When is the PDC World Darts Championship draw? How to watch as Littler, Humphries, Van Gerwen find out Ally Pally fate
PDC
The line-up for the 2025/26 PDC World Darts Championship will be confirmed on Monday evening and no sooner will we get the field set but the draw will also be done.
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A record breaking 128 players will play at the Alexandra Palace between December 11 - January 3. Dartsmas is the most wonderful time of year and the PDC World Darts Championship not only features an increased field but also a prize fund of £5m.
Reigning champion Luke Littler leads the way with 40 automatic qualifiers already set courtesy of the PDC Order of Merit. The top 40 who have not qualified via the PDC ProTour Order of Merit also feature with the rest set based off international qualifiers.
In a change from previous years, the draw will be different and gives less protection to the top names in regards to them playing one less game. Every player will start from the first round stage. The top 32 seeded players and players ranked 33-64 are drawn at random into the left side of the draw against the top 64 qualifiers.
The draw will be completed by British home broadcaster Sky Sports likely by host Emma Paton as well as a pundit or two from the team usually Wayne Mardle and Mark Webster who often conduct the draw in years gone by. It will be made on Monday November 24 at 4:30pm and will be shown live on Sky Sports News.
Coverage will also be streamed on the Sky Sports Darts YouTube channel likely making it accessible to those in the US, Australia and Europe to follow along and the details will also be on DartsNews.com post the draw. Below are the players who will be included in Monday's draw.
Top 40 seeds - PDC World Darts Championship
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| Seed | Player |
| 1 | Luke Littler |
| 2 | Luke Humphries |
| 3 | Michael van Gerwen |
| 4 | Stephen Bunting |
| 5 | Jonny Clayton |
| 6 | James Wade |
| 7 | Gian van Veen |
| 8 | Chris Dobey |
| 9 | Danny Noppert |
| 10 | Josh Rock |
| 11 | Ross Smith |
| 12 | Gerwyn Price |
| 13 | Gary Anderson |
| 14 | Damon Heta |
| 15 | Martin Schindler |
| 16 | Rob Cross |
| 17 | Mike De Decker |
| 18 | Dave Chisnall |
| 19 | Ryan Searle |
| 20 | Jermaine Wattimena |
| 21 | Nathan Aspinall |
| 22 | Dimitri Van den Bergh |
| 23 | Daryl Gurney |
| 24 | Ryan Joyce |
| 25 | Cameron Menzies |
| 26 | Ritchie Edhouse |
| 27 | Luke Woodhouse |
| 28 | Dirk van Duijvenbode |
| 29 | Peter Wright |
| 30 | Michael Smith |
| 31 | Joe Cullen |
| 32 | Wessel Nijman |
| 33 | Ricardo Pietreczko |
| 34 | Andrew Gilding |
| 35 | Raymond van Barneveld |
| 36 | Scott Williams |
| 37 | Krzysztof Ratajski |
| 38 | Martin Lukeman |
| 39 | Brendan Dolan |
| 40 | Kevin Doets |
ProTour Qualifiers
| Seed | Player |
| 1 | Niko Springer |
| 2 | William O'Connor |
| 3 | Niels Zonneveld |
| 4 | Karel Sedláček |
| 5 | Bradley Brooks |
| 6 | Jeffrey de Graaf |
| 7 | Mickey Mansell |
| 8 | Mario Vandenbogaerde |
| 9 | Callan Rydz |
| 10 | Cam Crabtree |
| 11 | Ian White |
| 12 | Sebastian Białecki |
| 13 | Dom Taylor |
| 14 | Ricky Evans |
| 15 | Richard Veenstra |
| 16 | Madars Razma |
| 17 | Alan Soutar |
| 18 | Lukas Wenig |
| 19 | Kim Huybrechts |
| 20 | Mensur Suljović |
