The 2026 World Matchplay (known for sponsorship reasons as the 2026 Betfred World Matchplay) was a professional darts tournament that took place from 18 to 26 July 2026 at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, England. It was the 33rd staging of the World Matchplay by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). The event's prize fund was an increased total of £1,000,000, with the winner receiving £225,000. The fifth edition of the Women's World Matchplay also took place on 26 July and was won by Beau Greaves.
Sponsored by Betfred, the tournament featured 32 players, consisting of the top 16 players in the two-year PDC World Rankings and the top 16 players from the one-year PDC Pro Tour rankings who had not yet qualified. Kevin Doets, William O'Connor, Niko Springer and Niels Zonneveld made their debuts at the event. The 2021 champion Peter Wright missed out on qualification for the first time since 2012, while 2007 champion James Wade qualified for the 21st consecutive year.
Luke Littler was the defending champion, having defeated Wade 18–13 in the 2025 final. He hit the 11th nine-dart finish in World Matchplay history in the opening leg of his second-round match against Nathan Aspinall. He went on to reach his second straight final, a run that saw him become the first player to pass the £3 million mark in the PDC World Rankings. He faced Gerwyn Price, who reached his second World Matchplay final.
Littler defended his title by defeating Price 18–9 to win the tournament for the second time. He became the fourth player to retain the Phil Taylor Trophy and the first to do so since Michael van Gerwen in 2016. He set new records for the highest three-dart average in a World Matchplay final and the highest winning tournament average in World Matchplay history, both previously held by Taylor. He also surpassed his own record for the most maximums (180s) in a World Matchplay campaign, improving it from 64 to 66.
Overview Background
The 2026 World Matchplay was the 33rd edition of the tournament to be staged by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) since the inaugural event in 1994. Held annually at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, England, with the exception of the 2020 event held in Milton Keynes, the inaugural champion was Larry Butler, who remains the only American to win a PDC major title; he defeated Dennis Priestley 16–12 in an upset victory in the final. In 2018, the World Matchplay trophy was renamed to the Phil Taylor Trophy, in honour of the sixteen-time champion who retired from professional darts following the 2018 World Championship. Taylor won his sixteenth and final World Matchplay title at the 2017 event. The Women's World Matchplay was introduced in 2022 as the PDC's first fully-televised women's tournament; the 2026 Women's World Matchplay was won by Beau Greaves.
The 2026 edition took place from 18 to 26 July 2026 in the Empress Ballroom at the Winter Gardens. British bookmaker Betfred continued its sponsorship of the event, having extended its partnership with the PDC until 2030. Luke Littler entered the tournament as defending champion, having defeated James Wade 18–13 in the 2025 final to win his first World Matchplay title.
Format The top 16 players in the PDC World Rankings were seeded, and were drawn to compete against the 16 qualifiers from the PDC Pro Tour rankings in the first round. All matches were in leg play format. All matches had to be won by two clear legs; if the players could not be separated, the match was decided by a sudden-death leg.
The number of legs required to win increased as the tournament progressed: First round: Best of 19 legs (sudden death at 12–12) Second round: Best of 21 legs (sudden death at 13–13) Quarter-finals: Best of 31 legs (sudden death at 18–18) Semi-finals: Best of 33 legs (sudden death at 19–19) Final: Best of 35 legs (sudden death at 20–20)
Prize money The prize fund for the event increased to £1,000,000, up from the previous year's total of £800,000. The winner received £225,000 and the Phil Taylor Trophy. The prize money breakdown is shown below:
Position (no. of players) Prize money(Total: £1,000,000)Winner (1) £225,000Runner-up (1) £125,000Semi-finalists (2) £65,000Quarter-finalists (4) £35,000Second round (8) £22,500First round (16) £12,500
Broadcasts The tournament was broadcast on Sky Sports in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Other broadcasters included DAZN in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland; Fox Sports in Australia; Sky Sport in New Zealand; Viaplay in the Netherlands, Iceland and Scandinavia; ESPN2 and ESPN+ in the United States; Canal+ in Poland; VTM in Belgium; Nova Sport in the Czech Republic and Slovakia; L'Équipe in France; AMC Network in Hungary; Arena Sport in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia; TV3 in the Baltic states; Zonasport in Croatia; Setanta in Ukraine; beIN Sports in the Middle East and North Africa; and StarHub TV in Singapore. It was also available for subscribers outside of the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland on the PDC's streaming service, PDCTV.
Qualification
The top 16 players in the two-year PDC World Rankings at the qualification cut-off point were seeded for the tournament. The top 16 players from the one-year PDC Pro Tour rankings, not to have already qualified through the main ranking, were unseeded. The full field was confirmed following Players Championship 24 on 7 July.
Kevin Doets, William O'Connor, Niko Springer and Niels Zonneveld made their debuts at the event. Two-time world champion and 2021 World Matchplay champion Peter Wright failed to qualify for the first time since 2012, while Daryl Gurney missed out for the first time since 2015. Dave Chisnall secured the final qualifying spot by overtaking Gurney in the PDC Pro Tour rankings during Players Championship 24, extending his qualifying streak to 16 years. James Wade, the 2007 champion and seven-time finalist, qualified for his 21st consecutive World Matchplay.
