Belgian blow 3-0 lead to crash out of World Cup of Darts on dramatic night as Netherlands, Australia and Germany power through

Belgium's World Cup of Darts campaign came to a shocking and premature end after Mike De Decker and Dimitri Van den Bergh let a 3-0 lead slip against the Philippines, missing seven match darts before falling in a dramatic decider.

It had all started so well for the Belgian pair, who knew victory would take them into the last 16. They began with confidence, breaking throw with a 17-darter before De Decker took out 75 to double the lead. A superb 112 checkout from Van den Bergh made it 3-0 and seemingly put the Belgians on the brink of qualification. But that’s where it all fell apart.

In the fourth leg, Paolo Nebrida landed an 82 finish to deny De Decker a chance at wrapping things up from 39. Despite regaining the darts in the next leg, Belgium missed four match darts, allowing the Philippines to claw back to 3-2 with another clinical double from Nebrida.

When the Filipinos then took out 64 to level the match at 3-3, the pressure was firmly on Belgium. Even though they started the deciding leg with heavy scoring, a 180 followed by 134 from the Philippines turned the tide. De Decker once again had a shot to win it, this time needing 40, but missed three more darts at double—bringing their total to seven. With nerves of steel, Nebrida landed double 3 with his final dart to complete the stunning comeback and send the Belgians crashing out.

While Belgium’s campaign ended in despair, the Netherlands enjoyed a far more routine path into the last 16. Danny Noppert and Gian van Veen followed up a dominant 4-0 win over Italy with another whitewash against Hungary, securing top spot in the group without dropping a leg.

The Dutch pair only needed to win one leg against Hungary to progress, thanks to Italy’s 4-0 win over the same opposition earlier in the day. They accomplished that in 21 darts and never looked back, cruising past György Jehirszki and Gergely Lakatos, who never had a dart at a double and averaged just 68.

Elsewhere, Sweden’s Jeffrey de Graaf and Oskar Lukasiak topped Group G to reach the knockout stages. Despite a narrow 4-3 defeat to France, their earlier 4-1 win over Lithuania meant they advanced on leg difference.

Group D was the tightest of all. Ireland, Gibraltar and China all finished with identical records—one win, one loss, and a 4-2 scoreline in both matches. With points, leg difference and total legs won all tied, the group was decided on breaks of throw, with Ireland edging through.

Hosts Germany advanced comfortably, sweeping aside Singapore 4-0 in their second match. South Africa also caused a stir, progressing ahead of Poland and Norway thanks to a vastly superior leg difference, despite all three teams finishing on two points.

Australia’s Damon Heta and Simon Whitlock delivered a statement performance in Group H, beating Austria’s Mensur Suljovic and Rusty-Jake Rodriguez 4-1 to top the group. Meanwhile, Argentina pulled off a surprise qualification on debut, adding a 4-3 win over New Zealand to their earlier 4-1 success against Finland.

Saturday sees the second round of the tournament get underway, with the 12 group winners joined by top seeds England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland—who received byes into the last 16.

The second round features eight best-of-15-leg matches split across two sessions. The winners will return on Sunday afternoon for the quarter-finals.