All the tournament details as Littler retains PDC world title
Luke Littler lost only four sets on his way to lifting a second PDC world title
- Published
World number one Luke Littler successfully defended his PDC World Darts Championship title in January 2026.
Littler entered as one of nine previous winners in the 2026 competition at Alexandra Palace in London and the 18-year-old beat Dutch 10th seed Gian van Veen in the final.
A record 128 players started the competition, an increase of 32 from last year's extravaganza, including five players from the Women's Series - also a record.
When did the World Darts Championship take place?
The 2026 World Darts Championship started on 11 December and there were 13 consecutive days of action until a three-day break between 24-26 December.
Rounds three and four were completed between 27-30 December, while the four quarter-finals were played across two sessions on 1 January.
Both semi-finals took place on 2 January and the tournament concluded with Littler's 7-1 win over Van Veen in the final.
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What was the draw and seedings?
The top 32 ranked players were seeded for the tournament. Unlike recent years, the top 32 entered in the first round, instead of the second.
Seeded players are denoted in brackets
Final
Luke Littler (1) 7-1 Gian van Veen (10)
Semi-finals
Luke Littler (1) 6-1 Ryan Searle (20)
Gian van Veen (10) 6-3 Gary Anderson (14)
Quarter-finals
Luke Littler (1) 5-0 Krzysztof Ratajski
Ryan Searle (20) 5-2 Jonny Clayton (5)
Luke Humphries (2) 1-5 Gian van Veen (10)
Gary Anderson (14) 5-2 Justin Hood
Fourth round
Top half
Luke Littler (1) 4-2 Rob Cross (17)
Luke Woodhouse (25) 2-4 Krzysztof Ratajski
James Hurrell 0-4 Ryan Searle (20)
Jonny Clayton (5) 4-2 Andreas Harrysson
Bottom half
Luke Humphries (2) 4-1 Kevin Doets
Charlie Manby 1-4 Gian van Veen (10)
Michael van Gerwen (3) 1-4 Gary Anderson (14)
Justin Hood 4-0 Josh Rock (11)
Third round
Top half
Luke Littler (1) 4-0 Mensur Suljovic
Damon Heta (16) 0-4 Rob Cross (17)
Andrew Gilding 1-4 Luke Woodhouse (25)
Wesley Plaisier 3-4 Krzysztof Ratajski
Stephen Bunting (4) 3-4 James Hurrell
Martin Schindler (13) 0-4 Ryan Searle (20)
Jonny Clayton (5) 4-3 Niels Zonneveld
Andreas Harrysson 4-2 Ricardo Pietreczko
Bottom half
Luke Humphries (2) 4-2 Gabriel Clemens
Nathan Aspinall (15) 3-4 Kevin Doets
Ricky Evans 2-4 Charlie Manby
Gian van Veen (10) 4-1 Madars Razma
Michael van Gerwen (3) 4-1 Arno Merk
Gary Anderson (14) 4-3 Jermaine Wattimena (19)
Justin Hood 4-1 Ryan Meikle
Josh Rock (11) 4-1 Callan Rydz
Second round
Top half
Luke Littler (1) 3-0 David Davies
Joe Cullen (32) 1-3 Mensur Suljovic
Damon Heta (16) 3-0 Stefan Bellmont
Rob Cross (17) 3-1 Ian White
Chris Dobey (8) 1-3 Andrew Gilding
Luke Woodhouse (25) 3-0 Max Hopp
Gerwyn Price (9) 0-3 Wesley Plaisier
Ryan Joyce (24) 1-3 Krzysztof Ratajski
Stephen Bunting (4) 3-0 Nitin Kumar
Dirk van Duijvenbode (29) 2-3 James Hurrell
Martin Schindler (13) 3-0 Keane Barry
Ryan Searle (20) 3-0 Brendan Dolan
