World Darts Championship 2026 dates, format, how to watch and favourites – who can challenge Luke Littler?
Everything you need to know ahead of the World Darts Championship 2026 including the key dates, format, prize money, and who can challenge Luke Littler…
When is the World Darts Championship 2026?
The 33rd PDC World Darts Championship takes place from Thursday December 11 to Saturday January 3, live on Sky Sports.
There is action every day from Alexandra Palace apart from Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Eve.
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Littler beat Van Gerwen to claim the Sid Waddell trophy for the first time
Where is the World Darts Championship 2026?
The World Darts Championship is held at Alexandra Palace in London, which has been the case since 2008.
Previously, Circus Tavern in Essex hosted the biggest darts event of the year from 1994 to 2007.
How to watch the World Darts Championship
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Littler revealed he watched his 2024 World Darts Championship defeat to Humphries ahead of his win over Van Gerwen
You won’t miss an arrow in the World Championship on the dedicated Sky Sports Darts channel, with Sky Sports F1 changing to Sky Sports Darts on channel 407 from December 10 to January 5, with the best of the action also on Sky Sports Main Event.
Coverage begins on Thursday December 11 at 7pm, with afternoon sessions at 12.30pm and evening sessions at 7pm taking place for the rest of the tournament up to the quarter-finals on Thursday January 1.
The semi-finals are on Friday January 2 from 7.30pm and the final is on Saturday January 3 at 8pm.
World Darts Championship format
A format change ahead of this year’s contest sees all players entering the tournament at the first-round stage, whereas seeded players have previously been given a bye through to the next round.
The World Championship uses the sets format, with each set being the first to three legs. The deciding set must be won by at least two legs, so if it’s 2-2 in the final set, a player must win 4-2 or 5-3. If it’s 5-5, a sudden-death leg will take place with no throw for the bull, so the alteration of whoever throws first simply continues.
World Darts Championship format
Round
First to (sets)
1 and 2
3
3 and 4
4
Quarter-finals
5
Semi-finals
6
Final
7
Who is the defending champion?
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Take a look as Littler secured the Players Championship Finals title in style against Nathan Aspinall in Minehead
Luke Littler enters the Worlds as the defending champion after his 7-3 victory over Michael van Gerwen in 2025.
‘The Nuke’ enters darts’ biggest competition on a remarkable run of form and as the top seed, having won World Matchplay, World Grand Prix, Grand Slam and Players Championship Finals.
The newly-crowned world No 1 enters as the pre-tournament favourite as he looks to become the first back-to-back winner since Gary Anderson, with many unable to see past the 18-year-old – especially as the format gets longer.
Who can challenge Littler?
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Highlights of the Grand Slam of Darts final between Littler and Humphries
That is the big question on everyone’s lips! The first place to look is those around him in the rankings and that starts with his rival Luke Humphries.
2024 Humphries can return to world No 1 by winning the worlds for a second time in three years, with ‘Cool Hand’ looking to avenge runner-up defeats to Littler in their last three TV finals.
Three-time champion Van Gerwen comes in as No 3 seed and beat Littler at the World Series Finals in September, while Gian van Veen will chase another TV title after winning the European Championship in October.
Nathan Aspinall, James Wade and Jonny Clayton have all reached TV major finals this year, while fourth seed Stephen Bunting and former world champion Gerwyn Price are among the others looking to impress.
Beau Greaves headlines the strong women’s contingent in the line-up, having secured her PDC ProTour card for the next two years and also beating Littler on her way to the World Youth Championship final. Could she be the first woman since Fallon Sherrock to win on the Alexandra Palace stage?
