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Martin Schindler (Picture: Jonas Hunold/PDC Europe)
Martin Schindler (Picture: Jonas Hunold/PDC Europe)

World Cup of Darts 2024: Free darts betting tips, preview and group predictions for the Sky Sports televised major in Germany

By Chris Hammer
Darts
Sat June 29, 2024 · 5M ago

The Sky Sports-televised BetVictor World Cup of Darts takes place in Germany this weekend and our Chris Hammer brings you his preview and best bets.

Darts betting tips: World Cup of Darts

1pt Germany to win the World Cup at 11/1 (William Hill, BetVictor, Betfred)

1pt Canada to win Group I at evens (BetVictor)

1pt France to win Group J at 11/8 (General)

1pt USA, Sweden, France and Canada all to win their groups at 15.57/1 (Coral)

  • Wales previously advised prior to Gerwyn Price's withdrawal. Sky Bet customers have the option of voiding their bets; otherwise, they will stand at a revised 16/1.

Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair Sportsbook

One of the most popular tournaments on the calendar takes place this weekend as the Eissporthalle in Frankfurt hosts the World Cup of Darts, which is now of course purely pairs following last year's much hailed format change.

Although two of the biggest nations ended up contesting the final, with Wales beating Scotland to claim the title for the second time, the pairs element helped create plenty of shocks and surprises so we can expect more of the same across the group stages and knockout phase.

As Paul Nicholson discussed in his World Cup column, it may not necessarily be an advantage for the top four seeded nations - England, Wales, Netherlands and Scotland - to bypass the two-day group stage, which sees the other 36 nations split into 12 pools of three, due to the potential of being caught cold against pairings who are all up and running. That's exactly what happened to the Netherlands and England 12 months ago as they both exited before the semi-finals.

So let's quickly take a look at each group, in which the winner progresses to the last 16, and I'll provide my verdict.

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Group stage

Top team in each group progress to the second round

Group A

  • (5) Belgium (Dimitri Van den Bergh, Kim Huybrechts)
  • Singapore (Paul Lim, Harith Lim)
  • Philippines (Christian Perez, Alexis Toylo)

Paul Lim and Harith Lim have pulled off famous World Cup shocks down the years against Wales in 2019 and Scotland in 2017 but in recent times their success has been in short supply as father time finally takes its toll on one of the sport's favourite sons.

Fans would dearly love to them pick up a win against the Philippines but they are expected to finish bottom and you can't really see how Belgium don't top the standings despite the lack of chemistry between Dimitri Van den Bergh and Kim Huybrechts.

Verdict: Belgium to win (1/7)

Group B

  • (6) Northern Ireland (Josh Rock, Brendan Dolan)
  • South Africa (Johan Geldenhuys, Cameron Carolissen)
  • Switzerland (Stefan Bellmont, Bruno Stöckli)

Josh Rock and Brendan Dolan should cruise through this group given their individual form and confidence this season and they'll fancy a lengthy run in the knockout stages too.

Rock clinched his maiden European Tour title at the end of May while a few weeks earlier, Brendan Dolan reached double figures for PDC titles by triumphing at Players Championship 10.

This is Rock's debut at the World Cup, with Daryl Gurney missing out on the chance to team up with the vastly experienced Dolan so it'll be interesting to see how they gel as a pairing in the groups. Then we'll be better placed to rate their title hopes.

Verdict: Northern Ireland to win (1/8)

Group C

  • (7) Germany (Martin Schindler, Gabriel Clemens)
  • New Zealand (Haupai Puha, Ben Robb)
  • Finland (Teemu Harju, Marko Kantele)

Hosts Germany don't have the easiest of groups and can't afford to be complacent when they face New Zealand, who have the very capable Haupai Puha and Ben Robb bidding to cause an upset.

However, Martin Schindler is playing some of the best darts in the world this season and thrilled German fans recently with his victory over Gerwyn Price in the final of a European Tour event in Riesa.

Gabriel Clemens is enjoying another solid season and together they'll be hoping to go one better than last year's run to the semi-finals in which they beat Poland and England along the way.

Verdict: Germany to win (1/7)

Group D

  • (8) Australia (Damon Heta, Simon Whitlock)
  • Japan (Tomoya Goto, Ryusei Azemoto)
  • Hong Kong (Lok Yin Lee, Man Lok Leung)

Australia won this event two years ago and are strong favourites to come through this group but there will be several darts fans pondering whether Japan or Hong Kong could cause a shock.

Man Lok Leung played brilliantly at the World Championship and he also averaged 90 against Luke Littler in a World Series event this year, but you have to wonder if the support from Lok Yin Lee will be strong enough.

As for Japan, Tomoya Goto and Ryusei Azemoto are both averaging in the mid to late 80s this year and they will probably be Australia's biggest threat.