| 21 | Gabriel Clemens |
| 22 | Thibault Tricole |
| 23 | Matthew Dennant |
| 24 | Darren Beveridge |
| 25 | Justin Hood |
| 26 | Wesley Plaisier |
| 27 | Steve Lennon |
| 28 | Max Hopp |
| 29 | Ryan Meikle |
| 30 | James Hurrell |
| 31 | Nick Kenny |
| 32 | Matt Campbell |
| 33 | Keane Barry |
| 34 | Adam Lipscombe |
| 35 | Darius Labanauskas |
| 36 | Dominik Gruellich |
| 37 | Chris Landman |
| 38 | Owen Bates |
| 39 | Cor Decker |
| 40 | Connor Scutt |
International Qualifiers
| Pathway | Player |
| PDC World Youth Champion / Development Tour Qualifier | Beau Greaves |
| PDC Development Tour Qualifier | Charlie Manby |
| PDC Development Tour Qualifier | Jamai van den Herik |
| PDC Development Tour Qualifier | Jurjen van der Velde |
| PDC Challenge Tour Winner | Stefan Bellmont |
| PDC Challenge Tour Third Place | Ted Evetts |
| PDC Challenge Tour Fourth Place | Mervyn King |
| PDC Women’s World Matchplay Winner | Lisa Ashton |
| PDC Women’s Series Runner-Up | Fallon Sherrock |
| PDC Women’s Series Third Place | Noa-Lynn van Leuven |
| PDC Women’s Series Fourth Place | Gemma Hayter |
| Steel Darts Japan Tour Winner | Mitsuhiko Tatsunami |
| PDC China Championship Winner | Xiaochen Zong |
| IDC Indian Qualifier | Nitin Kumar |
| PDC Asian Championship Winner | Lourence Ilagan |
| PDC Asian Championship Runner-Up | Alexis Toylo |
| PDC Asian Tour Qualifier | Motomu Sakai |
| PDC Asian Tour Qualifier | Ryusei Azemoto |
| PDC Asian Tour Qualifier | Paul Lim |
| PDC Asian Tour Qualifier | Man Lok Leung |
| PDC Asian Tour Qualifier | Paolo Nebrida |
| PDCE Netherlands & Belgium Qualifier | Andy Baetens |
| PDCE Mediterranean Qualifier | Cristo Reyes |
| PDCE South-East Europe Qualifier | Boris Krčmar |
| PDCE Czechia Qualifier | Adam Gawlas |
| PDO Polish Qualifier | Krzysztof Kciuk |
| PDCE DACH Super League Winner | Arno Merk |
| Hungarian Super League Winner | Patrik Kovács |
| PDC UK & Ireland Tour Card Holder & Associate Member Qualifier | David Davies |
| CDC Continental Cup Winner | Alex Spellman |
| CDC Cross-Border Challenge Winner | Leonard Gates |
| CDC Top Ranked American | Adam Sevada |
| CDC Top Ranked Canadian | David Cameron |
| CDC Top-Ranked Non-Qualified Player | Stowe Buntz |
| CDLC Qualifier | Jesus Salate |
| PDC Nordic & Baltic Championship Winner | Teemu Harju |
| PDCNB ProTour Winner | Andreas Harrysson |
| PDCNB ProTour Runner-Up | Oskar Lukasiak |
| ADA Australian Tour Winner | Tim Pusey |
| DPA ProTour Winner | Joe Comito |
| DPNZ ProTour Winner | Jonny Tata |
| African Darts Group Qualifier | David Munyua |
| ANZ Premier League Winner | TBC |
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Samuel GillChief Content Officer
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of DartsNews.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy across professional darts coverage. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces, playing a central role in the development and daily operation of the site.
Based in Leicester, Samuel has extensive experience in darts media and has been closely involved in coverage of the professional darts circuit for several years. Within the UK darts community, he is a recognised figure known for his consistent editorial output and ongoing reporting on major tournaments and developments across the PDC calendar.
