World Cup of Darts format and how to watch as Luke Littler and Luke Humphries team up | Other | Sport

June 12, 2025 3,421

The World Cup of Darts will begin today, with many of the game’s best players set to be involved over the next four days. The event is like no other, with two players on each team representing 40 nations in total. Luke Littler will be making his debut for England, who are the overwhelming favourites to bring home the trophy.

They are the defending champions, with Luke Humphries having secured last year’s title alongside Michael Smith. Littler has been drafted in to replace Bully Boy because he is ranked higher in the Order of Merit. Only time will tell if the new-look England will be able to claim the spoils and live up to their billing as the team to beat.

Express Sport brings you all the information you need to know about the World Cup of Darts…

What is the World Cup of Darts format?

England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, the four highest-ranked nations, have received a bye into the second round. The other 36 teams will have to go through the group stages to earn a place in the knockout phase of the tournament.

Those nations have been split into 12 groups of three, with the group winners advancing to the second round. Each team will play the other two teams in their group in a round-robin format.

The top 16 nations are seeded, with the nations ranked between five and 12 separated in the groups to face two unseeded nations in the group stage.

All group matches will be played in a best-of-seven-legs format. In the second round, quarter-finals and semi-finals, matches are best-of-15-legs with the number of legs in the final increasing to the best-of-19.

How to watch the World Cup of Darts

You can watch live coverage of the World Cup of Darts on Sky Sports Action and Sky Sports Main Event. All nine sports channels can be added to an existing Sky package for £22 per month.

Subscribers will be able to stream the action on their mobile devices via the Sky Sports and Sky Go apps. You can also watch the action via NOW with a day membership, which costs £14.99, or a month membership for £34.99.