The World Cup of Darts took place in Frankfurt last week. The tournament was won by England, which was too strong for Austria in the final, 10-6.
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For England, Luke Humphries and Michael Smith were the world's number one and three players respectively. The young teenage sensation Luke Littler (25th) and Nathan Aspinall, ranked fifth in the world, were not selected.
Aspinall was especially annoyed about that. “Well, I've been number five in the world and I didn’t make the team, and this year, I'm number four in the world, and I'm still not making the team. So it's quite annoying for me, as an Englishman, that I'm number four in the world, and I'm still not playing for England.
This year's World Cup of Darts was won by English duo Michael Smith and Luke Humphries.
Adjustment
Currently, each country's first two Tour Card holders in the world rankings are selected for the World Cup of Darts. However, Aspinall advocates changing the tournament format. "I believe there's scope to change that, to make it a three, four, five-man team. I'd love to see a Ryder Cup-style tournament as well, that would be class.”
However, the PDC does not seem to have any plans to change the format of the World Cup of Darts any time soon. After all, CEO Matt Porter recently revealed in an interview that he is satisfied with the tournament and also indicated that not too many changes should be expected in the coming years.
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of DartsNews.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy across professional darts coverage. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces, playing a central role in the development and daily operation of the site.
Based in Leicester, Samuel has extensive experience in darts media and has been closely involved in coverage of the professional darts circuit for several years. Within the UK darts community, he is a recognised figure known for his consistent editorial output and ongoing reporting on major tournaments and developments across the PDC calendar.
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