"This could be a really dominant pairing! But will Michael Smith even be in this position next year?" - Who will join Luke Humphries for England at next World Cup?

Late last month in Frankfurt, Germany, the 2024 World Cup of Darts was won by the English duo, Michael Smith and Luke Humphries as they triumphed 10-6 over Austria in the final.

For England, it was the nation's fifth title in the history of the World Cup of Darts, but only the first since 2015. Moreover, it was the first time ever that a duo other than Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis managed to give England the World Cup of Darts. As a result, Humphries is not only reigning individual world champion, but now also in the World Cup. 'Cool Hand Luke' formed a duo with Michael Smith in Frankfurt. On their way to the title, they actually did not really struggle in any of their four matches (France, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Austria) and impressed particularly well with regularly high averages.

Despite the brilliance of the pairing and the clear chemistry between Smith and Humphries however, whether they will return next year to defend their is unclear. Humphries for definite will be back as one of the two top ranked Englishman, Smith however, finds his position slightly more precarious.

This question was debated on the latest episode of Sky Sports' Love the Darts podcast by Emma Paton and Michael Bridge. "Obviously, the first pair since Taylor and Lewis and you look at it and think; this could be a really dominant pairing!" Paton begins. "But will Michael Smith even be in this position next year? You've got Rob Cross who's there, and the the rate Luke Littler is going at the moment, he could catapult himself into those positions as well."

"That's great! Maybe that will give the English players that extra incentive," responds Bridge. "Luke Humphries will definitely be there, that's for sure... Going forward I think it could be Luke Humphries and another. But yeah, England are stacked with talent at the moment, absolutely stacked with talent."