Jonny Clayton (5) w/o Dom Taylor - Clayton given a bye
Michael Smith (28) 1-3 Niels Zonneveld
Andreas Harrysson 3-0 Motomu Sakai
Dave Chisnall (21) 2-3 Ricardo Pietreczko
Bottom half
Luke Humphries (2) 3-0 Paul Lim
Wessel Nijman (31) 0-3 Gabriel Clemens
Nathan Aspinall (15) 3-0 Leonard Gates
David Munyua 0-3 Kevin Doets
James Wade (7) 2-3 Ricky Evans
Charlie Manby 3-0 Adam Sevada
Gian van Veen (10) 3-1 Alan Soutar
Darren Beveridge 1-3 Madars Razma
Michael van Gerwen (3) 3-1 William O'Connor
Peter Wright (30) 0-3 Arno Merk
Gary Anderson (14) 3-1 Connor Scutt
Jermaine Wattimena (19) 3-2 Scott Williams
Danny Noppert (6) 2-3 Justin Hood
Jonny Tata 2-3 Ryan Meikle
Josh Rock (11) 3-0 Joe Comito
Daryl Gurney (22) 2-3 Callan Rydz
First round
First quarter
Luke Littler (1) 3-0 Darius Labanauskas
Mario Vandenbogaerde 0-3 David Davies
Joe Cullen (32) 3-0 Bradley Brooks
Mensur Suljovic 3-1 David Cameron
Damon Heta (16) 3-1 Steve Lennon
Raymond van Barneveld 0-3 Stefan Bellmont
Rob Cross (17) 3-0 Cor Dekker
Ian White 3-2 Mervyn King
Chris Dobey (8) 3-1 Xiaochen Zong
Andrew Gilding 3-1 Cam Crabtree
Luke Woodhouse (25) 3-1 Boris Krcmar
Martin Lukeman 1-3 Max Hopp
Gerwyn Price (9) 3-0 Adam Gawlas
Lukas Wenig 1-3 Wesley Plaisier
Ryan Joyce (24) 3-0 Owen Bates
Krzysztof Ratajski 3-0 Alexis Toylo
Second quarter
Stephen Bunting (4) 3-2 Sebastian Bialecki
Richard Veenstra 2-3 Nitin Kumar
Dirk van Duijvenbode (29) 3-2 Andy Baetens
James Hurrell 3-1 Stowe Buntz
Martin Schindler (13) 3-1 Stephen Burton
Keane Barry 3-0 Tim Pusey
Ryan Searle (20) 3-0 Chris Landman
Brendan Dolan 3-1 Tavis Dudeney
Jonny Clayton (5) 3-1 Adam Lipscombe
Dom Taylor 3-0 Oskar Lukasiak
Michael Smith (28) 3-0 Lisa Ashton
Niels Zonneveld 3-0 Haupai Puha
Ross Smith (12) 2-3 Andreas Harrysson
Thibault Tricole 0-3 Motomu Sakai
Dave Chisnall (21) 3-0 Fallon Sherrock
Ricardo Pietreczko 3-1 Jose de Sousa
Third quarter
Luke Humphries (2) 3-1 Ted Evetts
Jeffrey de Graaf 1-3 Paul Lim
Wessel Nijman (31) 3-0 Karel Sedlacek
Gabriel Clemens 3-0 Alex Spellman
Nathan Aspinall (15) 3-1 Lourence Ilagan
Mickey Mansell 2-3 Leonard Gates
Mike de Decker (18) 2-3 David Munyua
Kevin Doets 3-1 Matthew Dennant
James Wade (7) 3-0 Ryusei Azemoto
Ricky Evans 3-0 Man Lok Leung
Cameron Menzies (26) 2-3 Charlie Manby
Matt Campbell 1-3 Adam Sevada
Gian van Veen (10) 3-1 Cristo Reyes
Alan Soutar 3-2 Teemu Harju
Dimitri Van den Bergh (23) 0-3 Darren Beveridge
Madars Razma 3-1 Jamai van den Herik
Fourth quarter
Michael van Gerwen (3) 3-1 Mitsuhiko Tatsunami
William O'Connor 3-0 Krzysztof Kciuk
Peter Wright (30) 3-0 Noa-Lynn van Leuven
Kim Huybrechts 1-3 Arno Merk
Gary Anderson (14) 3-2 Adam Hunt
Connor Scutt 3-2 Simon Whitlock
Jermaine Wattimena (19) 3-2 Dominik Grullich
Scott Williams 3-0 Paolo Nebrida
Danny Noppert (6) 3-1 Jurjen van der Velde
Nick Kenny 0-3 Justin Hood
Ritchie Edhouse (27) 0-3 Jonny Tata
Ryan Meikle 3-0 Jesus Salate
Josh Rock (11) 3-1 Gemma Hayter
Niko Springer 1-3 Joe Comito
Daryl Gurney (22) 3-2 Beau Greaves
Callan Rydz 3-0 Patrik Kovacs
What was the prize money?
