One of the best tournaments on the darts calendar is almost here!
The World Cup for soccer is about to start, but so is the World Cup of Darts.
All 12 Groups Explained: Seedings, Pots, and Draw Results
Four exciting days of action are set to take place in Frankfurt, Germany, with 40 pairs looking to represent their countries well.
There's a lot to know about the event before watching, so let's go over some of the things you have to know to prepare for the tournament.
Let's take a look at some of the specifics of the tournament.
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The top four seeds get a bye into the knockout stage, and a draw will be conducted after the group stage to determine who the group stage winners play.
40 countries qualify for the tournament, with the top 16 best countries being seeded.
Group Stage Headliners: France, Brazil, and Argentina Fixtures
Each country has its top two players representing it, and they take turns throwing whenever their country is up in a match.
The top four seeds get byes into the round of 16 that takes place after a round-robin.
The 36 countries without a bye are divided into 12 groups, with each group containing one seeded country and two unseeded countries.
In each group, countries will all play each other once (two games per country).
Group stage matches are best-of-seven legs (first to four).
The country with the most wins in their group advances, or if there's a tie, the tiebreaker is the best overall leg difference from the matches played.
Round of 32 to July 19 Final: Full Knockout Calendar
After the group stage ends, and 12 countries join the four ones with a bye, they will compete in best-of-fifteen (first to eight) leg matches in the knockout stage, for a spot in the quarterfinals.
The best-of-fifteen-match format will also be in the quarterfinals and semifinals.
The final will be a best-of-nineteen (first to 10) leg match to determine which country wins the World Cup of Darts.
Alex is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. A current Sports Media major at Hofstra University in New York, he is a huge Celtics and NBA fan who gets way too many notifications from NBA insiders on X.
He became interested in PDC Darts at the beginning of 2024 and has been obsessed ever since.
Time Zone Guide: Kick-Off Times Across North America
The useful takeaway is how this update changes supporter decisions before the tournament starts. A World Cup article should make the next match, team, or lineup implication clear rather than drifting into generic tournament background.
For readers following FIFA World Cup 2026 closely, the best next step is to connect this story to the relevant team pages and match lineups. That keeps the article grounded in the questions fans search for before kickoff.