THE World Cup of Darts will begin NEXT WEEK as 40 nations compete in Frankfurt.
Last year saw Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton fire Wales to glory after they thrashed Scotland 10-2 in the final.
England will be looking to secure their first World Cup win since Phil Power and Adrian Lewis’ last triumph in the tournament in 2016.
The pair were crowned four-time champions with England since the tournament began in 2010 and hold the record number of wins with the Netherlands.
World No1 Luke Humphries is set to represent England this summer but his partner will NOT be teenage sensation Luke Littler.
The 17-year-old was not picked as he is not one of the two highest-ranked England players in the PDC Order of Merit.
So who will partner Humphries in Germany?
Seeds 1-4 – Through to Round Two
(1) England – Luke Humphries, Michael Smith
(2) Wales – Gerwyn Price, Jonny Clayton
(3) Netherlands – Michael van Gerwen, Danny Noppert
(4) Scotland – Peter Wright, Gary Anderson
Seeds 5-16 – Seeded for Group Stage
(5) Belgium – Dimitri Van den Bergh, Kim Huybrechts
(6) Northern Ireland – Josh Rock, Brendan Dolan
(7) Germany – Martin Schindler, Gabriel Clemens
(8) Australia – Damon Heta, Simon Whitlock
(9) Republic of Ireland – William O’Connor, Keane Barry
(10) Austria – Rowby-John Rodriguez, Mensur Suljovic
(11) Poland – Krzysztof Ratajski, Radek Szaganski
(12) Czechia – Adam Gawlas, Karel Sedlacek
(13) Croatia – Boris Krcmar, Romeo Grvabac
(14) France – Jacques Labre, Thibault Tricole
(15) Sweden – Jeffrey de Graaf, Oskar Lukasiak
(16) USA – Danny Lauby, Jules van Dongen
Non-Seeded Nations
Bahrain – Basem Mahmood, Duda Durra
Canada – Matt Campbell, David Cameron
China – Xiaochen Zong, Chengan Liu
Chinese Taipei – Teng-Lieh Pupo, An-Sheng Lu
Denmark – Benjamin Reus, Claus Bendix Nielsen
Finland – Marko Kantele, Teemu Harju
Gibraltar – Justin Hewitt, Craig Galliano
Guyana – Norman Madhoo, Sudesh Fitzgerald
Hong Kong – Lok Yin Lee, Man Lok Leung
Hungary – Gabor Jagica, Nandor Major
Iceland – Arngrimur Olafsson, Petur Gudmundsson
Italy – Michele Turetta, Massimo Dalla Rosa
Japan – Tomoya Goto, Ryusei Azemoto
Latvia – Madars Razma, Valters Melderis
Lithuania – Darius Labanauskas, Mindaugas Barauskas
Malaysia – Siik Hwang Wong, Mohamad Nasir
New Zealand – Haupai Puha, Ben Robb
Norway – Cor Dekker, Hakon Bjorge Helling
Philippines – Christian Perez, Alexis Toylo
Portugal – Jose de Sousa, David Gomes
Singapore – Paul Lim, Harith Lim
South Africa – Johan Geldenhuys, Cameron Carolissen
Spain – Jose Justicia, Jesus Noguera
Switzerland – Stefan Bellmont, Bruno Stockli
Group A
(5) Belgium
Singapore
Philippines
Group B
(6) Northern Ireland
South Africa
Switzerland
Group C
(7) Germany
New Zealand
Finland
Group D
(8) Australia
Japan
Hong Kong
Group E
(9) Republic of Ireland
Lithuania
Chinese Taipei
Group F
(10) Austria
China
Guyana
Group G
(11) Poland
Norway
Hungary
Group H
(12) Czech Republic
Bahrain
Iceland
Group I
(13) Croatia
Malaysia
Canada
Group J
(14) France
Latvia
Denmark
Group K
(15) Sweden
Spain
Gibraltar
Group L
(16) USA
Portugal
Italy
Thursday, June 27 (From 6pm BST)
Group Stage – Opening Matches
Belgium v Singapore (A)
Northern Ireland v South Africa (B)
Germany v New Zealand (C)
Australia v Japan (D)
Republic of Ireland v Lithuania (E)
Austria v China (F)
Poland v Norway (G)
Czech Republic v Bahrain (H)
Croatia v Malaysia (I)
France v Latvia (J)
Sweden v Spain (K)
USA v Portugal (L)
Friday, June 28
Afternoon Session (From 11am BST)
Group Stage – Second Matches
Evening Session (6pm BST)
Group Stage – Final Matches
Saturday, June 29
Afternoon Session (12pm BST)
Second Round x4
Evening Session (6pm BST)
Second Round x4
Sunday, June 30
Afternoon Session (12pm BST)
Quarter-Finals
Evening Session (6pm BST)
Semi-Finals
Final
All group stage matches will be played best of seven legs.
After the opening round of fixtures, all matches will be best of 15 legs up until the final.
And the grand final will be best of 19 legs.