Verdict: Australia to win (1/4)

Group E

  • (9) Republic of Ireland (William O'Connor, Keane Barry)
  • Lithuania (Darius Labanauskas, Mindaugas Barauskas)
  • Chinese Taipei (Teng-Lieh Pupo, An-Sheng Lu)

William O'Connor and Keane Barry crashed out in the group stages last year after a heavy defeat to Croatia but this is a much kinder draw for them.

Veteran campaigner Darius Labanauskas doesn't have the strongest of support in Mindaugas Barauskas while the Chinese Taipei pairing individually tend to average in the 70s.

Verdict: Republic of Ireland to win (1/8)

Group F

  • (10) Austria (Rowby-John Rodriguez, Mensur Suljovic)
  • China (Xiaochen Zong, Chengan Liu)
  • Guyana (Norman Madhoo, Sudesh Fitzgerald)

Chengan Liu is best known for the greatest ever walk-on at the World Championship during the behind-closed-doors year but his performances on the oche shouldn't trouble a strong Austrian pairing.

Liu and Xiaochen Zong can both average in the 80s on their better days and will look at their fixture with Guyana as an opportunity to pick up a win.

Verdict: Austria to win (1/10)

Group G

  • (11) Poland (Krzysztof Ratajski, Radek Szaganski)
  • Norway (Cor Dekker, Håkon Bjørge Helling)
  • Hungary (Gabor Jagica, Nandor Major)

Yet another group with a clear favourite as PDC title winners Krzysztof Ratajski and Radek Szaganski will hope to take Poland further than ever before in this competition.

They'll only crash out if they play well below their respective bests but I can't see them challenging for outright glory either.

Verdict: Poland to win (1/10)

Group H

  • (12) Czech Republic (Adam Gawlas, Karel Sedlacek)
  • Bahrain (Basem Mahmood, Duda Durra)
  • Iceland (Arngrimur Olafsson, Petur Rudrik Gudmundsson)

You may be starting to wonder if there are any groups that aren't 'foregone conclusions' but this is actually the last that has a hot favourite.

Tour Card holders Adam Gawlas and Karel Sedlacek and team up for the Czech Republic and their combined talent should be plenty good enough - although they can't afford any complacency like last year when they were dumped out in the groups by the dangerous Philippines.

Verdict: Czech Republic to win (1/12)

Group I

  • (13) Croatia (Boris Krcmar, Romeo Grvabac)
  • Malaysia (Siik Hwang Wong, Mohd Nasir Bin Jantan)
  • Canada (Matt Campbell, David Cameron)

Finally we get to a group where I can oppose the favourites - although some readers may be slightly surprised to learn that's Croatia rather than Canada.

Indeed there's not much between the 13th seeds, who are spearheaded by Boris Krcmar, and the North American pairing of Matt Campbell and David Cameron.

We all know about the talents of Campbell from his performances at the World Championship and on the Pro Tour, where he averages regularly in the 90s, while Cameron will be familiar to those who watch the seniors tour and the Modus Super Series.

Verdict: Canada to win (1/1)

CLICK HERE to back Canada to win their group with Sky Bet

Group J

  • (14) France (Thibault Tricole, Jacques Labre)
  • Latvia (Madars Razma, Valters Melderis)
  • Denmark (Benjamin Reus, Claus Bendix Nielsen)

France are only marginal favourites to edge an extremely competitive group ahead of Latvia (6/4) and Denmark (12/5) but I fancy them to advance to the knockout stages like they did last year.

Thibault Tricole and Jacques Labre, who are both Tour Card holders, teamed up brilliantly to beat Northern Ireland and Ukraine last year, and although the latter hasn't enjoyed a great season and is the weaker player statistically, I rate them the stronger pairing overall.

Madars Razma doesn't have much support in Valters Melderis while you could argue Denmark are a bit of a one man team with the talented rising star Benjamin Reus.

Verdict: France to win (11/8)

CLICK HERE to back France to win their group with Sky Bet

Group K

  • (15) Sweden (Jeffrey de Graaf, Oskar Lukasiak)
  • Spain (Jose Justicia, Jesus Noguera)
  • Gibraltar (Justin Hewitt, Craig Galliano)

Sweden impressively reached the quarter-finals last year with the pairing of Dennis Nilsson and Oskar Lukasiak before eventually bowing out 8-5 to eventual champions Wales - and this year they are made stronger by the emergence of Jeffrey de Graaf.

The Dutch-born Swede has enjoyed a fantastic six months or so thanks to a brilliant run at the World Championship, where he averaged in the 90s three times and gave Rob Cross a run for his money in the third round, before earning a Tour Card at Qualifying School while he recently finished runner-up to Brendan Dolan at a Players Championship event.

De Graaf averages around the 90 mark and if he gets decent back up from Oskar Lukasiak, who operates around the mid-80s level, then I'd fancy them to surpass Spain and Gibraltar.

