Advertorial: The latest edition of the World Cup of Darts will take place in Germany this June with a number of the top duos representing their nations.
The event will represent the 14th time the tournament has occurred. England is the record joint-record holder alongside the Netherlands with four titles since its 2010 inauguration.
The record winners will be searching for their first-ever victory in the competition outside of the pairing of Adrian Lewis and Phil Taylor - who won four out of five finals between 2012 and 2016.
The most decisive factors in whether they extend their position as the most successful nation will be the players that compete for the nation and the quality of the heavyweight opposition.
Here we will look at the most likely pairing for England this summer as well as the nations that could provide the biggest threat to their potential success.
England's likely World Cup stars
The reigning PDC World Champion Luke Humphries is the only complete certainty for this year's England World Cup of Darts team. He has maintained a considerable lead in the order of merit throughout the year so far, and it would be a surprise to see him turn down an invitation for a competition debut.
Humphries is arguably still the greatest player on the planet after his most successful year on record in 2023. He is among the favorites to win almost all of the upcoming competitions according to sports betting sites and his inclusion in the World Cup would undoubtedly come with an expectation to lead his nation to glory too.
For Humphries' partner, Michael Smith is perhaps the most likely and that would allow England to field the previous two world champions together. However, after participating in his country's unsuccessful World Cup of Darts campaigns of 2022 and 2023 he could well pass on the baton to somebody else.
Nathan Aspinall could potentially be in line to debut for England alongside Humphries if Smith does not fancy it. Either way, England are set to be immensely strong and they will surely be the team to beat.
The biggest opposition threats
While England should have the strongest duo regardless of what their final selection is, they will not have a straightforward path to victory. Their home nation rivals and the Netherlands will be expected to provide the strongest opposition in Frankfurt.
Scottish duo Peter Wright and Gary Anderson will likely return to bid for glory this year after falling short as runners-up in 2023. The identical pairing won the competition in 2019 and that experience could make them a huge problem for England.
Wales could boast an even greater level of recent experience in the form of Jonny Clayton and Gerwyn Price who were the winners of last year's tournament. They are set to defend the title themselves as they are comfortably the top-ranked Welshmen in the order of merit.
The level of the Dutch threat will be mainly down to whether their biggest star represents them. Michael van Gerwen has taken a two-year break from the competition since 2021 and he will realistically need to return in 2024 if the Netherlands are to create a new record rather than the English.
England will have their greatest chance of winning the World Cup since the Lewis-Taylor days with Humphries set to lead the team. However, the triumphant experience of their biggest competitors should not be overlooked ahead of the international tournament.
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