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- 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
- Play all legs and the winners split the pot. Luke gets the lot of he wins them all. If your occupation is darts player you can't enter, regardless of ability.BandB01-11-2026
- I'm quite a jaded person all things considered, but to be honest I found Beat Luke Littler to be pretty entertaining. It certainly wasn't seamless, which is to be expected given the lack of precedence, but I actually think the pacing was pretty good, the production was impressive, and there was a good sense of humour and levity to it. I think it was a very ambitious undertaking but one that, for the most part, paid off. I liked the system with the four pots and I think it added to the drama and intrigue. I enjoyed seeing the diverse range of entrants and learning about their backstories. I think the interactivity was pretty clever and well-integrated. The panel was a little incoherent at times; Lee Mack shone however, and his improvisational skills were appreciated during some more awkward interstitial moments. As far as the darts is concerned, it was a shame that the format didn't allow Littler to get into full flow. You obviously don't want him to steamroll everyone but you want to feel like you're getting the full Littler package rather than seeing him struggling to get out of first gear. I will say that his leg against Jayden Walker was very impressive, but it was mostly downhill from there. The attraction revolves around Littler being this untouchable, indomitable force, yet the format doesn't really allow him to fulfil that characterisation. As for Fallon Sherrock, she was mightily impressive and deserved the victory. It is a testament to her unshakeable character that she was able to bang in a 14-darter under such mind-bending pressure. Everything that has been said about the misleading marketing is valid, though they were clear about their eligibility criteria and were able to offload the responsibility somewhat by bringing the viewers into the decision-making process in real time. What is clear though, is that Fallon played the game according to the rules, and she should not be criticised for that, much less abused. I will admit though that it is a kick in the teeth for those true amateurs who committed time and money to the course, and I would also question those who think pub players would have no chance, given that some of Littler's winning legs were dispatched in 7 visits to the board! The great thing about darts is that it isn't so much that amateurs cannot replicate the feats of brilliance pulled off by professionals of the sport, than it is that they simply cannot replicate the consistency of their output, something that this format almost entirely removes from the equation. It should also be noted that, financially, Fallon certainly stands to benefit much less in relative terms from the paycheque than would your average pub thrower, as I'm sure she nets a fair income from the lucrative exhibition circuit alone. What I do hope is that she might use this as an opportunity to really build up a head of steam heading into the new season, as it seems long overdue that she come through Q-School and really take it to the pros on a week-in week-out basis, but whatever she chooses to do, she has certainly achieved enough already for one if not several lifetimes, so who am I to dictate terms? To conclude though, I will state once again that I found Beat Luke Littler to be a pretty enjoyable evening of entertainment. I do feel for the contestants who never actually had the chance to try their luck against the world #1, although I suppose it comes with the format, but all which inevitably raises the question: will Netflix be tempted to do it all again next year? It's hard to say. Whether it would be financially viable, I can't weigh in there. One point I have been making though, and which I touched on earlier, is that the entire concept relies on a public perception that Littler is more or less unbeatable, and that certainly hasn't been the case of late. If the execs had been trying to pitch the show in recent months while Littler has seemed vulnerable, rather than when he was mopping up almost every major title on the calendar, it would certainly be a tougher sell. We will have to see in about 6 months' time whether Littler can still reliably command perception as a near-unstoppable force in darts, and then we'll have a clearer idea about whether we should expect a second helping. Even as a one-off experiment though, and with all the controversy taken into account, I still don't think they disgraced themselves by any means, and that will probably be my lingering assessment of the event when all is said and done.Deduce635801-11-2026
- Fair play to Fallon. But...shows the mockery when a professional players wins what was meant to be an amateur v Pro event, Littlers performance was poor, and what about the players who didn't get a game? Would have been better if the pot was split amoungst all the winners and they all got a leg.BandB31-10-2026
- Not even slightly interestedrick6730-10-2026
- And yet the PDC has decided to aggravate this problem by doubling the Players Championship Finals field from 2027. I can't imagine there will be fewer withdrawals next year with even less reason to turn up. I can only hope that a whole slew of Challenge Tour top-up players receive enough prize money in the absence of much of the elite, that some of the more complacent among them struggle to scrape into even a heavily diluted field! More semi-pro players will get to test their mettle, but the standard of competition will be much inferior. It could hardly be said that the Players Championship series will provide an opportunity for darts' second string to test their Tour Card credentials anymore, but at least it will underscore the achievements of those Challenge Tour players of current and previous years, who were able to prove themselves as more than capable of competing with, and beating, the elite of the sport on a consistent basis, and reaping the due rewards.Deduce635828-10-2026
- No point in being there? Champions want to win.Deduce635828-10-2026