World Matchplay Darts 2026 Predictions: Cool Hand tipped to disarm the Nuke

Perhaps the most popular tournament in darts starts this weekend, as the Betfred World Matchplay takes over the historic seaside town of Blackpool. 

Of course, our resident darts tipster Sean Rafferty is back on board and will have daily preview articles featuring boosted selections. But first, here are his outright Betfred World Matchplay darts predictions, where he has picked three names to win the tournament as well as all four quarter winners...

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

History, Location and Format

The 2026 Betfred World Matchplay is the 32nd running of this PDC event, having been first held in 1994. The tournament is seen the second-biggest tournament of the season, after the World Championships.

As always, the World Matchplay will be held at the world-famous Winter Gardens in Blackpool, with this year's event running from Saturday 18th to Sunday 26th July and will be shown live and exclusively on Sky Sports.

The matchplay format of legs rather than sets means that you are never really out of a match and can result in some incredible comebacks.

The field is comprised of 32 players, with the top 16 players on the PDC Order of Merit seeded for the tournament. The top 16 players on the ProTour Order of Merit, not to have already qualified by the cut-off date will be unseeded.

Despite running for 32 years, the event has only had 14 champions, with Phil Taylor winning the title an incredible 16 times and the only other multiple winners being Michael van Gerwen (three times) and Rod Harrington (twice).

The defending champion is Luke Littler, having beaten James Wade 18-13 in the 2025 final.

Prize Money

There is an improved prize fund this year of £1,000,000 on offer to the 32 participants, with £225,000 going to the winning player.

3.5 units Luke Humphries @ 9/2 

I’ve been decided on this selection for a number of weeks and I’m more than happy with the odds on offer to go ahead with it. For me, Humphries and Littler have as much chance of winning this as each-other and when they’re priced up at 9/2 and 21/20 respectively, the value is absolutely with Humphries on this occasion.

He’s picked and chose what events he’s wanted to play in this year but each tournament he’s played recently he’s impressed. A significant moment was when Humphries went back-to-back titles in New York last month when he won his second successive US Darts Masters, but more importantly he defeated Littler 8-7 in the final. That should work as a massive confidence booster for Cool Hand as he’s suffered a few heartbreaking defeats at the hands of Littler in major tournaments in the past year or so, so getting one over his rival should give him plenty belief, even if it was only in a World Series event.

That’s now the last five events Humphries has participated in that he’s at least made the final, which includes his World Cup triumph, representing England alongside Littler. He’s averaged 100+ in 20 of his last 25 matches, consistently producing a high level of play. It’s the best form he’s been in for some time and he’ll look to right the wrongs of last year when he fell at the first hurdle here, losing to Gian Van Veen. He admitted in a recent interview that he was undercooked going into that tournament and that he won’t make the same mistake this time round, so I expect him to have put the hard graft in ahead of this week.

He hasn’t had it easy with the draw, which is bound to have played a part in his generous odds. Cameron Menzies is the first round opponent for Luke and comes in off the back of winning a Pro Tour event last week, he also may have to contend with Gerwyn Price or Rob Cross in the quarter-finals, more likely Rob in my opinion, which wouldn’t be an easy task. Thankfully, Humphries enters this with his game looking in fine nick and I expect him to stand up to any big performances.

If it is Littler he meets in the final, Humphries is due a big result over The Nuke in a major tournament and based on the recent form, I think the Winter Gardens is the place for that to happen as he looks to add to his 2024 victory here.

0.5 units Luke Woodhouse to win Quarter 1 @ 12/1

I didn’t want to put too many outrights up against Littler in this half as let’s be honest, he’ll take some beating in this length of format. So although I’ve not backed a tournament winner in this quarter, I have a small stake on someone else to make it to the semi-finals instead of Littler and that is Luke Woodhouse. It’s been a couple of forgettable years at the Winter Gardens for Woodhouse so far as he’s fell to two opening round defeats the past two years, but his opening round match against Josh Rock looks as good an opportunity as any to win his first match inside this iconic venue.

I’d make Woody the slight favourite to overcome Rock in that match, just due to showing a far more consistent level of play in 2026 than his opponent. If he makes it to the Last 16, Stephen Bunting is the most likely opponent and he’s not exactly been setting the sport alight this year either, as he struggles to emulate a successful 2025.

The hope is that Littler could slip up in one of the first two rounds, if he is to then early on in the tournament is probably the most likely time for it to happen before the format extends significantly. Having never won a PDC title before this year, Woody has transformed himself into a winner, with titles on the European Tour and Pro Tour. The next obvious step is to go deep in a major tournament and if he can continue the form he’s shown this year, he looks the biggest threat to upset the odds and be the shock winner of this quarter.

