All eyes will be on the England partnership of Luke Littler and Luke Humphries as they prepare to right the wrongs of 2025 at this year’s World Cup of Darts.
Littler and Humphries have renewed their partnership with five-time champions Great Britain as the world’s top two aim to reclaim the coveted crown as 40 countries compete for the coveted title in the unique pairs event taking place at the Eissporthalle in Frankfurt from June 11-14.
World No. 1 Littler and No. 2 Humphreys suffered a shocking loss to the host country, Germany, in the round of 16 last year. They advanced to the round of 16 with their first match against the top four countries, including England.
Germany’s pair of Martin Schindler and Ricardo Pietreczko went 8-4 after beating the world’s top two players, but it could be a very different story this round, according to Sky Sports’ Paul Nicholson and Chris Murphy, who join Michael Bridge on the latest edition of the Love The Darts Podcast.
“I don’t think I’ll go out as early as last year, but I don’t think I can win at a canter,” said Nicholson, who suffered in the 2012 World Cup final with team-mate Simon Whitlock against England’s Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis.
“Actually, this is a different training and I like the fact that Litter didn’t win because it reinforces his desire to get what he doesn’t have.
“Humphries knows how to get it because he already got it. And until these two guys win this World Cup, there are going to be people turning their backs and saying, ‘You haven’t won it yet, have you?’ And that could be part of the joke in the practice room with Josh Rock and Daryl Gurney: ‘We won and you didn’t!’
“It’s going to be an interesting behind-the-scenes chat where two people are pitted against each other.
“The story coming out of this tournament wasn’t about them, it was about Wales not being at full strength and other teams being able to go all the way.
“Even after 12 months, there are people who are not convinced that Luke and Luke will be the team that dominates this.”
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Highlights of the Darts World Cup match between England and Germany
Darts commentator Murphy added: “Littler admitted they didn’t bond on stage last year, but they seem to have learned from it. They’re already talking about it and being a team virtually before the tournament starts shows they’ve taken advantage of that experience. They don’t want to go through that again and I think they’ll come out a lot stronger.
“I don’t see them getting out early this time. I don’t think they will get an early exit, but I don’t think missing two games in the group will help these seeds.”
Northern Ireland pair Josh Rock and Daryl Gurney They won the tournament for the first time in 2025 with a resounding victory over Wales in the final match..
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Talking about Love The Darts, Chris Murphy explains why the Darts World Cup is so important to the sport.
The 2026 Darts World Cup will be held at the Eissporthalle in Frankfurt from 11 to 14 June. The competition sees 40 countries compete for the coveted title in a unique pairs event.
The top four ranked countries based on the lowest cumulative PDC ranking of the two competing players will be seeded and advance to the final 16.
These include top seeds England, four-time champions Netherlands, reigning champions Northern Ireland and two-time champions Scotland.
The remaining 36 countries will be divided into 12 groups of 3 in the round robin phase, with the winners of each group, including the 12 seed countries, advancing.
Who will be the winner of this year’s Premier League Darts? Luke Humphries is set to defend his title and you can watch Finals Night next Thursday on Sky Sports. Stream darts and other top sports with NOW.
