PDC World Cup of Darts Preview and Schedule.

The 2021 World Cup of Darts draw and team lineups have been announced, with Wales defending their title against Finland.

From September 9 to 12, two-player teams from 32 countries will compete in Jena, Germany, in a four-day event that will include both Singles and Doubles matches.

The top eight countries are seeded in the draw based on their two delegates’ lowest combined PDC Order of Merit ranking.

In Thursday’s opening First Round ties, reigning champion Wales will face Finland’s Marko Kantele and Veijo Viinikka, who will feature World Champion Gerwyn Price and Premier League winner Jonny Clayton.

The third-seeded Netherlands, led by Michael van Gerwen and debutant Dirk van Duijvenbode, will face Andreas Toft Jrgensen and Niels Heinse of Denmark in their quest for a fifth World Cup victory.

This year, Peter Wright and John Henderson will team up for Scotland, who will face Chinese debutants Jianfeng Lu and Wenqing Liu. Since Scotland won the title in 2019, we haven’t seen the winning team of Gary Anderson and Peter Wright.

Former finalists Australia, led by Simon Whitlock and Damon Heta, will face Italy on Thursday night, while Singapore, led by veteran star Paul Lim, will face Gibraltar.

The opening round will be completed on Friday, with top seeds England’s new pairing of James Wade and Dave Chisnall taking on Diogo Portela and Artur Valle of Brazil.

Wade will be competing for the first time since the World Cup’s inception in 2010, while Chisnall has previously competed in 2017 and 2018.

After Croatia withdrew from the competition owing to Boris Krcmar’s illness, fourth-seeded Belgium, with Dimitri Van den Bergh partnering Kim Huybrechts, will face Greece.

Finalists in the past Ireland will face Portugal, with Grand Slam champion Jose de Sousa making his second World Cup, while Daryl Gurney and Brendan Dolan of Northern Ireland will face Hong Kong.

Host’s Germany, whose Gabriel Clemens and Max Hopp advanced to the 2020 Semi-Finals, drew Canada in a mouthwatering tie, with Jeff Smith and Matt Campbell renewing a partnership that advanced to the Quarter-Finals last year.

South Africa will face the new Spanish combination of Jesus Noguera and Jose Justicia, while Russia’s Boris Koltsov and Evgenii Izotov will face Japan’s Matsuda Jun and Yoshihisa Baba.

Following the First Round on Thursday and Friday, the Second Round will be held on Saturday September 11 in two sessions.

The Quarter-Finals will be played in the afternoon session on Sunday, followed by the Semi-Finals and final in the evening session.

LIVE STREAM THE WORLD CUP HERE

Schedule of Play

Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)

8x First Round

Hungary v Lithuania

Czech Republic v Poland

Gibraltar v Singapore

USA v Sweden

Scotland v China

Netherlands v Denmark

Wales v Finland

Australia v Italy

Friday September 10

Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)

8x First Round

Russia v Japan

Spain v South Africa

Republic of Ireland v Portugal

Austria v Philippines

Northern Ireland v Hong Kong

Germany v Canada

England v Brazil

Belgium v Croatia

Saturday September 11

Afternoon Session (1400 local time, 1300 BST)

4x Second Round

Evening Session (2000 local time, 1900 BST)

4x Second Round

Sunday September 12

Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 BST)

Quarter-Finals

Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)

Semi-Finals & Final

Draw

(1) England v Brazil

Spain v South Africa

(8) Germany v Canada

Russia v Japan

(4) Belgium v Croatia

Austria v Philippines

(5) Northern Ireland v Hong Kong

Republic of Ireland v Portugal

(2) Wales v Finland

Hungary v Lithuania

(7) Australia v Italy

USA v Sweden

(3) Netherlands v Denmark

Gibraltar v Singapore

(6) Scotland v China

Czech Republic v Poland

Format

First Round

Best of nine legs 501 Doubles

Second Round, Quarter-Finals & Semi-Finals

The Second Round, Quarter-Finals & Semi-Finals will be played as two best of seven leg 501 Singles matches, with both nations nominating the order in which their players play. In the event of both nations winning one Singles match apiece, a best of seven leg 501 Doubles match will be played to decide the tie.

