World Cup of Darts preview: England set for fifth championship

Thursday sees the start of the PDC World Cup of Darts, as 40 nations compete for the trophy.

Jonny Clayton and Gerwyn Price return to the oche having won last year’s renewal, but find themselves third favourites for this year’s competition.

England are heavy favourites for the 2024 World Cup of Darts, with Luke Humphries and Michael Smith representing their country to pick up the nation’s first win since 2016 when Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis beat the Scots in the final.

We tell you all you need to know about the upcoming tournament below.

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How does it work?

From June 27-30, the Eissporthalle in Frankfurt will see 40 player pairings representing their respective countries in both doubles and singles matches in a bid to bring the trophy home. Thursday and Friday will consist of 16 first-round matches. The eight second-round matches will be played on Saturday before the tournament winners are decided on Sunday night with the quarter-finals and semi-finals being played earlier in the day.

UK set to dominate

As it stands, England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland all find themselves in the top six of the betting.

As mentioned previously, England are the overwhelming favourites at an odds-on 8/11, being represented by two world champions in their own rights, Luke Humphries and Michael Smith. Humphries has proven himself time and time again to be world-class, so the pressure will be on Michael Smith to steady the ship and pull his weight following some rather disappointing performances since his world championship win.

Wales have won two World Cups with both Gerwyn Price and Johnny Clayton paired up together, and at third favourites, they’ll be looking to add another one to the tally at 11/2. These two love the team-stye format at the World Cup and have to be respected as serious contenders this year given their success in the past as the third-most successful team in the history of the competition.

Scotland lie fifth in the market at a larger price of 16/1, despite being seeded at number four. The two Scots that will take the stage are two veterans of the game, Peter Wright and Gary Anderson. Not only have they proven themselves on the big stage separately, but have reached the final of this competition four times paired up with each other, winning most recently in 2021 as well appearing in last year’s final.

Lastly, Northern Ireland appear number sixth in the market at 20/1. Josh Rock and Brendan Dolan will be flying the flag for their nation as they step up to the oche on Thursday but will need to pull out something pretty special to get the better of their fellow Brits.

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Who could disrupt the Home Nations’ success?

Two nations infiltrate the top six in the market, most notably the strong Dutch pairing of Michael van Gerwen and Danny Noppert. Not only does MVG make his reappearance to the tournament, but alongside a different partner from the glory days with Raymond van Barneveld, in which the duo made four finals in five years, winning three of them, most recently in 2018. This time around, the Netherlands have been given odds of 9/2 to take the trophy home once again and seem to be England’s main competitors.

Not only are the Germans the hosts in the EUROs, but also for this year’s World Cup of Darts. Germany have been touted as one of the leading nations in the year’s tournament, and have been given odds of 11/1 to win the whole thing on home soil, which places them fourth in the market. Martin Schindler and Gabriel Clemens will be the two to take to the oche in pursuit of not only their first appearance in a final, but to steal the show entirely and outthrow their odds.

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