All you need to know about the Paddy Power World Darts Championship

Luke Littler will begin the defence of his Paddy Power PDC World Darts Championship title against Darius Labanauskas of Lithuania. 

Littler, who is even money with the tournament sponsors to rule the world once again at London's iconic Alexandra Palace this year, became the youngest winner of the biggest prize in darts, aged just 17, in January and would be the first man since Gary Anderson in 2016 to defend the Sid Waddell Trophy. 

The Nuke has added the UK Open, World Matchplay, World Grand Prix, Grand Slam and, last weekend, the Players Championship Finals to his growing list of titles since beating Michael van Gerwen 7-3 in the 2025 Ally Pally showpiece. 

The man Littler recently deposed as world number one, 2024 world champion Luke Humphries, is the number two seed and drawn on the opposite side of the draw to his great rival. 

Cool Hand Luke plays Ted Evetts in the first round and is a 9-2 chance to be crowned world champion for a second time in his career on January 3. It is 14-1 bar the leading Lukes.

Three-time WDF women's world champion Beau Greaves, who recently beat Littler to qualify for last weekend's World Youth Championship final, opens her Ally Pally account against Northern Ireland's Daryl Gurney, the 22nd seed. 

Greaves in 4-5 favourite to see off Superchin and an 80-1 chance with Paddy Power to become the first female winner of the biggest prize in darts. 

When is the 2026 PDC World Darts Championship? 

The 33rd edition of the PDC World Darts Championship will begin on Thursday, December 11, 2025 and concludes with the final on Saturday, January 3, 2026. 

A record 128 players will take to the iconic Alexandra Palace stage, headlined by world number one and defending champion Luke Littler, with all participants beginning in round one for the first time.

Where can I watch the 2026 PDC World Darts Championship? 

The tournament will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK, through the PDC's worldwide broadcast partners, including DAZN and Viaplay, and on PDCTV (excluding UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria & Switzerland based subscribers).

When is the draw for the 2026 PDC World Darts Championship? 

The draw for the tournament was held on Monday, November 24 in London. Sky Sports Darts commentators Wayne Mardle and Mark Webster conducted the draw.

2026 PDC World Darts Championship draw

First quarter

(1) Luke Littler v Darius Labanauskas
Mario Vandenbogaerde v David Davies
(32) Joe Cullen v Bradley Brooks
Mensur Suljovic v David Cameron
(16) Damon Heta v Steve Lennon
Raymond van Barneveld v Stefan Bellmont
(17) Rob Cross v Cor Dekker
Ian White v Mervyn King
(8) Chris Dobey v Xiaochen Zong
Andrew Gilding v Cam Crabtree
(25) Luke Woodhouse v Boris Krcmar
Martin Lukeman v Max Hopp
(9) Gerwyn Price v Adam Gawlas
Lukas Wenig v Wesley Plaisier
(24) Ryan Joyce v Owen Bates
Krzysztof Ratajski v Alexis Toylo

Second quarter

(4) Stephen Bunting v Sebastian Bialecki
Richard Veenstra v Nitin Kumar
(29) Dirk van Duijvenbode v Andy Baetens
James Hurrell v Stowe Buntz
(13) Martin Schindler v Stephen Burton
Keane Barry v Tim Pusey
(20) Ryan Searle v Chris Landman
Brendan Dolan v Tavis Dudeney
(5) Jonny Clayton v Adam Lipscombe
Dom Taylor v Oskar Lukasiak
(28) Michael Smith v Lisa Ashton
Niels Zonneveld v Haupai Puha
(12) Ross Smith v Andreas Harrysson
Thibault Tricole v Motomu Sakai
(21) Dave Chisnall v Fallon Sherrock
Ricardo Pietreczko v Jose de Sousa

Third quarter

(2) Luke Humphries v Ted Evetts
Jeffrey de Graaf v Paul Lim
(31) Wessel Nijman v Karel Sedlacek
Gabriel Clemens v Alex Spellman
(15) Nathan Aspinall v Lourence Ilagan
Mickey Mansell v Leonard Gates
(18) Mike De Decker v David Munyua
Kevin Doets v Matthew Dennant
(7) James Wade v Ryusei Azemoto
Ricky Evans v Man Lok Leung
(26) Cameron Menzies v Charlie Manby
Matt Campbell v Adam Sevada
(10) Gian van Veen v Cristo Reyes
Alan Soutar v Teemu Harju
(23) Dimitri Van den Bergh v Darren Beveridge
Madars Razma v Jamai van den Herik

Fourth quarter
(3) Michael van Gerwen v Mitsuhiko Tatsunami
William O'Connor v Krzysztof Kciuk
(30) Peter Wright v Noa-Lynn van Leuven
Kim Huybrechts v Arno Merk
(14) Gary Anderson v Adam Hunt
Connor Scutt v Simon Whitlock
(19) Jermaine Wattimena v Dominik Gruellich
Scott Williams v Paolo Nebrida
(6) Danny Noppert v Jurjen van der Velde
Nick Kenny v Justin Hood
(27) Ritchie Edhouse v Jonny Tata
Ryan Meikle v Jesus Salate
(11) Josh Rock v Gemma Hayter
Niko Springer v Joe Comito
(22) Daryl Gurney v Beau Greaves
Callan Rydz v Patrik Kovacs

Number in brackets denotes seeding. Courtesy of the PDC

2026 PDC World Darts Championship schedule

Thursday, December 11 (1900 GMT)
Round one x4
Kim Huybrechts v Arno Merk
Michael Smith v Lisa Ashton
Luke Littler v Darius Labanauskas
Madars Razma v Jamai van den Herik

