World Cup of Darts 2026 Predictions: Northern Ireland back-to-back World Champs?

One of the most fun tournaments on the calendar is back this week, as the World Cup of Darts is back in Germany, with a unique team format in place. 

Of course, our resident darts tipster Sean Rafferty is back on board, so here are his World Cup of Darts Betting Tips...

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New customers only. Register, deposit with Debit Card, and place first bet £10+ at Evens (2.0)+ on Sports within 7 days to get £30 in Sports Free Bets & £20 in Bet Builder Free Bets within 24 hours of settlement. 7-day expiry. Eligibility & payment exclusions apply. T&Cs Apply.

History, Location and Format

The 2026 World Cup of Darts is the sixteenth edition of this PDC tournament and is the only PDC event featuring a two-player team format.

The event is once again being held at the Eissporthalle in Frankfurt, Germany and runs from 11 to 14 June. It will be aired live on Sky Sports in the UK.

The 40-team strong field consists of 16 seeded teams, and 24 unseeded teams, with the top four seeds (England, Netherlands, Northern Ireland & Scotland) entering the competition in the second round.

The defending champions are Northern Ireland pair Josh Rock and Daryl Gurney, who defeated Welshmen Jonny Clayton and Gerwyn Price 10-9 in the 2025 final.

Prize Money

There is a prize fund of £500,000 on offer to the 80 participants, with £100,000 going to the winning pair.

1.5 units Northern Ireland each-way @ 12/1

Last year was a glorious winner for us in this when Northern Ireland won in a dramatic final against Wales. It was Gurney and Rock’s first year playing together and it was one they’ll never forget, overcoming Clayton and Price in an incredible deciding leg. 

It’s a big ask to repeat that achievement, especially when you consider that Rock hasn’t had his best year so far, despite winning a European Tour event. In spite of that, I really believe they can have a good go at defending their title. I don’t think there’s enough focus on team chemistry in this event, despite it being one of the most important factors. These two absolutely click and are mates away from the oche which helps. 

Rock is one of the best scorers in the game (11th in the world for first-9 average the past year) and Gurney is one of the better finishers on tour (21st in the world on doubles at 40.43%), this makes for a really nice mixture of consistent scoring and finishing. They’re both similar characters when they’re on the stage, both of them wear their heart on their sleeve so can bounce off each-other and show plenty passion together.

With the added bonus of being seeded into the last 16 already and being in the opposite half to big favourites England, I simply can’t refuse backing the Northern Irish to complete stunning back-to-back World Cup titles.

0.75 units Poland each-way @ 25/1

I’ve had my eye on this fresh pairing for Poland for a while now and recent weeks have only confirmed my thoughts that they could have a great chance of going deep in this tournament.

It’s a different look for the Polish side as Sebastian Bialecki makes his return to the World Cup, having debuted back in 2022. He’s a different player now though and could hardly wish to be in better form than he is now - Bolt has absolutely teared it up on the Development Tour in recent weeks, winning a staggering 38 matches in succession. Last weekend, the young Pole made four finals out of five, winning three of them. The Friday was particularly impressive, winning all 17 matches he played and averaged 95+ in 11 of those. His 2026 average currently sits at 92.47, a big improvement on the 88.53 he averaged in 2025. You have to imagine his confidence couldn’t be higher.

Ratajski has re-established himself inside the top 32 since this time last year and continues to consistently post decent numbers - The Polish Eagle currently sits 15th in the world for overall averages in 2026 at 95.55. He’s averaged 95+ in 8 of his last 11 matches and looks as ready as his partner Bialecki does for this.

In a group with Portugal and Switzerland for company, the Poles are the only pairing who are both showing form and should make relatively light work of progressing to the last 16. In the knockout stages, they’ll be a tough test for anyone. Real dark horses to win this, if you can even class them as that now.

0.5 units Republic of Ireland each-way @ 40/1

It’s another new-look side I’m backing, Republic of Ireland see Mickey Mansell replace Keane Barry, due to a switch in nationality which unfortunately for Barry means he exits the side due to his ranking, despite having a solid year so far.

It created a bit of debate as Mansell already represented Northern Ireland in this event with Brendan Dolan from 2012 to 2015, reaching the semi-finals in 2014. It’s a new partner for O’Connor who played pretty well in this last year, exiting at the quarter-finals stage despite a strong performance against Northern Ireland.

It remains to be seen how they’ll gel but both have plenty experience and have been on tour for many years so should be familiar with each-other. The World Cup looks to have come around at a nice time for them, both coming in off the back of some decent form - O’Connor made the final of the most recent Pro Tour final and Mansell has won 12 of his last 15 matches, averaging 90+ in 12 of those, so playing to a consistent level.

It looks an easy enough group, with Singapore and Uganda looking like one of the better draws they could have hoped for. With Mansell’s doubles and O’Connor’s scoring, this could turn out to be a formidable pairing if they can bring their individual form into the pairs format.

1.5 units Philippines to win Group A @ 3/1

If you’re into darts played in slow motion, then this is the group for you! Seriously though, this is a competitive looking group and you’d be silly to rule out the hosts Germany or New Zealand from winning it, but it’s the Filipinos that I’m backing to top this group.

Pietreczko is having a bit of trouble with dartitis which is obviously affecting the throw, I don’t think Schindler is playing well enough to make up for what Ricardo may lack, having averaged below 96 in all of his last nine matches. New Zealand have an exciting pairing with Ben Robb and Jonny Tata, doubles could be the concern with those two (both outside top 250 in world on doubles % the past year) and for two players who like to get on with it, the opposition in this group may not suit them.

The pace certainly won’t bother the Philippines as they are likely to set it - it’d be fair to say that Paolo Nebrida and Alexis Toylo like to take their time on the oche, but don’t let that deflect away from the fact they are two decent players. They topped an equally as tough group last year, defeating Belgium and Latvia, albeit with Lourence Ilagan being in the team at the time. They’ll concentrate on their own game and likely stay steady with a mid-80s average, that could well be enough to win the group at very attractive odds.

2 units Hong Kong to win Group B @ 16/5

It’s another Asian pairing I’m backing to top their group, this time it’s Hong Kong. It’s the likeable pairing of Man Lok Leung and Lok Yin Lee that make up the team again and I fully expect them to win over viewers and fans in attendance once again with their funny antics. 

They certainly know how to play together and they were one of the best stories at last year’s World Cup - the pair went on a dream run to the quarter-finals, having strolled through a weak group against USA and Bahrain, dropping just one leg in total. They then averaged 94 in a stunning 8-4 win over Sweden, before a defiant 8-4 defeat against Wales. 

The pair clearly get on well and with a lot of question marks regarding the form of group favourites Belgium, I think Van den Bergh and De Decker are short on confidence and there to be got at. I don’t give Slovenia much chance so it could be a straight shootout between Philippines and Belgium and I certainly wouldn’t be making Philippines 16/5 to win, I’d make it a 50/50 match right now. Huge odds and don’t be surprised to see Hong Kong go on a similar run to 2025.

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