The draw for the last 16 at the 2024 World Cup of Darts has been completed and their are some mouthwatering ties set for Saturday in Frankfurt.
Top favourite England, with Luke Humphries and Michael Smith in the ranks, will take on Thibault Tricole and Jacques Labre of France. Another interesting clash is between Northern Ireland (Josh Rock and Brendan Dolan) and Germany (Martin Schindler and Gabriel Clemens).
Defending champion Wales, where Jim Williams has taken the spot of the dropped Gerwyn Price, faces Croatia. Two-time World Cup winner Scotland will play Poland with Gary Anderson and Peter Wright. Sweden, where Swedish Dutchman Jeffrey de Graaf plays with Oskar Lukasiak, faces the Czech Republic. Furthermore, Austria and Taiwan were also paired together in the draw.
The Netherlands has faced the toughest possible opponent in the last sixteen at the World Cup of Darts. Michael van Gerwen and Danny Noppert were paired with Belgium. This will give the Netherlands a chance to revenge for last year's defeat. Then, too, the two countries met in the last sixteen. On that occasion Dimitri van den Bergh and Kim Huybrechts won after an 8-7 clash with the Netherlands, who then played with Noppert and Dirk van Duijvenbode.
The winner of the tie will play in the quarterfinals of the World Cup of Darts against the winner of the contest between Italy and Australia. The Italian duo Massimo Dalla Rosa and Michele Turetta guided their country to the last sixteen of this tournament for the first time in history after victories over Portugal (4-3) and the United States (4-2). Australia endured two difficult matches against Japan (4-3) and Hong Kong (4-2).
(1) England v France
Northern Ireland v Germany
(4) Scotland v Poland
Czech Republic v Sweden
(2) Wales v Croatia
Austria v Taiwan
(3) Netherlands v Belgium
Italy v Australia