"Representing your country is a massive achievement" - Josh Rock full of confidence heading into World Cup of Darts debut for Northern Ireland
PDC
For the first time in his career, Josh Rock will represent Northern Ireland at the upcoming World Cup of Darts. And, after having made himself Northern Irish number one over the last year, 'Rocky' will also enter the nations event as team captain.
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"I've been buzzing for ages. It's the one I've really been looking forward to this year," the 23-year-old from County Antrim tells Emma Paton on the Love the Darts podcast for Sky Sports. "Representing your country for the first time is obviously a massive achievement. But representing your country in general is a massive achievement so I'm really looking forward to it."
Alongside Rock in the Northern Irish camp at the 2024 World Cup of Darts, will be the vastly experienced Brendan Dolan, who keeps his run as a World Cup ever-present going after a fierce battle with compatriot Daryl Gurney over recent weeks and months for the second spot. "I'm very close with Brendan and I'm obviously, very close with Daryl so whoever my partner was going to be, it wasn't going to phase me at all," Rock says. "It turned out to be Brendan and me and him bounce off each other all the time. I really enjoy it with Brendan."
As mentioned, Dolan is one of the ever-presents in the history of the World Cup of Darts. In the past, Dolan has made his appearance at the nations tournament with three different compatriots. In 2010, he played alongside John MaGowan, while Mickey Mansell was his teammate from 2012 to 2015. From 2016 to 2023, Daryl Gurney teamed up with Dolan. Northern Ireland have not yet managed to reach the final at the World Cup of Darts. In 2012, 2015, 2021 and 2022, the quarter-finals were the finish line. In 2014 and 2016, the Northern Irish team made it to the semi-finals.
With the team of Rock and Dolan this time around, is 'Rocky' confident of giving Northern Ireland their best-ever World Cup performance? "I'm full of confidence after winning my first trophy on stage," Rock says, referring to his recent victory on the European Tour at the Dutch Darts Championship. "You never know. If me and Brendan click, we click. If we don't, we don't. We'll only find out when we step up on that stage together as a team."
Format at World Cup of Darts
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.
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The four highest-placed countries, based on the lowest cumulative PDC Order of Merit ranking of the two participating players, are directly admitted to the knockout stage. These are England, the Netherlands, Wales and Scotland. The remaining 36 teams are split into 12 groups of three countries each. All group matches will be played on Thursday, June 27, and Friday, June 28. The group winner of each pool will advance to the last sixteen.
The second round, featuring the last remaining 16 countries, will compete for a spot in the quarterfinals on Saturday, June 29. These will take place on Sunday afternoon, June 30. The semifinals and finals are scheduled for Sunday evening.
Kieran WoodDarts Journalist
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He contributes to DartsNews.com, where he covers professional darts through news, match reports, analysis, and live coverage across the PDC calendar and major tournaments.
A key part of his work is on-site reporting from leading events. Kieran has covered the PDC World Darts Championship in person, reporting daily from the venue and providing first-hand insight from the tournament. During his coverage, he has conducted interviews with leading players including Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, and Gerwyn Price.
He is also one of the leading voices of the English-language Dartsnews Podcast, contributing regular analysis and discussion on developments across the professional darts circuit.
In his reporting, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles when new, verified information becomes available.
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- And why should he listen to you?Deduce635807-11-2026
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- Probably i will receive a lot of backlash and hate for this reaction, but well, so be it. I am more than sick and tired of those lies of you Barry Hearn. How dare you defend yourself over the back of Fallon’s son! He has a disability and not an illness, so let me correct that for you! I know because I have the exact same disability. I have tried to reach out to Fallon in the past, and offered her to help her and her son, because I was struggling with the same problems, and I understood the boy. I wanted him to have finally someone who understood him. However she told me that she did not want my help, and I have respected Fallon’s choice. I have never asked Fallon for money. They don’t need money in that case. I only ever wanted the best for Fallon and Rory, but I have to be honest about the situation. Fallon should tell the true story and not be forced to tell lies. I don’t hate Fallon, and I don’t begrudge or envy a single penny that she gets, but this situation/case is just not fair. I hate the lies and the dishonesty and injustice. I don’t want Fallon to be hated because there is an unfair disadvantage created. Don’t proclaim your false lies over the back of Rory! I only stand for integrity and justice. I am precisely the one who always sticks up for Fallon. And you don't, you don't give a damn about them. You were never there for them, and now you only want to save your own position! You are just trying to talk your way out of your own bad behavior at the expense of someone with a disability. And to Fallon, I don’t know if this may ever reach you, and you read it, but I want you to know I love you and I love your son Rory very much, I am sorry how things developed and went. I hope you and Harriet are still friends. I am sorry if I were too persistent to you, or you experienced it that way, but it was never my intention. Please understand I have autism as well. As Barry Hearn would say, I am only just a human being too, and I also make mistakes and misjudge things sometimes. I promise you I did everything out of the deepest love and care for you and Rory. If I were you, I should just keep all the money, only please never be dishonest or tell lies anymore for Barry Hearn, or anyone else. I hope you have the best life, and I wish nothing more than the best for you. I have always loved the two of you. Farewell.Hiddo05-11-2026
- She is a professional. If darts is her income, she is a professional. Same as Adrian Lewis, Martin Adams. A tour card just means someone can play on the PDC tour. You could even make a case that Clayton wasn't a professional (until recently I believe) because he had employment elsewhere.BandB04-11-2026
- She's technically not a professional though as she doesn't hold a pro tour card.mr-pablo04-11-2026
- Such a shame that lakeside has been reduced to this. Fantastic venue,and previously a great tournament. Not any morerick6703-11-2026
- Seems to me that the top 16 players pick and choose whatever they want to play. Good,all the money will get spread out more. They get more money from exhibitions than tournaments so let them all withdrawrick6703-11-2026
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