Michael van Gerwen will not play in the 2023 World Cup of Darts.

The Dutch star, a three time winner at this event, has been ruled out of the competition due to injury. He had a pre-planned dental operation on Monday, but has not recovered sufficiently to be able to compete in Frankfurt.

Danny Noppert will once again have Dirk van Duijvenbode as his playing partner, as the Netherlands bid for a fifth win in the competition.

Michael van Gerwen will not be adding the World Cup of Darts trophy to his collection this year, having already won the Premier League.
Michael van Gerwen will not be adding the World Cup of Darts trophy to his collection this year, having already won the Premier League. Photo credit: Steven Paston/PDC

MvG misses out for second straight year

The Green Machine did not play in the 2022 edition of the World Cup of Darts, owing to an injury which required surgery on his arm.

Now, the 2023 Premier League and New York Darts Masters champion will have to miss out on the tournament again due to injury.

It means the 2022 pairing of Noppert and Van Duijvenbode will reunite, desperate to go further than last year when they made the semi finals only to lose to Wales.

The last time the Netherlands won this event was in 2018, when Van Gerwen and playing partner Raymond van Barneveld took home the coveted prize for the third time as a pair, and the fourth in Dutch history. The country has yet to make the final since.

Michael van Gerwen and Raymond van Barneveld celebrating their 2018 World Cup of Darts win.
Michael van Gerwen and Raymond van Barneveld celebrate their 2018 World Cup of Darts win. Credit: PDC/Sky Sports

New PDC World Cup of Darts format

This year will see the pairing of Noppert and Van Duijvenbode play doubles matches throughout the competition, after the PDC announced a shake up to the event’s format.

The format now sees 40 nations, up from 32 last year. based on the lowest cumulative PDC Order of Merit ranking of the two competing players, will be seeded and will enter at the second round stage.

The remaining 36 teams will be split into 12 groups of three for the round-robin first round – including 12 seeded nations –from which each group winner will progress.

The change now means that Netherlands will become the third seeds for the second round draw, with Wales’ Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton moving up to second seeds.

The 2023 World Cup of Darts will take place from Thursday 15 June to Sunday 18 June at the Eissporthalle, Frankfurt. You can view the full draw on our website.