PDC World Darts Championship winners
PDC World Champions
Year
Player
1994
Dennis Priestley
1995
Phil Taylor
1996
Phil Taylor
1997
Phil Taylor
1998
Phil Taylor
1999
Phil Taylor
2000
Phil Taylor
2001
Phil Taylor
2002
Phil Taylor
2003
John Part
2004
Phil Taylor
2005
Phil Taylor
2006
Phil Taylor
2007
Raymond van Barneveld
2008
John Part
2009
Phil Taylor
2010
Phil Taylor
2011
Adrian Lewis
2012
Adrian Lewis
2013
Phil Taylor
2014
Michael van Gerwen
2015
Gary Anderson
2016
Gary Anderson
2017
Michael van Gerwen
2018
Rob Cross
2019
Michael van Gerwen
2020
Peter Wright
2021
Gerwyn Price
2022
Peter Wright
2023
Michael Smith
2024
Luke Humphries
2025
Luke Littler
Who is taking part?
There is an extended 128-player field at the Worlds this year, showcasing a whole new breadth of darting talent from across the world.
The players qualify as follows:
- Top 40 from PDC’s Werner Rankings Ladder
- 40 qualifiers from one-year ProTour Ranking
- 48 International Qualifiers from PDC Secondary & Affiliate Tours and Qualifying Events
The top 32 in the world will be the seeds for the World Darts Championship 2026. Players 33-64 will then be drawn at random to left-hand side of the draw, with players 65-128 to be drawn at random to the right-hand side of the draw.
PDC Werner Rankings Ladder: Top 32
1
Luke Littler
England
2
Luke Humphries
England
3
Michael van Gerwen
Netherlands
4
Stephen Bunting
England
5
Jonny Clayton
Wales
6
Danny Noppert
Netherlands
7
James Wade
England
8
Chris Dobey
England
9
Gerwyn Price
Wales
10
Gian van Veen
Netherlands
11
Josh Rock
Northern Ireland
12
Ross Smith
England
13
Martin Schindler
Germany
14
Gary Anderson
Scotland
15
Nathan Aspinall
England
16
Damon Heta
Australia
17
Rob Cross
England
18
Mike De Decker
Belgium
19
Jermaine Wattimena
Netherlands
20
Ryan Searle
England
21
Dave Chisnall
England
22
Daryl Gurney
Northern Ireland
23
Dimitri Van den Bergh
Belgium
24
Ryan Joyce
England
25
Luke Woodhouse
England
26
Cameron Menzies
Scotland
27
Ritchie Edhouse
England
28
Michael Smith
England
29
Dirk van Duijvenbode
Netherlands
30
Peter Wright
Scotland
31
Wessel Nijman
Netherlands
32
Joe Cullen
England
What is the prize money?
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Speaking on Love The Darts, Abigail Davies and Chris Murphy discuss Litter’s rise to world No 1 and who can challenge him at the World Championship
Well, you must have heard by now that there is an almighty prize pot on offer for the World Darts Championship this time around, with the winner taking home a stonking £1m.
The runner-up takes home £400,000, with the semi-finalists earning £200,000 and quarter-finalists £100,000.
If you go out in round four, then it is a £60,000 payday, with round three bringing you £35,000, round two £25,000, and round one £15,000.
That is a total of £5m.
Prize Fund
Winner: £1,000,000
Runner-Up: £400,000
Semi-Finalists: £200,000
Quarter-Finalists: £100,000
Round Four Losers: £60,000
Round Three Losers: £35,000
Round Two Losers: £25,000
Round One Losers: £15,000
Who will win the Ballon d’Art for most 180s?
The Ballon d’Art trophy will also once again be up for grabs for the player who throws the most 180s in the tournament.
Littler comfortably won the Ballon D’Art for the most 180s at the World Darts Championship in 2025
World champion Littler is the current holder after landing 76 last year, with Luke Humphries out to regain the unique prize after his win with 73 in the inaugural 2024 version.
There were an a record 914 maximums registered during 2023/24 – beating the previous record of 901 in 2022/23, while last year’s contest saw 907 made. That record is likely to be beaten in this year’s contest, with more matches than ever before.
How many nine-darters have there been?
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Van Gerwen was one dart away from a nine-darter before Michael Smith completed the achievement in the 2023 World Championship final
It’s fair to say nine-darters have become more common in the sport but there have only been 16 in the history of the PDC World Championship.
