The line-up for the 2026 World Darts Championship is almost complete as a record 128 players arrive at Alexandra Palace for the biggest ever edition of the tournament.
Defending champion and world No 1 Luke Littler leads the players contending for the Sid Waddell Trophy and a share of £5m in prize money, with the likes of 2025 finalist Michael van Gerwen and World Masters winner Luke Humphries expected to challenge the 18-year-old sensation.
The top 40 players on the PDC Order of Merit qualified automatically for the Darts World Championship, while the top 40 players who have not qualified via the that route will also feature alongside 48 qualifiers from different routes including women’s, development and international events.
With the draw for the first rounds set for Monday, 24 November, here’s everything you need to know.
When is the draw?
The draw will take place on Monday, 24 November in London. It is expected to get underway around 4.30pm GMT.
How can I watch it?
Viewers in the UK can watch the draw live on Sky Sports News, or you can choose to watch online via the Sky Sports YouTube channel. Subscribers can also stream the draw via the Sky Sports website or app.
How does the draw work?
Every player in the tournament enters from the first round stage. The top 32 seeded players and those ranked from 33rd to 64th are randomly drawn on the left side of the tournament bracket, against the remaining 64 qualifiers on the right side.
Who has qualified so far?
The top 40 seeds qualified through the PDC Order of Merit, and this includes the following players:
Luke Littler (1), Luke Humphries (2), Michael van Gerwen (3), Stephen Bunting (4), Jonny Clayton (5), James Wade (6), Gian van Veen (7), Chris Dobey (8), Danny Noppert (9), Josh Rock (10), Ross Smith (11), Gerwyn Price (12), Gary Anderson (13), Damon Heta (14), Martin Schindler (15), Rob Cross (16), Mike De Decker (17), Dave Chisnall (18), Ryan Searle (19), Jermaine Wattimena (20), Nathan Aspinall (21), Dimitri Van den Bergh (22), Daryl Gurney (23), Ryan Joyce (24), Cameron Menzies (25), Ritchie Edhouse (26), Luke Woodhouse (27), Dirk van Duijvenbode (28), Peter Wright (29), Michael Smith (30), Joe Cullen (31), Wessel Nijman (32), Ricardo Pietreczko (33), Andrew Gilding (34), Raymond van Barneveld (35), Scott Williams (36), Krzysztof Ratajski (37), Martin Lukeman (38), Brendan Dolan (39), Kevin Doets (40).
The top 40 not-yet qualified players from the Pro Tour Order of Merit also qualified, with those players as follows:
Niko Springer (1), William O’Connor (2), Niels Zonneveld (3), Karel Sedlacek (4), Bradley Brooks (5), Jeffrey de Graaf (6), Mickey Mansell (7), Mario Vandenbogaerde (8), Callan Rydz (9), Cam Crabtree (10), Ian White (11), Sebastian Bialecki (12), Dom Taylor (13), Ricky Evans (14), Richard Veenstra (15), Madars Razma (16), Alan Soutar (17), Lukas Wenig (18), Kim Huybrechts (19), Mensur Suljovic (20), Gabriel Clemens (21), Thibault Tricole (22), Matthew Dennant (23), Darren Beveridge (24), Justin Hood (25), Wesley Plaisier (26), Steve Lennon (27), Max Hopp (28), Ryan Meikle (29), James Hurrell (30), Nick Kenny (31), Matt Campbell (32), Keane Barry (33), Adam Lipscombe (34), Darius Labanauskas (35), Dominik Gruellich (36), Chris Landman (37), Owen Bates (38), Cor Decker (39), Connor Scutt (40).
A further 48 players qualify through alternative routes, with six places still up for grabs right until Monday’s draw – these include the ANZ Premier League winner and five Tour Card Holder Qualifiers.
At this point, 42 players have secured qualification outside of the PDC Order of Merit, and they include:
Beau Greaves, Charlie Manby, Jamai van den Herik, Jurjen van der Velde, Stefan Bellmont, Ted Evetts, Mervyn King, Lisa Ashton, Fallon Sherrock, Noa-Lynn van Leuven, Gemma Hayter, Mitsuhiko Tatsunami, Xiaochen Zong, Nitin Kumar, Lourence Ilagan, Alexis Toylo, Motomu Sakai, Ryusei Azemoto, Paul Lim, Man Lok Leung, Paolo Nebrida, Andy Baetens, Cristo Reyes, Boris Krcmar, Adam Gawlas, Krzysztof Kciuk, Arno Merk, Patrik Kovacs, David Davies, Alex Spellman, Leonard Gates, Adam Sevada, David Cameron, Stowe Buntz, Jesus Salate, Teemu Harju, Andreas Harrysson, Oskar Lukasiak, Tim Pusey, Joe Comito, Jonny Tata and David Munyua.
When is the 2026 World Darts Championship?
The tournament begins at Alexandra Palace on Thursday, 11 December, with four first-round matches on the opening evening.
That is the first of 13 consecutive days of darts, with afternoon and evening sessions taking place everyday until 23 December, when the competition pauses over Christmas Eve, Christmas and Boxing Day. It resumes on 27 December, pausing again on New Year’s Eve.
The quarter-finals are scheduled take place on New Year’s Day, with the semi-finals the following day and the final on 3 January.