Schedule World Cup of Darts 2024 as Belgium, Australia and Germany set to open tournament

The PDC has announced the playing schedule for the opening day of the 2024 World Cup of Darts. The first 12 matches in the group stage will be played on Thursday, June 27.

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, Wales, the Netherlands and Scotland. The remaining 36 teams are split into 12 groups of three countries each.

Belgium does have to start in the group stage. Dimitri van den Bergh and Kim Huybrechts open their tournament against Singapore's iconic duo Paul Lim and Harith Lim. Philippines is the third country in this group. They will play first on Friday afternoon against the loser of the duel between Belgium and Singapore.

A number of other outsiders will also be in action Thursday night. Damon Heta and Simon Whitlock, who gave Australia its first title in 2022, will play Japan's Ryusei Azemoto and Tomoya Goto in their first match. Austrians Mensur Suljovic and Rowby-John Rodriguez will meet Chinese duo Xiaochen Zong and Chengan Liu.

Host nation Germany begins their tournament against New Zealand. That means Martin Schindler and Gabriel Clemens face Haupai Puha and Ben Robb. Josh Rock and Brendan Dolan of Northern Ireland face off with South Africans Cameron Carolissen and Johan Geldenhuys.

Jeffrey de Graaf will play alongside Oskar Lukasiak for Sweden. They play against Jose Justicia and Jesus Noguera, who make up the Spanish team. Jules Van Dongen with Danny Lauby at his side face Portuguese duo Jose de Sousa and David Gomes. Cor Dekker and Håkon Bjørge Helling make up Norway's team and face Krzysztof Ratajski and Radek Szaganski from Poland.

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.

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.

The tournament was won for the second time by Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton in 2023, after they previously proved the best team in 2020. However Price cannot participate in the upcoming edition of the World Cup of Darts due to health raesons. His place will be taken by Jim Williams. Four-time champion England will be represented by world champion Luke Humphries - making his debut at the World Cup - and world number three Michael Smith. Peter Wright and Gary Anderson make up the Scottish team. Michael van Gerwen and Danny Noppert will play on behalf of the Netherlands at the World Cup of Darts.

Sweden v Spain (K)

Czech Republic v Bahrain (H)

France v Latvia (J)

Croatia v Malaysia (I)

Ireland v Lithuania (E)

Poland v Norway (G)

United States v Portugal (L)

Belgium v Singapore (A)

Northern Ireland v South Africa (B)

Germany v New Zealand (C)

Australia v Japan (D)

Austria v China (F)

Second group matches

Third group matches

Second Round

Second Round

Quarterfinal

Semifinals

Final