2026 World Matchplay

Background

The 2026 World Matchplay is the 33rd edition of the tournament to be staged by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) since the inaugural event in 1994.^[1] Held annually at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, England, with the exception of the 2020 event held in Milton Keynes,^[2] 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.^[3][4] 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.^[5] The Women's World Matchplay was introduced in 2022 as the PDC's first fully-televised women's tournament.^[6][7]

The 2026 edition is taking place from 18 to 26 July 2026 at the Winter Gardens.^[8] British bookmaker Betfred continued its sponsorship of the event, having extended its partnership with the PDC until 2030.^[9] 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.^[10][11]

Format

The top 16 players in the PDC World Rankings are seeded, and were drawn to compete against the 16 qualifiers from the PDC Pro Tour rankings in the first round.^[12] All matches are in leg play format. All matches have to be won by two clear legs; if the scores are tied and the players cannot be separated after an additional six legs, the match is decided by a sudden-death leg.^[13]

The number of legs required to win increases as the tournament progresses:^[12][13]

• 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.^[14][15] The winner will receive £225,000 and the Phil Taylor Trophy. The prize money breakdown is shown below:^[1]

First round

The first round (best of 19 legs) began on 18 July.^[20] 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.^[21] 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."^[22] 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.^[22] 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.^[23] Speaking afterwards, Bunting called Zonneveld a "fantastic player" who he had to "dig really deep to get through".^[20] Josh Rock was a 10–4 winner against Luke Woodhouse, punishing Woodhouse's 20 missed darts at double.^[22]