Preview World Cup of Darts 2024: A fifth title for England or the Netherlands? Or will another nation emerge from the shadows?

One of the most enjoyable darts tournaments of the year is on the program this weekend. The Eissporthalle in Frankfurt is the battleground for the World Cup of Darts 2024. It is the only tournament in which the players do not play individually, but as a team for their country.

The World Cup of Darts is a tournament that always guarantees spectacle on stage. In terms of prize money, this country tournament belongs to one of the smallest majors, but the passion that the players show on stage betrays that it is an event that players still like to add to their records.

The World Cup of Darts was established in 2010. The intention was to host the event once every two years, but it quickly became a successful annual tournament. Raymond van Barneveld and Co Stompé gave the Netherlands the title at the very first edition in 2010, while the English duo of Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis captured the title in 2012.

In the following six years, it was shifting points between England on the one hand and the Netherlands (which played with Michael van Gerwen and Raymond van Barneveld from 2013 to 2018) on the other. As a result, after eight editions, the standings were balanced; four titles for England and four titles for the Netherlands. Since then, both top nations have failed to win the tournament. The Netherlands did not even make it to the final after 2018, while only in 2020 was there a final place for the English, who then fielded Michael Smith and Rob Cross.

In 2019, the title went to Scots Gary Anderson and Peter Wright. Two years later, Wright would also win the title with John Henderson. Wales got to lift up the cup for the first time in 2020. Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton ensured Welsh success that year. In 2022 came another winner. This time it was Australians Damon Heta and Simon Whitlock who won the tournament.

Starting in 2023, the format of the World Cup of Darts was radically changed. The field of participants went up to 40 countries and only pairs matches were played. The first year of the revamped format was won by Wales. Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton were 10-2 too strong for Scots Peter Wright and Gary Anderson in the final of the World Cup of Darts 2023.

(1) England - Luke Humphries, Michael Smith

(2) Wales - Jonny Clayton, Jim Williams

(3) Netherlands - Michael van Gerwen, Danny Noppert

(4) Scotland - Peter Wright, Gary Anderson

(5) Belgium - Dimitri Van den Bergh, Kim Huybrechts

(6) Northern Ireland - Josh Rock, Brendan Dolan

(7) Germany - Martin Schindler, Gabriel Clemens

(8) Australia - Damon Heta, Simon Whitlock

(9) Ireland - William O'Connor, Keane Barry

(10) Austria - Rowby-John Rodriguez, Mensur Suljovic

(11) Poland - Krzysztof Ratajski, Radek Szaganski

(12) Czech Republic - Adam Gawlas, Karel Sedlacek

(13) Croatia - Boris Krcmar, Romeo Grvabac

(14) France - Jacques Labre, Thibault Tricole

(15) Sweden - Jeffrey de Graaf, Oskar Lukasiak

(16) United States - Danny Lauby, Jules van Dongen

Bahrain - Basem Mahmood, Duda Durra

Canada - Matt Campbell, David Cameron

China - Xiaochen Zong, Chengan Liu

Denmark - Benjamin Reus, Claus Bendix Nielsen

Philippines - Christian Perez, Alexis Toylo

Finland - Marko Kantele, Teemu Harju

Gibraltar - Justin Hewitt, Craig Galliano

Guyana - Norman Madhoo, Sudesh Fitzgerald

Hong Kong - Lok Yin Lee, Man Lok Leung

Hungary - Gabor Jagica, Nandor Major

Iceland - Arngrimur Olafsson, Petur Gudmundsson

Italy - Michele Turetta, Massimo Dalla Rosa

Japan - Tomoya Goto, Ryusei Azemoto

Latvia - Madars Razma, Valters Melderis

Lithuania - Darius Labanauskas, Mindaugas Barauskas

Malaysia - Siik Hwang Wong, Mohamad Nasir

New Zealand - Haupai Puha, Ben Robb

Norway - Cor Dekker, Hakon Bjorge Helling

Portugal - Jose de Sousa, David Gomes

Singapore - Paul Lim, Harith Lim

Spain - Jose Justicia, Jesus Noguera

Taiwan - Teng-Lieh Pupo, An-Sheng Lu

South Africa - Johan Geldenhuys, Cameron Carolissen

Switzerland - Stefan Bellmont, Bruno Stockli

The revamped format, which was successfully introduced last year, will return in 2024. The tournament will begin with a group stage before moving into a knockout phase. In addition, all matches will consist of pairings. The four top nations England, Wales, the Netherlands and Scotland are directly admitted to the second round.

