris Krcmar

Japan - Ryusei Azemoto & Tomoya Goto

Switzerland - Stefan Bellmont & Alex Fehlmann

Group L

Finland - Teemu Harju & Marko Kantele

New Zealand - Haupai Puha & Mark Cleaver

Argentina - Jesus Salate & Victor Guillin

2025 World Cup of Darts prize money

Winners - £80,000

Runners-up - £50,000

Losing semi-finalists - £30,000

Losing quarter-finalists - £20,000

Losing second-round teams - £9,000

Second-place finish in group - £5,000

Third-place finish in group - £4,000

2025 World Cup of Darts schedule

Thursday, June 12 - Group Stage (Session 1)   
Starts - 1800 BST

Friday, June 13 - Group Stage (Sessions 2 & 3)
Afternoon Session - 1100 BST
Evening Session - 1800 BST

Saturday, June 14 - Knockout Stage   
Afternoon Session - 1200 BST
Evening Session - 1800 BST

Sunday, June 15 - Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals, and Final
Afternoon Session (Quarter-Finals) - 1200 BST
Evening Session (Semi-Finals & Final) - 1800 BST

2025 World Cup of Darts format

The 2025 World Cup of Darts consists of 40 national teams competing in a unique doubles-only format, where the two players in each team throw three darts each and alternate throughout the match.

The top four seeded nations automatically advance to the knockout stage, while the remaining 36 teams are divided into 12 groups of three. Group stage matches are competed over a best-of-seven legs format, with the group winners progressing.

After the groups, the tournament goes into a knockout phase. Matches in the last-16, quarter-finals and semi-finals are best-of-15 legs. The final, meanwhile, will be contested over best-of-19 legs.

Where to watch the 2025 World Cup of Darts

Fans in the United Kingdom will be able to follow every dart across Sky Sports Action and Sky Sports Main Event. Streaming platform Sky Go and NOW will also stream the event.

Fans in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Japan, Italy, USA, Brazil, and Canada can follow the tournament live on DAZN.

PDC TV is the official streaming service for various other locations.

READ MORE: What is a bet builder? A simple guide to how bet builders work

READ MORE: What is an accumulator or acca bet?

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