Final

The Final will be played as two best of seven leg 501 Singles matches, with both nations nominating the order in which their players play the first two matches, followed by a best of seven leg 501 Doubles match and then Reverse Singles matches. The first team to win three games is declared the winner.

Prize Fund (per two-player team) Winners £70,000 Runners-Up £40,000 Semi-Finalists £24,000 Quarter-Finalists £16,000 Second Round Losers £8,000 First Round Losers £4,000 Total £350,000

The top eight countries are seeded for the draw, based on the lowest combined PDC Order of Merit ranking of the two competing players.

Teams

1 – England James Wade Dave Chisnall

2 – Wales Gerwyn Price Jonny Clayton

3 – Netherlands Michael van Gerwen Dirk van Duijvenbode

4 – Belgium Dimitri Van den Bergh Kim Huybrechts

5 – Northern Ireland Daryl Gurney Brendan Dolan

6 – Scotland Peter Wright John Henderson

7 – Australia Simon Whitlock Damon Heta

8 – Germany Gabriel Clemens Max Hopp

Austria Mensur Suljovic Rowby-John Rodriguez

Brazil Diogo Portela Artur Valle

Canada Jeff Smith Matt Campbell

China Jianfeng Lu Wenqing Liu

Croatia Boris Krcmar Pero Ljubic

Czech Republic Karel Sedlacek Adam Gawlas

Denmark Andreas Toft Jørgensen Niels Heinsøe

Finland Marko Kantele Veijo Viinikka

Gibraltar Sean Negrette Justin Hewitt

Hong Kong Kai Fan Leung Man Lok Leung

Hungary János Végső Patrik Kovács

Italy Danilo Vigato Michele Turetta

Japan Matsuda Jun Yoshihisa Baba

Lithuania Darius Labanauskas Mindaugas Barauskas

Philippines Lourence Ilagan Christian Perez

Poland Krzysztof Ratajski Krzysztof Kciuk

Portugal Jose de Sousa Jose Marques

Republic of Ireland William O’Connor Steve Lennon

Russia Boris Koltsov Evgenii Izotov

Singapore Paul Lim Harith Lim

South Africa Devon Petersen Carl Gabriel

Spain Jesus Noguera Jose Justicia

Sweden Daniel Larsson Johan Engström

USA Danny Lauby Chuck Puleo

Roll of Honour

2010 Netherlands (Raymond van Barneveld & Co Stompe) def Wales (Mark Webster & Barrie Bates) 4-2

2012 England (Phil Taylor & Adrian Lewis) def Australia (Simon Whitlock & Paul Nicholson) 4-3

2013 England (Phil Taylor & Adrian Lewis) def Belgium (Kim & Ronny Huybrechts) 3-1

2014 Netherlands (Michael van Gerwen & Raymond van Barneveld) def England (Phil Taylor & Adrian Lewis) 3-0

2015 England (Phil Taylor & Adrian Lewis) def Scotland (Gary Anderson & Peter Wright) 3-2

2016 England (Phil Taylor & Adrian Lewis) def Netherlands (Michael van Gerwen & Raymond van Barneveld) 3-2

2017 Netherlands (Michael van Gerwen & Raymond van Barneveld) def Wales (Gerwyn Price & Mark Webster) 3-1

2018 Netherlands (Michael van Gerwen & Raymond van Barneveld) def Scotland (Peter Wright & Gary Anderson) 3-1

2019 Scotland (Gary Anderson & Peter Wright) def Republic of Ireland (Steve Lennon & William O’Connor) 3-1

2020 Wales (Gerwyn Price & Jonny Clayton) def England (Michael Smith & Rob Cross) 3-0