The first only came in 2009 when Raymond van Barneveld nailed the perfect leg. Barney did it again a year later, then Adrian Lewis made the first nine-darter in a final in 2011.
Two nines were done in 2013 thanks to Dean Winstanley and Van Gerwen. Terry Jenkins and Kyle Anderson joined the illustrious nine-dart list in 2014, with Lewis making a second nine in 2015.
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Watch how, in 2023, Wayne Mardle and Stuart Pyke reacted to the sensational leg between Van Gerwen and Smith in the World Championship final that culminated in a nine-darter for Bully Boy
In 2016, Gary Anderson made a nine in the semi-finals and there was a five-year gap until the next perfect leg.
The player who has faced so many nine-darters against him, James Wade, became the eighth player to do a nine, then there were three in 2022 from William Borland, Darius Labanauskas and Gerwyn Price.
And, of course, Michael Smith’s nine-darter in the 2023 final against Van Gerwen has been etched in darting folklore in what has to be the best leg of darts ever.
We saw two more during the 2025 contest, as Christian Kist hit one against Madars Razma in round one and Damon Heta found perfection against Luke Woodhouse in round three.
What’s the song they play at the darts in between breaks?
Ever had that annoying feeling when you know how a song goes but don’t know what it’s called? You may think that about the song which is played during breaks in the match at the end of a set during the World Championship.
It’s called Chase the Sun by Planet Funk and you just have to join in when it comes on.
Full schedule at Alexandra Palace from December 11 – January 3
- Thursday December 11 – 4 x Round One at 7pm
- Friday December 12 – 4 x Round One at 12.30pm
- Friday December 12 – 4 x Round One at 7pm
- Saturday December 13 – 4 x Round One at 12.30pm
- Saturday December 13 – 4 x Round One at 7pm
- Sunday December 14 – 4 x Round One at 12.30pm
- Sunday December 14 – 4 x Round One at 7pm
- Monday December 15 – 4 x Round One at 12.30pm
- Monday December 15 – 4 x Round One at 7pm
- Tuesday December 16 – 4 x Round One at 12.30pm
- Tuesday December 16 – 4 x Round One at 7pm
- Wednesday December 17 – 4 x Round One at 12.30pm
- Wednesday December 17 – 4 x Round One at 7pm
- Thursday December 18 – 4 x Round One at 12.30pm
- Thursday December 18 – 4 x Round One at 7pm
- Friday December 19 – 4 x Round One at 12.30pm
- Friday December 19 – 4 x Round One at 7pm
- Saturday December 20 – 4 x Round Two at 12.30pm
- Saturday December 20 – 4 x Round Two at 7pm
- Sunday December 21 – 4 x Round Two at 12.30pm
- Sunday December 21 – 4 x Round Two at 7pm
- Monday December 22 – 4 x Round Two at 12.30pm
- Monday December 22 – 4 x Round Two at 7pm
- Tuesday December 23 – 4 x Round Two at 12.30pm
- Tuesday December 23 – 4 x Round Two at 7pm
- Saturday December 27 – 3 x Round Three at 12.30pm
- Saturday December 27 – 3 x Round Three at 7pm
- Sunday December 28 – 3 x Round Three at 12.30pm
- Sunday December 28 – 3 x Round Three at 7pm
- Monday December 29 – 3 x Round Three at 12.30pm
- Monday December 29 – 1 x Round Three and 2 x Round Four at 7pm
- Tuesday December 30 – 3 x Round Four at 12.30pm
- Tuesday December 30 – 3 x Round Four at 7pm
- Thursday January 1 – 2 x Quarter-Finals at 12.30pm
- Thursday January 1 – 2 x Quarter-Finals at 7pm
- Friday January 2 – Semi-Finals at 7.30pm
- Saturday January 3 – Final at 8pm
Who will win the Paddy Power World Darts Championship? Watch every match exclusively live from December 11 to January 3 on Sky Sports’ dedicated darts channel (Sky channel 407 from December 10). Stream darts and more top sport with NOW.