A record-breaking £5m prize pool was on offer at the tournament, with £1m going to champion Littler.
Any player hitting a nine-darter would have been awarded an additional £60,000, but nobody managed to complete a perfect leg during the 2026 tournament.
Winner: £1,000,000
Runner-up: £400,000
Semi-final losers: £200,000
Quarter-final losers: £100,000
Fourth-round losers: £60,000
Third-round losers: £35,000
Second-round losers: £25,000
First-round losers: £15,000
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Which women were in the draw?
Beau Greaves was beaten by World Cup winner Daryl Gurney in her first-round match
Beau Greaves topped this year's Women's Series and carried the highest hopes of becoming only the second female player to win a match in the tournament, after Fallon Sherrock won twice at the event in December 2019.
She took 22nd seed Daryl Gurney to a deciding set but just fell short of a place in the second round.
Three qualification places were on offer from the Women's Series, along with a spot for the Women's Matchplay winner, a title taken by Lisa Ashton.
Ashton lost 3-0 to 2023 world champion Michael Smith in the first round on 11 December.
With Greaves qualifying in her own right as runner-up on the development tour, that meant Women's Series runner-up Sherrock, Noa-Lynn van Leuven in fourth and Gemma Hayter, who finished fifth, joined third-placed Ashton.
Van Leuven, who became the first transgender player to appear at the tournament last year, was beaten by two-time champion Peter Wright this time.
Sherrock lost in straight sets in the first round to Dave Chisnall, while Hayter took a set off Northern Ireland's World Cup winner Josh Rock in a 3-1 defeat.
What was the format?
The format was set play, unlike most other tournaments which are a race to a number of legs.
A set consisted of the best of five legs or race to three.
Only in matches where players are level on sets and legs in the deciding set did players need to win by two clear legs.
First and second round: Best of five sets
Third and fourth round: Best of seven sets
Quarter-finals: Best of nine sets
Semi-finals: Best of 11 sets
Final: Best of 13 sets
Who were the previous champions?
Phil Taylor retired from PDC events in 2018
Phil Taylor is the most successful player in the history of the PDC World Darts Championship, winning 14 of his 16 world titles between 1995 and 2013.
His previous two titles came before a group of leading players broke away from the British Darts Organisation to form their own governing body, now known as the PDC, in 1993.
Littler joined an exclusive club of players to have won multiple PDC world titles, with the English teenager becoming the seventh player to achieve that feat.
2026: LUKE LITTLER
2025: Luke Littler
2024: Luke Humphries
2023: Michael Smith
2022: Peter Wright
2021: Gerwyn Price
2020: Peter Wright
2019: Michael van Gerwen
2018: Rob Cross
2017: Michael van Gerwen
2016: Gary Anderson
2015: Gary Anderson
2014: Michael van Gerwen
2013: Phil Taylor
2012: Adrian Lewis
2011: Adrian Lewis
2010: Phil Taylor
2009: Phil Taylor
2008: John Part
2007: Raymond van Barneveld
2006: Phil Taylor
2005: Phil Taylor
2004: Phil Taylor
2003: John Part
2002: Phil Taylor
2001: Phil Taylor
2000: Phil Taylor
1999: Phil Taylor
1998: Phil Taylor
1997: Phil Taylor
1996: Phil Taylor
1995: Phil Taylor
1994: Dennis Priestley
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