All eyes will be on the England partnership of Luke Littler and Luke Humphries as they prepare to right the wrongs of their 2025 showing at this year’s World Cup of Darts.
Littler and Humphries renew their partnership for five-time winners England, as the world’s top two aim to reclaim the coveted crown at Frankfurt’s Eissporthalle from June 11-14, as 40 nations compete for the coveted title in the unique pairs event.
World No 1 Littler and No 2 Humphries suffered a shock defeat by hosts Germany in the last 16 last year. It was their first match with the top four ranked nations, including England, entering the tournament at the last 16 stage.
The German pair of Martin Schindler and Ricardo Pietreczko upset the top two players in the world to win 8-4, but it could be a very different story this time round, according to Sky Sports’ Paul Nicholson and Chris Murphy, who joined Michael Bridge in the latest edition of Love The Darts Podcast.
“I don’t think they go out early like they did last year, but I don’t think they win it at a canter,” said Nicholson, who suffered World Cup final agony alongside team-mate Simon Whitlock against England’s Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis in 2012.
“That fact is, this is a different discipline and I like that fact Litter hasn’t won this because it reinforces the appetite to get something that he doesn’t have.
“Humphries has already got it so he knows how to get it and until these two win this World Cup there are going to be people on their backs saying, ‘you haven’t won that, have you?’ And that could be part of the banter in the practice room with Josh Rock and Daryl Gurney. ‘We’ve won this and you haven’t!’
“It will be an interesting backroom chat that they will be having against each other.
“The narrative coming into this tournament hasn’t been about them. It’s been about Wales not being at full strength and it’s about other teams possibly going all the way.
“Twelve months on there are people out there who are not convinced that Luke and Luke are going to be a team that are going to dominate this thing.”
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Highlights from the clash between England and Germany at the World Cup of Darts
Darts commentator Murphy, added: “Littler admitted they didn’t bond on stage last year but I do think they’ve learnt from that. They’re already talking about it, they’re effectively becoming a team before the tournament starts is showing they’ve drawn on that experience. They won’t want to go through that again and I think they will be much stronger.
“I don’t see them going out early this time. I don’t think they’ll suffer an early exit, but I don’t think missing the two games in the group helps any of these seeds.”
Northern Ireland pair Josh Rock and Daryl Gurney won the tournament for the first time with an epic victory over Wales in a final-leg decider in 2025.
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Speaking on Love The Darts, Chris Murphy explains why the World Cup of Darts is so important for the sport
The 2026 World Cup of Darts will be held at Frankfurt’s Eissporthalle from June 11-14, as 40 nations compete for the coveted title in the unique pairs event.
The top four ranked nations – based on the lowest cumulative PDC ranking of the two competing players – are seeded and will enter at the last 16 stage.
This includes top seeds England, four-time winners Netherlands, reigning champions Northern Ireland and two-time champions Scotland.
The remaining 36 nations have been split into 12 groups of three for the round-robin phase – including 12 seeded nations – from which each group winner will advance.
Who will win this year’s Premier League Darts? Luke Humphries will be defending his title and you can watch Finals Night next Thursday on Sky Sports. Stream darts and more top sport with NOW.