All group matches will be played on Thursday, June 27, and Friday, June 28. The group winner of each pool advances to the last sixteen. The second round, with the last remaining sixteen countries, compete on Saturday, June 29, for a spot in the quarterfinals. These will take place on Sunday afternoon, June 30. The semifinals and finals are scheduled for Sunday evening.

Group stage - Best of seven legs

Second round - Best of 15 legs

Quarterfinals - Best of 15 legs

Semifinals - Best of 15 legs

Final - Best of 19 legs

Initially there were two top favourites for the title at the 2024 World Cup of Darts, but Wales' title chances have taken a big dent with the forced withdrawal of Gerwyn Price. 'The Iceman' had to drop out due to health problems and will be replaced in the Welsh team by Jim Williams. Certainly also a good darter, but far from someone of Price's calibre. Moreover, Price and Jonny Clayton had exceptionally good chemistry and whether Clayton is as well matched to Williams remains to be seen. For now, Wales is more of an outsider than a title favourite.

One top favorite remains in advance and that is England. With Luke Humphries and Michael Smith they have the numbers one and three of the world in their ranks. For Smith it will be his fifth participation in the World Cup of Darts, for Humphries it will be his debut. It is up to the last two world champions to give England the gold for the first time since 2016. The individual qualities of both players are indisputable, but can they also operate well as a team?

Price's cancellation has also increased the chances of a final place for the Netherlands. The draw for the knockout phase of the World Cup of Darts has yet to be made, but Wales will end up in the half of the Dutch duo Michael van Gerwen and Danny Noppert anyway. England and Scotland come in at the other end of the bracket. Potentially, Van Gerwen and Noppert should be an excellent duo. They are complementary to each other. 'Mighty Mike' is the scoring beast with plenty of swagger, while Noppert is the cool Freeze who is often very sharp with finishing. Also, there will be no fuss about who will take the lead. Noppert is not the person to engage in cockiness. In 2020, Noppert and Van Gerwen already played together for the Netherlands in the Nations Cup. Then they lost in the quarter-finals to Germany.

Scotland was in the final last year and will enter this year's tournament again with Gary Anderson and Peter Wright. While Anderson has improved a lot since then, Wright's level has deteriorated considerably. More than an outsider's role does not seem to be in the cards for the Scots this year;

You also have Belgium (Dimitri van den Bergh and Kim Huybrechts), Germany (Martin Schindler and Gabriel Clemens) and Australia (Damon Heta and Simon Whitlock). Countries that traditionally do well at the World Cup of Darts. They still need to get past the group stage first, though. They do not have protected status in the draw for the knockout phase. With a favorable draw, they may be able to aim high again.

A rabbit out of the top hat? Last year it was Sweden and France who surprisingly made it to the quarter-finals at the World Cup of Darts. As the absolute darkhorse for this edition, we tip the Philippines. Christian Perez and Alexis Toylo will have to get past the Belgian team and the iconic duo Paul Lim and Harith Lim from Singapore in the group stage. Perez has proven his mettle on the Pro Tour on a number of occasions, while Toylo dominates the PDC Asian Tour with five titles in the first fifteen Asian Tour tournaments of the season.

*** England

** Netherlands

* Belgium, Wales, Scotland, Germany, Australia

The tournament will be broadcast in the United Kingdom by Sky Sports. Through this channel, you won't have to miss a minute of the tournament.

On Thursday, June 27 at 6 p.m. the tournament will start with the first group matches. On Friday afternoon at 11:00, the second set of group matches will get underway. The evening session then begins again at 6 p.m., when the final matches of the group stage will be played.

The first four duels of the second round will be played from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, June 29. The quarterfinals will take place on Sunday, June 30, from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. The World Cup of Darts semifinals and final are scheduled for Sunday evening from 6:00 p.m. On Saturday night, June 29, from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., the last four matches of the second round will be played.

A total of 450,000 pounds of prize money will be distributed at the World Cup of Darts. All participants in the pool phase will receive at least 2,000 pounds per person. The players from the top four countries will receive £9,000 per person anyway.

Only after that does it get really lucrative. The quarter-finalists each receive £10,000 credited to their bank accounts. The semi-finalists each receive 15,000 pounds for their performance. The losing finalists both receive £25,000 in prize money, while the winners go home with £40,000 each. The prize money won does not count toward the world rankings, by the way.