0.75 units Jonny Clayton each-way (1/2 - 2 Places) @ 28/1

2 units Jonny Clayton to win Quarter 2 @ 7/2

Clayton once again made a mockery of those writing off his chances ahead of the recently finished Premier League campaign. He was favourite with some bookmakers to finish bottom of the league after 16 weeks, instead he cruised his way to Finals Night with weeks to spare as he finished 2nd in the table, with four nightly wins to his name too. He arguably should have beat Humphries in the semi-final too, losing from 9-7 up. But it was a timely reminder that Jonny is still very much amongst the elite in this sport and should be treated as such when it comes to narrowing down the potential winner of a huge tournament like this.

I’m hoping he doesn’t have too many scars left from last year here when he agonisingly lost 20-18 in a thrilling semi-final match against James Wade, which went into overtime with the two clear legs rule. It’s not the first time he’s came close to winning his first World Matchplay title in recent years - he was also runner-up to Nathan Aspinall in the 2023 final. There’s definitely been enough form shown from him in Blackpool the last few years to suggest he likes this tournament.

His majors record in recent times is another reason I couldn’t get away from backing him - The Ferret made a final and three semi-finals in the biggest tournaments last year, as well as making the Premier League semi-finals this year. Which makes him a great bet to win his quarter of the draw in my opinion. With no Euro Tour or Pro Tour titles to his name since May 2025, you could argue that he’s perhaps putting most of his energy into the majors now as he heads towards the twilight end of his career.

I wouldn’t say Clayton has a lot to fear in his section of the draw - Michael Van Gerwen is the obvious main threat, but we’ve seen how hot and cold he can blow nowadays. Jonny will expect to beat Heta in the opening round, considering the lack of form from Heta for the majority of this year. Gary Anderson is the likely Last 16 opponent but I think he’s well undercooked, coming to a tournament where he has a poor record in recent years. The Welshman ticks more boxes than the others for me and I’m confident of another big run in a major tournament for him next week.

0.75 units Rob Cross to win Quarter 3 @ 10/1

I had my heart set on backing Cross for this tournament after how he’s performed recently, so I was a bit gutted to see him land in the same quarter of the draw as my main fancy Luke Humphries. I still think Bobby can play his part in this though and if Humphries was to fall, I think Cross would be the most likely to capitalise on it.

Cross is without doubt one of the main unseeded players that the top 16 would have liked to avoid in the 1st round draw, so Danny Noppert must have felt like his luck was out when he drew the in-form East Sussex man. Noppert’s form has dipped considerably in recent months so I reckon Cross will fancy his chances of winning that one which would set-up a potentially much-anticipated Last 16 clash against Gerwyn Price. I’d favour Cross in that too given Price’s inactivity in recent months and his lack of motivation and interest for darts at the moment.

The hope is that we get a Humphries vs Cross quarter-final and we’ll see what happens. Cross has good memories from winning this trophy back in 2019 and arguably arrives in Blackpool in the best form he’s been in since then. He’ll be a tricky customer for anybody next week and at 9/1, Voltage looks like a great back-up to our Humphries bet.

0.5 units James Wade each-way (1/2 - 2 Places) @ 40/1

2 units James Wade to win Quarter 4 @ 5/1

Wade has become a bit of an “auto-pick” for me at these major events in recent times, so backing him at a tournament he has such an impressive record at was a complete no-brainer. The Machine only has the one World Matchplay title to his name, way back in 2007 believe it or not, but he’s been runner-up on six occasions. These final defeats were to Phil Taylor x4, Michael Van Gerwen and Luke Littler, all of who were at the top of their game when they played him, so you can forgive James for just falling short so many times.

Wadey enjoyed an excellent run at the Winter Gardens last year - he defeated Joe Cullen, Wessel Nijman, Gian Van Veen and Jonny Clayton on route to that final against Littler. Infact, Littler has been the one player getting in the way of Wade and more major trophies in recent times - he’s made three major finals since March of last year, falling short to Littler on all of those occasions. He may be a seasoned veteran on the tour these days, but he’s still a serious contender to add another major or two to his already glittering career.

It’s a tricky looking opener for Wade, as he faces Jermaine Wattimena who he’s lost his last four meetings against, three of which were in major tournaments (World Championship, European Championship & Players Championship Finals). I fancy Wade to finally get revenge on Wattimena though which would leave an arguably easier tie against Ryan Searle or William O’Connor in the Last 16. 

I wouldn’t say there’s any major threat to Wade in this quarter, with Van Veen’s stuttering form and Nijman’s woeful record to-date, if Wade can navigate his way through the opening round I’d make him favourite to come through this section. Legs play over a longer format is what Wadey loves the most and with a few younger players in this quarter, I think Wade’s experience could prove the difference as he aims for another huge run in Blackpool.

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