Photo: Mikal Schlosser/PDC

The World Cup of Darts expands from 32 to 40 teams, meaning Iceland will make their debut at the tournament. The tournament will also feature group stages and will see an end to single matches.

The World Cup of Darts is to expand to 40 teams and a £450,000 prize fund in a revamped format
which will feature a group stage and Doubles matches throughout four days of action in June.

The annual World Cup of Darts will continue to see two-player teams representing their country,
with this year’s event to be staged at Frankfurt’s Eissporthalle from June 15-18 as Australia defend the title they won in 2022.

In a radical change to previous years, the tournament will be expanded from 32 to 40 teams – which
sees Iceland to make their debut alongside Ukraine and Bahrain.

The Nordic and Baltic region will also be represented by Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia and Sweden.

The top four ranked nations, based on the lowest cumulative PDC Order of Merit ranking of the two
competing players, will be seeded and will enter at the second round stage. The remaining 36 teams
will be split into 12 groups of three for the round-robin first round – including 12 seeded nations –
from which each group winner will progress.

The World Cup of Darts will begin on Thursday June 15, with an afternoon session added on Friday
June 16 as the group stage concludes across two sessions on the second day of action.

The second round, featuring the last 16 nations, will be split across two sessions on Saturday June 17
before the quarter-finals take place on Sunday afternoon, with the tournament culminating in the
semi-finals and final on Sunday evening – with the eventual champions to earn a combined £80,000
in prize money.

Lithuania lost against the later champions from Australia at the tournament last year. Photo: PDC

Another change to previous years will see the World Cup of Darts feature solely Doubles matches for
the first time – as opposed to the combination of Singles and Doubles ties used in previous years.

Nations who will be represented by players from the PDC Order of Merit will see their teams
confirmed on Monday May 29, with the top two ranked players invited to compete for their country.

The players who will represent the nations from the Nordic and Baltic region will be determined after the PDCNB weekend in Finland, meaning the cut-off date will be June 5.

The selection criterias for each of the Nordic and Baltic teams will be as follow:

Denmark: Vladimir Andersen will team up with the best Danish player in our rankings, unless a Dane plays on the European Tour before the cut-off.

Finland: The two best Finnish players in our rankings, unless a Finn or more plays on the European Tour before the cut-off.

Iceland: The two best Icelandic players in our rankings, unless an Icelander or more plays on the European Tour before the cut-off.

Latvia: Madars Razma will team up with the best Latvian player in our rankings, unless a Latvian plays on the European Tour before the cut-off.

Lithuania: Darius Labanauskas will team up with the best Lithuanian player in our rankings, unless a Lithuanian plays on the European Tour before the cut-off.

Sweden: The two best Swedes players in our rankings, unless a Swede or more plays on the European Tour before the cut-off.

Prize Fund at the World Cup of Darts (Per Team)
Winners £80,000
Runners-Up £50,000
Semi-Final Losers £30,000
Quarter-Final Losers £20,000
Last 16 Losers £9,000
Second in Group £5,000
Third in Group £4,000
Total £450,000