Verdict: Sweden to win (5/6)

Group L

  • (16) USA (Danny Lauby, Jules van Dongen)
  • Portugal (Jose de Sousa, David Gomes)
  • Italy (Michele Turetta, Massimo Dalla Rosa)

Jose de Sousa is the biggest name in this group and statistically has performed better on the circuit this season than the other five players by a sizeable distance even though he isn't the same force that he was several years ago.

However his playing partner David Gomes was only averaging in the 70s and low 80s during his nation's qualifying tournament for the honour of teaming up with de Sousa and I feel the combined strength of USA's Danny Lauby and Jules van Dongen, who are both Tour Card holders, will come out on top.

Verdict: USA to win (1/1)

CLICK HERE to back Canada, France, Sweden & USA to win their groups with Sky Bet

Who will win the World Cup?

The 12 group winners will join England, Wales, Netherlands and Scotland in the following draw bracket.

  • (1) England (Luke Humphries, Michael Smith) v Group Winner
  • Group Winner v Group Winner
  • (4) Scotland (Peter Wright, Gary Anderson) v Group Winner
  • Group Winner v Group Winner
  • (2) Wales (Jim Williams, Jonny Clayton) v Group Winner
  • Group Winner v Group Winner
  • (3) Netherlands (Michael van Gerwen, Danny Noppert) v Group Winner
  • Group Winner v Group Winner

Unsurprisingly England are favourites due to the presence of the last two world champions in the line-up although the most recent of those - Luke Humphries - is making his debut in the tournament so it'll be interesting to see how he fares in this format.

Both Humphries and Michael Smith obviously play pretty quick so if they come up against some slower pairings then their usual rhythm will be greatly affected. After all, as obvious as it sounds, you are only throwing 25% of the time in pairs and Humphries won't be used to this.

England last won it when Phil Taylor was in the side back in 2016 and in that time Netherlands, Scotland and Wales have all lifted the trophy twice each.

Michael van Gerwen last got to the final with Raymond van Barneveld back in 2017 but has missed the last two stagings due to injury and although Danny Noppert has played impressively this season and beat Humphries in a Players Championship final, they aren't the best of friends and you do need good chemistry in this format.

The last time they paired up was in the 2020 edition and they lost a decisive pairs rubber to Germany in a 4-3 defeat.

As for Scotland, Gary Anderson has been absolutely outstanding this season but will probably need to do a lot of carrying of Peter Wright if his individual struggles roll into this event.

Defending champions Wales might have had the best team spirit of the leading nations and the fact Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton have lifted this trophy twice together in the last four years made them one of my initial fancies.

However, Price withdrew on Wednesday and has been replaced by Jim Williams, which has understandably added 10 points to the Wales price. If you backed Wales before this news, get in touch with your bookmaker to find out whether your bet will be voided, or stand at a new price.

My vote though goes to GERMANY, who are now third favourites and look to have a genuine chance of producing a fairytale run on home soil if they can get rolling in a tricky group.

CLICK HERE to back Germany to win the World Cup with Sky Bet

World Cup of Darts: Daily Schedule & Results

Thursday June 27 (1900 local time, 1800 BST)
Group Stage – First Matches (Best of seven legs)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports

  • Belgium v Singapore (A)
  • Northern Ireland v South Africa (B)
  • Germany v New Zealand (C)
  • Australia v Japan (D)
  • Republic of Ireland v Lithuania (E)
  • Austria v China (F)
  • Poland v Norway (G)
  • Czech Republic v Bahrain (H)
  • Croatia v Malaysia (I)
  • France v Latvia (J)
  • Sweden v Spain (K)
  • USA v Portugal (L)

Friday June 28
Afternoon Session (1200 local time, 1100 BST)
Group Stage – Second Matches (Best of seven legs)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports

  • Loser First Match v Team 3

Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)
Group Stage – Final Matches (Best of seven legs)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports

  • Winner First Match v Team 3

Saturday June 29
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 BST)
Second Round (Best of 15 legs)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports

  • Four Matches

Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)
Second Round (Best of 15 legs)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports

  • Four Matches

Sunday June 30
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 BST)
Quarter-Finals (Best of 15 legs)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports

  • Four Matches

Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)
Semi-Finals (Best of 15 legs)
TV Coverage: Sky Sport

  • Two Matches

Final (Best of 19 legs)

  • One Match

Where can I watch the World Cup of Darts on TV?

The My Diesel Claim World Cup of Darts will be broadcast on Sky Sports for viewers in the UK & Ireland, through the PDC's international broadcast partners, including DAZN and Viaplay, and on PDCTV for Rest of the World Subscribers.

World Cup of Darts: Sky Bet Odds

Click here for Sky Bet's darts page

Prize Fund (Per two-player team)

  • Winners - £80,000
    Runners-Up - £50,000
    Semi-Final Losers - £30,000
    Quarter-Final Losers - £20,000
    Last 16 Losers - £9,000
    Second in Group - £5,000
    Third in Group - £4,000
  • Total - £450,000

World Cup of Darts: Past Finals

Darts: Related content

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