Luke Littler and Luke Humphries Lead England at World Cup Of Darts
Luke Littler and Luke Humphries will lead England at the world cup of darts in Frankfurt from June 11-14, with the pair set to enter as the No 1 seeds at the Eissporthalle. England go in as the top-ranked side after losing to Germany in the second round in 2025.
That draw places pressure on a team built around the world champion and the world No 2, because the seeded nations will not begin in the round-robin phase. The 36 other nations have been split into 12 groups of three, and only each group winner will move on.
England’s top seed in Frankfurt
For England, the headline is simple: Littler and Humphries are the pairing, and they arrive as the No 1 seeds. Humphries was named alongside Littler for the 2026 event, giving England a lineup that combines the current world champion with the world No 2.
That setup matters in a format where the seeded nations enter later, cutting down the number of matches they need to win before the knockout rounds. England also carry the reminder of last year’s tournament, when Germany beat them in the second round.
Wales without Gerwyn Price
Wales will again be without Gerwyn Price, who did not make himself available for selection for the second time in three years. He said last week at the Premier League of Darts: “My focus is there, but health-wise I'm not in a great place at the moment.”
Price added: “But I'm battling on, searching for some results. Hopefully over the next weeks they will come and put me at ease.”
Nick Kenny will join Jonny Clayton as the No 7 seed for Wales, leaving the nation with a different shape from the side many expected when the lineup picture began to settle.
Scotland, Ireland and Belgium
Scotland will go with Cameron Menzies and Gary Anderson after Menzies qualified ahead of Peter Wright under the lowest cumulative PDC Order of Merit ranking of the two players. That same ranking system explains why some pairings changed while others stayed intact.
Mickey Mansell, who represented Northern Ireland at the World Cup of Darts from 2012 to 2015, switched his nationality to Ireland earlier this year and will play alongside William O'Connor next month. Northern Ireland’s defending champions, Josh Rock and Daryl Gurney, return after winning the title last year.
Germany will field Martin Schindler and Ricardo Pietreczko as the No 5 seeded duo, while Belgium are set to send Mike De Decker and Dimitri Van den Bergh. Paul Lim returns for unseeded Singapore after becoming the oldest player to win a match at the World Darts Championship at 71 in December, and Cristo Reyes is in the Spain lineup after recently hitting a nine-darter at the Austrian Darts Open.
For readers tracking the bracket, the practical change is already set: the top seeds wait, the 36 unseeded nations are divided into 12 groups of three, and the winners from those groups feed the rest of the tournament in Frankfurt. England’s route now begins with the ranking edge they earned, while several rivals arrive with altered pairings, missing names or a title defense already attached to their matchups.
