The qualifying race for the World Matchplay resulted in six changes compared to the field in 2019. Justin Pipe (missed last two editions) and Brendan Dolan (missed last three editions) are making their return, but there are also four new names.

The Sousa makes history on the World Matchplay anyway. He is the first Portuguese participant ever at this tournament. He is the big unknown to the general public. The avid followers know him as one of the sensations of 2019. The Special One won two ranking tournaments and reached several finals.

The Portuguese performed so well that he qualified as number three in the Pro Tour rankings for this major tournament. In the past twelve months, he has earned £40,000 on the Pro Tour tournaments, an unprecedented result for someone who has only owned a PDC Tour Card since 2019.

However, the draw was a bit disappointing for The Special One, who currently resides in Spain, as he was drawn against reigning world champion Peter Wright.

De Sousa has shown more than once to have the qualities to beat someone like Wright. This year alone, he threw 13 ton plus averages and beat players like Adrian Lewis, Gerwyn Price and Daryl Gurney.

Nickname: The Special One
Position on PDC Order of Merit: 51
Best major performance: Three-time World Championship participant & second round Players Championship Finals

For the third consecutive year, a German is present at the World Matchplay. However, it is not Max Hopp, who competed in 2018 and 2019, but Gabriel Clemens who makes his debut.

The German darts player easily qualified as number six in the Pro Tour ranking for this tournament. In the past twelve months, Clemens reached three quarter-finals and two semi-finals on the floor events. With that he already laid a solid foundation for his qualification. Also The German Giant almost never loses in the first round of a Pro Tour tournament, so he almost always collected prize money for the qualifying race.

Clemens also has a television final to his name. In 2019 he reached the final of the German Darts Masters, which he narrowly lost to Peter Wright. During that tournament he beat Rob Cross, this time his opponent in the first round of the World Matchplay. The German managed to win the two previous meetings with the former world champion.

Nickname: The German Giant
Position on PDC Order of Merit: 40
Best major performance: Last 16 at Grand Slam of Darts (2019), UK Open (2020) and Players Championship Finals (2018, 2019)

Out of nowhere Joyce guaranteed himself a place in the World Matchplay after winning one of the events durign the PDC Summer Series. The Englishman did that after defeating Andy Hamilton, Luke Humphries, Chris Dobey, Madars Razma, Glen Durrant, Gary Anderson and Dave Chisnall.

He reached the Quarter-Finals on his World Championship debut in 2019. The Newcastle ace beat Anastasia Dobromyslova, Simon Whitlock, Alan Norris and James Wade, before losing to world number one Michael van Gerwen.

On his World Matchplay debut, he plays Whitlock again in a televised tournament. Their World Championship meeting was their only meeting on television. Whitlock leads 4-3 in the total head-to-head.

Nickname: Relentless
Position on PDC Order of Merit: 42
Best major performance: Quarter-Finals at PDC World Darts Championship (2019)

For a player of the caliber Van den Bergh, it is actually remarkable that he only makes his tournament debut this year. The Belgian often performs well in the television tournaments, but also had difficulty reaching that level in the floor tournaments. While these tournaments are important to qualify for the major events.

However, the two-time youth world champion has made strides in that area in the past twelve months. For example, he reached his first Pro Tour final in August 2019, earning six thousand pounds for the rankings. With some Euro Tour qualifications and two runs to the last 16 on the Pro Tour, The Dreammaker qualified for his first World Matchplay.

The draw linked him to Nathan Aspinall, an opponent that never lost to Van den Bergh. The balance is 4-0 in favor of the Englishman, who proved too strong for Van den Bergh in the Quarter-Finals of the last World Championship with 5-3 win in sets.

Nickname: The Dreammaker
Position on PDC Order of Merit: 26
Best major performance: Quarter-Finals at PDC World Darts Championship (2018, 2020)