“That million, it’s there, but it comes after the trophy” - Luke Littler targeting more success in 2026 after labelling himself as 'unstoppable' on stage

Luke Littler has claimed his second consecutive world title at Alexandra Palace. The 18-year-old Englishman defeated Gian van Veen in the 2026 PDC World Darts Championship final by 7-1 in sets and produced a performance that, after the first set, shifted almost entirely in his favour. With a 106 average, Littler forced the final early in a direction from which Van Veen could not recover.

The relief was evident straight after the match, but Littler kept his words grounded in the moment. “It feels amazing. It’s what dreams are made of.,” he said during his press conference. He felt the second world title had a different character from the first, though he immediately stressed that the first will always be the benchmark. “Nothing will ever beat a first world title for anyone in any sport, because that’s the first time you’ve done it. But this was all about retaining it, bringing it back home with me for another 11 or 12 months, and adding my name to the list of players to go back-to-back. It’s a very short list, but I’m on it.”

The final started with a lost set for Littler, something that happened more often at this Worlds and visibly annoyed him. “Obviously I wasn’t happy going 1–0 down again,” he said. Littler explained that in matches like this he wants to set the tone from the start. "I always want a fast start — I don’t want my opponent going 1–0 up. I want to set the standards early, but I couldn’t do that today."

According to Littler, his game changed after the opening set. “I definitely played better after that first set,” he said. “After that first set though, it was just magic.” In his head he had one main task: keep pushing and force the moment. “I had to pick myself up and break throw to get in front, and I did.”

Van Veen had chances early on to extend his lead, but failed to take them. Littler pointed that out explicitly afterwards. “He missed a few doubles, he could have gone 2-0 up. That would have changed everything. Then I would have been 2-0 down and even more frustrated.” Instead, Littler pounced as soon as the opening appeared. “He missed a few doubles and a few trebles, and I had to pounce on that."

Notably, Littler barely looked at numbers after the match. “After the match, I didn’t even look at the stats, no 180s, no averages, no checkout percentages,” he said. His verdict came from the flow of the contest. “But the game as a whole felt good.”

The scoreline was historically one-sided for a World Championship final. Littler did not elaborate on that, beyond acknowledging that he took control after a slow start. “I wasn’t happy to be 1-0 down, but I had to move on and I did.”

With the world title, Littler also becomes the first champion to win the Worlds with a £1 million top prize. The immediate question was whether it makes him unstoppable. Littler tempered that himself. “On stage I’m sometimes unstoppable. I win matches, I lose matches. It’s darts, you don’t always win,” he said. Then he underlined the essence: “But the World Championship is mine again.”

The order of importance was clear to him. “That million, it’s there, but it comes after the trophy. The trophy is always first.” He did link the money to its impact on the circuit and his position in the world rankings. “It’s life-changing. But this win increases that margin over Luke Humphries. I’m clearly ahead as number one now.”

Afterwards, Littler explicitly involved his inner circle in the achievement. “My mum and dad, my family, friends, sponsors, managers — we’ve all put everything into this," he said. He also noticed nerves in the build-up to the final. "I woke up late, had a good sleep. Lots of nerves in the house."

During matches, Littler often seeks out his family with his gaze. "When you’re on stage, you always look over to your family — they keep you going," he said. He even recalled a moment from the match with Rob Cross, when he saw a dip in his section. “I looked over and all the heads were down. I said: keep your head up, because if I look over and your head is down, that doesn’t help me.”

With two world titles at 18, the next question is inevitably what still remains. Littler immediately named concrete targets. "You just focus on what’s next. We’ve got Bahrain, then Saudi Arabia, and then the Masters in Milton Keynes, which I haven’t won yet," he said. "Later in the year, the other majors — I’ll be hunting them down."

He stayed practical when asked about dominance. “You can’t take your foot off the gas. You’ve always got to be on it,” said Littler. “Any player can come back.” He saw moments when Van Veen had a bit of freedom in his throw and wanted to shut that down immediately. “I said to myself: don’t let him throw with freedom and get back into the match. So I had to punish him even more.”

Of course the record questions came up, with Phil Taylor as the standard reference. Littler didn’t want to make that discussion bigger than necessary. “It’s still so far away,” he said. “If it happens, it happens. But I’ll be around for a very long time. I’m here to win.” He added that he is not only looking at world titles, but also at the overall majors picture. “The majors I don’t have yet, I want them this year,” he said. “If I get five, six, I’ll be happy.”

Littler ended the night in the same vein he started it: satisfied with the title, yet critical of the start to his final. The result left little room for debate. The second world title is secured, and he immediately turns to the trophies still missing. “We keep going,” was the message, in his own words: “We keep adding titles.”