The first round schedule of the 2026 Paddy Power World Darts Championship has been released.

As expected, defending champion and world number one Luke Littler will start the defence of his title on opening night. He’ll play Darius Labanauskas on Thursday 11 December at Alexandra Palace.

2023 World Champion Michael Smith faces Lisa Ashton on the first night, while Kim Huybrechts and Arno Merk have the honour of opening the tournament, the first to feature 128 players in the field.

Humphries starts Saturday 13 December, MvG must wait a week

The only player to beat Littler on the Ally Pally stage is Luke Humphries, back in the 2024 final. Cool Hand begins his quest for a second Sid Waddell Trophy against Ted Evetts on Saturday 13 December, in a session that also features Jeffrey De Graaf against Paul Lim.

Three time winner Michael van Gerwen will look to win the World Darts Championship for the first time since 2017. He takes on Mitsuhiko Tatsunami on Thursday 18 December, in the same session as The Queen of the Palace, Fallon Sherrock, returns to play Dave Chisnall.

The final day of round one action features former Worlds semi finalist Nathan Aspinall, as he plays Lourence Ilagan in the evening session on Friday 19 December. Three time Lakeside champion Beau Greaves will also have to wait until that night to return to Alexandra Palace, as she plays Daryl Gurney.

In a change to previous years, the 32 seeded players no longer automatically qualify for round two with the expansion to 128 players, meaning that there will not be three round one games and a second round match in sessions. Instead, each of the first eight days will feature four round one games in the session.

The round two schedule will be released during round one, while the remaining rounds will be confirmed after the Christmas break.

2026 Paddy Power World Darts Championship Schedule

Thursday 11 December (1900 GMT)

Round One x4

Kim Huybrechts v Arno Merk

Michael Smith v Lisa Ashton

Luke Littler v Darius Labanauskas

Madars Razma v Jamai van den Herik

Friday 12 December

Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)

Round One x4

Niels Zonneveld v Haupai Puha

Ian White v Mervyn King

Ryan Searle v Chris Landman

Rob Cross v Cor Dekker

Evening Session (1900 GMT)

Round One x4

Ross Smith v Andreas Harrysson

Ricky Evans v Man Lok Leung

Gian van Veen v Cristo Reyes

Damon Heta v Steve Lennon

Saturday 13 December

Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)

Round One x4

Mario Vandenbogaerde v David Davies

Andrew Gilding v Cam Crabtree

Luke Woodhouse v Boris Krcmar

Gary Anderson v Adam Hunt

Evening Session (1900 GMT)

Round One x4

Jeffrey de Graaf v Paul Lim

Wessel Nijman v Karel Sedlacek

Luke Humphries v Ted Evetts

Gabriel Clemens v Alex Spellman

Sunday 14 December

Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)

Round One x4

Ritchie Edhouse v Jonny Tata

Dom Taylor v Oskar Lukasiak

Richard Veenstra v Nitin Kumar

Joe Cullen v Bradley Brooks

Evening Session (1900 GMT)

Round One x4

Lukas Wenig v Wesley Plaisier

Dimitri Van den Bergh v Darren Beveridge

Stephen Bunting v Sebastian Bialecki

James Hurrell v Stowe Buntz

Monday 15 December

Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)

Round One x4

Brendan Dolan v Tavis Dudeney

Cameron Menzies v Charlie Manby

Mensur Suljovic v David Cameron

Peter Wright v Noa-Lynn van Leuven

Evening Session (1900 GMT)

Round One x4

Martin Lukeman v Max Hopp

Dirk van Duijvenbode v Andy Baetens

Jonny Clayton v Adam Lipscombe

Connor Scutt v Simon Whitlock

Tuesday 16 December

Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)

Round One x4

Alan Soutar v Teemu Harju

Nick Kenny v Justin Hood

Scott Williams v Paolo Nebrida

Chris Dobey v Xiaochen Zong

Evening Session (1900 GMT)

Round One x4

Ricardo Pietreczko v Jose de Sousa

Danny Noppert v Jurjen van der Velde

Gerwyn Price v Adam Gawlas

Niko Springer v Joe Comito

Wednesday 17 December (1900 GMT)

Round One x4

Matt Campbell v Adam Sevada

Raymond van Barneveld v Stefan Bellmont

James Wade v Ryusei Azemoto

Martin Schindler v Stephen Burton

Thursday 18 December

Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)

Round One x4

Callan Rydz v Patrik Kovacs

Thibault Tricole v Motomu Sakai

Ryan Joyce v Owen Bates

Mike De Decker v David Munyua

Evening Session (1900 GMT)

Round One x4

Jermaine Wattimena v Dominik Gruellich

Dave Chisnall v Fallon Sherrock

Michael van Gerwen v Mitsuhiko Tatsunami

Krzysztof Ratajski v Alexis Toylo

Friday 19 December

Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)

Round One x4

Kevin Doets v Matthew Dennant

Ryan Meikle v Jesus Salate

Mickey Mansell v Leonard Gates

Josh Rock v Gemma Hayter

Evening Session (1900 GMT)

Round One x4

William O’Connor v Krzysztof Kciuk

Daryl Gurney v Beau Greaves

Nathan Aspinall v Lourence Ilagan

Keane Barry v Tim Pusey

Saturday 20 December

Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)

Round Two x4

Evening Session (1900 GMT)

Round Two x4

Sunday 21 December

Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)

Round Two x4

Evening Session (1900 GMT)

Round Two x4

Monday 22 December

Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)

Round Two x4

Evening Session (1900 GMT)

Round Two x4

Tuesday 23 December

Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)

Round Two x4

Evening Session (1900 GMT)

Round Two x4

Saturday 27 December

Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)

Round Three x3

Evening Session (1900 GMT)

Round Three x3

Sunday 28 December

Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)

Round Three x3

Evening Session (1900 GMT)

Round Three x3

Monday 29 December

Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)

Round Three x3

Evening Session (1900 GMT)

Round Three x1

Round Four x2

Tuesday 30 December

Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)

Round Four x3

Evening Session (1900 GMT)

Round Four x3

Thursday 1 January 2026

Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)

Quarter Finals x2

Evening Session (1900 GMT)

Quarter Finals x2

Friday 2 January 2026 (1930 GMT)

Semi Finals

Saturday 3 January 2026 (2000 GMT)

Final