The following players qualified for the tournament. Their placement in the tournament is shown in parentheses.
PDC World Rankings (champion) (first round) (semi-finals) (second round) (second round) (quarter-finals) (runner-up) (quarter-finals) (second round) (first round) (second round) (quarter-finals) (first round) (second round) (quarter-finals) (second round)
Pro Tour rankings (first round) (first round) (first round) (first round) (second round) (first round) (first round) (first round) (first round) (first round) (first round) (semi-finals) (second round - withdrew) (first round) (first round) (first round)
Summary First round
The first round (best of 19 legs) began on 18 July. Reigning champion and world number one Luke Littler began his title defence with a 10–6 victory over German debutant Niko Springer. The Englishman trailed Springer 3–2 at the first interval, but won five of the last six legs from 5–5 to secure the win. Littler, who ended the match with a three-dart average of 109.53, found it "annoying" to not have the lead heading into the second break but was satisfied with his performance from then on, stating: "From leg 11 I was on 120 average which goes to show how well I was playing. If I get better I'll be happier." The 2023 champion Nathan Aspinall averaged 105.32 and landed a 167 checkout as he defeated Joe Cullen 10–5 to set up a meeting with Littler in the second round. Stephen Bunting led Niels Zonneveld 8–5 before the Dutch debutant completed back-to-back 10-dart legs and converted a 164 checkout to level the match at 8–8. Zonneveld went on to miss three match darts as the pair entered a sudden-death leg, where Bunting sealed a 13–12 win. Josh Rock was a 10–4 winner against Luke Woodhouse, punishing Woodhouse's 20 missed darts at double.
Three-time champion Michael van Gerwen initially went 4–1 behind against Andrew Gilding, but the Dutchman won nine of the last 11 legs to prevail 10–6. On missing double 12 for a nine-dart finish during the match, Van Gerwen claimed the dart slipped out of his hand, adding: "For me as a dart player, it doesn't really matter if it's nine darts or it's 30 darts." The 2018 champion Gary Anderson averaged 109.96 and compiled finishes of 144 and 141 in his 10–2 victory over Ryan Joyce, winning five consecutive legs to close the match. Chris Dobey hit 13 maximums during his contest with Dirk van Duijvenbode, but the Englishman missed four match darts before entering a tie-break scenario at 9–9, where Van Duijvenbode achieved the two clear legs required to win 13–11 and eliminate the 13th seed. Jonny Clayton converted a 144 checkout to complete a 10–7 win against Damon Heta, advancing to a second-round match against Anderson, who Clayton called his "hero".
Gian van Veen hit two 144 checkouts and added a 160 finish on his way to beating Krzysztof Ratajski 10–6, exacting revenge for a loss to Ratajski at the European Darts Open the week prior. "Everyone knows I have been struggling the last few months, and I just needed that win today," said Van Veen in his post-match interview. "To go deep here would mean so much confidence for myself going into the back end of this year." Wessel Nijman, the winner of eight PDC titles in 2026 heading into the tournament, set up a meeting with Van Veen by defeating Dave Chisnall 10–5. The 2007 champion James Wade began his 21st consecutive World Matchplay campaign with a 10–7 win over Jermaine Wattimena. Wade branded his performance as "rubbish" and claimed he was "really, really lucky", explaining that he had to slow himself down rather than play to Wattimena's pace on his way to victory. Irish debutant William O'Connor reduced a 6–1 deficit to 8–6 in his match with Ryan Searle, but Searle claimed the last two legs to win 10–6.
Cameron Menzies produced an upset victory to achieve his first win at the World Matchplay, defeating the 2024 champion and world number two Luke Humphries 10–7. Humphries, who was unable to hold his throw in the first six legs that he started, trailed Menzies 8–3 before winning four consecutive legs to reduce the gap to 8–7. However, Menzies won the last two legs, finishing the match with a 170 checkout. "No one gave me hope. I didn't give myself hope but I finally won a game at the Winter Gardens," said the victorious Scot, who called it the "best moment of my darts career". The 2021 world champion Gerwyn Price overcame deficits of 4–0 and 6–2 against Martin Schindler to go ahead for the first time at 9–8, but Schindler converted a 121 finish to take the match to a tie-break. Price sealed a 11–9 comeback win with a 100 checkout to hand Schindler his fifth consecutive World Matchplay defeat. Price admitted the match was one he "should have lost", saying that his confidence levels were down due to a lack of playing time. Despite averaging 104.19, the highest for a debuting player at the World Matchplay, Dutch debutant Kevin Doets suffered a 10–6 loss to Ross Smith, who averaged above the 100 mark himself while hitting 56 per cent of his doubles. The 2019 champion Rob Cross was triumphant in the first round's final match, eliminating tenth seed Danny Noppert in a 10–3 victory. Cross was one of three unseeded players to reach the second round, alongside Van Duijvenbode and Menzies.
Second round