Friday, December 12
Afternoon session (1230 GMT)
Round one x4
Niels Zonneveld v Haupai Puha
Ian White v Mervyn King
Ryan Searle v Chris Landman
Rob Cross v Cor Dekker
Evening session (1900 GMT)
Round one x4
Ross Smith v Andreas Harrysson
Ricky Evans v Man Lok Leung
Gian van Veen v Cristo Reyes
Damon Heta v Steve Lennon

Saturday, December 13
Afternoon session (1230 GMT)
Round one x4
Mario Vandenbogaerde v David Davies
Andrew Gilding v Cam Crabtree
Luke Woodhouse v Boris Krcmar
Gary Anderson v Adam Hunt
Evening session (1900 GMT)
Round one x4
Jeffrey de Graaf v Paul Lim
Wessel Nijman v Karel Sedlacek
Luke Humphries v Ted Evetts
Gabriel Clemens v Alex Spellman

Sunday, December 14
Afternoon session (1230 GMT)
Round one x4
Ritchie Edhouse v Jonny Tata
Dom Taylor v Oskar Lukasiak
Richard Veenstra v Nitin Kumar
Joe Cullen v Bradley Brooks
Evening session (1900 GMT)
Round one x4
Lukas Wenig v Wesley Plaisier
Dimitri Van den Bergh v Darren Beveridge
Stephen Bunting v Sebastian Bialecki
James Hurrell v Stowe Buntz

Monday, December 15
Afternoon session (1230 GMT)
Round one x4
Brendan Dolan v Tavis Dudeney
Cameron Menzies v Charlie Manby
Mensur Suljovic v David Cameron
Peter Wright v Noa-Lynn van Leuven
Evening session (1900 GMT)
Round one x4
Martin Lukeman v Max Hopp
Dirk van Duijvenbode v Andy Baetens
Jonny Clayton v Adam Lipscombe
Connor Scutt v Simon Whitlock

Tuesday, December 16
Afternoon session (1230 GMT)
Round one x4
Alan Soutar v Teemu Harju
Nick Kenny v Justin Hood
Scott Williams v Paolo Nebrida
Chris Dobey v Xiaochen Zong
Evening session (1900 GMT)
Round one x4
Ricardo Pietreczko v Jose de Sousa
Danny Noppert v Jurjen van der Velde
Gerwyn Price v Adam Gawlas
Niko Springer v Joe Comito

Wednesday, December 17 (1900 GMT)
Round one x4
Matt Campbell v Adam Sevada
Raymond van Barneveld v Stefan Bellmont
James Wade v Ryusei Azemoto
Martin Schindler v Stephen Burton

Thursday, December 18
Afternoon session (1230 GMT)
Round one x4
Callan Rydz v Patrik Kovacs
Thibault Tricole v Motomu Sakai
Ryan Joyce v Owen Bates
Mike De Decker v David Munyua
Evening session (1900 GMT)
Round one x4Jermaine Wattimena v Dominik Gruellich
Dave Chisnall v Fallon Sherrock
Michael van Gerwen v Mitsuhiko Tatsunami
Krzysztof Ratajski v Alexis Toylo

Friday, December 19
Afternoon session (1230 GMT)
Round one x4
Kevin Doets v Matthew Dennant
Ryan Meikle v Jesus Salate
Mickey Mansell v Leonard Gates
Josh Rock v Gemma Hayter
Evening session (1900 GMT)
Round One x4
William O’Connor v Krzysztof Kciuk
Daryl Gurney v Beau Greaves
Nathan Aspinall v Lourence Ilagan
Keane Barry v Tim Pusey

Saturday, December 20
Afternoon session (1230 GMT)
Round two x4
Evening session (1900 GMT)
Round two x4

Sunday, December 21
Afternoon session (1230 GMT)
Round two x4
Evening session (1900 GMT)
Round two x4

Monday, December 22
Afternoon session (1230 GMT)
Round two x4
Evening session (1900 GMT)
Round two x4

Tuesday, December 23
Afternoon session (1230 GMT)
Round two x4
Evening session (1900 GMT)
Round two x4

Saturday, December 27
Afternoon session (1230 GMT)
Round three x3
Evening session (1900 GMT)
Round three x3

Sunday, December 28
Afternoon session (1230 GMT)
Round three x3
Evening session (1900 GMT)
Round three x3

Monday, December 29
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
Round three x3
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
Round three x1
Round four x2

Tuesday, December 30
Afternoon session (1230 GMT)
Round four x3
Evening session (1900 GMT)
Round four x3

Thursday, January 1
Afternoon session (1230 GMT)
Quarter-finals x2
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
Quarter-finals x2

Friday, January 2 (1930 GMT)
Semi-finals

Saturday, January 3 (2000 GMT)
Final

Format
All sets are the best of five legs. There will be a tie-break rule employed in all matches; where a deciding set must be won by two clear legs. If the score in the final set reaches 5-5 then a sudden-death leg will be played. There would be no throw for the bull in any sudden-death legs.

Schedule courtesy of the PDC

Who are the favourites for the 2026 Paddy Power PDC World Darts Championship? 

The betting for the 2026 Paddy Power PDC World Darts Championship is dominated by the sport's superstar Lukes, Littler and Humphries. 

Littler is the number one seed and defending champion, and the world champion is an even-money favourite with tournament sponsors Paddy Power. He is a best-priced 11-10. 

Humphries, meanwhile, is a 4-1 chance to reclaim the title he surrendered to his burgeoning rival at Alexandra Palace last year. 

Another of the PDC's rising stars, Josh Rock, is third in the betting at 14-1 alongside 2021 world champion Gerwyn Price, and the Netherland's world youth champion Gian van Veen is the only other player under 20-1 in the betting.

Here are the latest betting odds to win the 2026 Paddy Power PDC World Darts Championship with the tournament :

Odds correct at time of publication

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