2026 IDF World Matchplay

2026 IDF World Matchplay
Tournament information
Dates	18–26 July 2026
Venue	Winter Gardens
Location	Blackpool, England
Organisation(s)	International Darts Federation (IDF)
Format	Legs
«2025 2027»

The 2026 IDF World Matchplay was a professional darts tournament organised by the International Darts Federation (IDF), that took place from 18 to 26 July 2026 at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, England. It is the latest staging of the IDF World Matchplay, one of the IDF's premier leg-play events.

The tournament features 32 players. The top 16 players on the IDF Order of Merit qualified as seeded players, while a further 16 players qualified through the IDF Tour rankings.

Max Mad was the defending champion, having defeated Lukas Parker 18–14 in the 2025 final. However, he was defeated by Alex Brow in the semi-finals 17–14. Brow went on to win the event, beating Logan White 18–16 in the final. This win made Brow the first player to win the IDF Triple Crown, following his World Championship and Premier League titles.

Overview

Background

The IDF World Matchplay is a leg-format tournament staged as one of the leading summer events on the IDF calendar. Unlike set-play majors, the event is played entirely over legs, with longer match distances introduced as the tournament progresses. The format has often been associated with high scoring, pressure doubling and extended late-stage matches, as players are required to win by two clear legs unless a sudden-death limit is reached.

The 2026 edition continued the 32-player structure used for the event, with the top 16 players from the IDF Order of Merit seeded into the draw. The remaining places were awarded to players from the IDF Tour rankings who had not already qualified through the main ranking list.

Format

The top 16 players in the IDF Order of Merit were seeded and drawn against 16 unseeded qualifiers. All matches are played in leg format. Matches must be won by two clear legs, with a sudden-death leg used if a match reaches the tournament's extended-leg limit.

The number of legs required to win increases as the tournament progresses:

• First round: Best of 19 legs
• Second round: Best of 21 legs
• Quarter-finals: Best of 31 legs
• Semi-finals: Best of 33 legs
• Final: Best of 35 legs

Qualification

The top 16 players on the IDF Order of Merit qualified as seeded players. A further 16 players were selected from the IDF Tour rankings.

IDF Order of Merit seeds

1. Logan White
2. Alex Brow
3. Max Mad (semi-finals)
4. Elias Storm (semi-finals)
5. Lukas Parker (second round)
6. Mason Owens (second round)
7. Zion Carter (quarter-finals)
8. Theo Bartlett (quarter-finals)
9. Kai Mitchell (first round)
10. Harrison Lewis (first round)
11. Rhys Donovan (quarter-finals)
12. Blake Carter (first round)
13. Zachary Moorcroft (second round)
14. Ryan Thomas (second round)
15. Callum Pike (second round)
16. Nate Parker (second round)

IDF Tour qualifiers

1. Owen Quinn (first round)
2. Tyler Keane (first round)
3. Josh Kincaid (first round)
4. Dylan Rowe (second round)
5. Jack Morrow (first round)
6. Dylan Frost (first round)
7. Quinn Sanders (first round)
8. Joel Merrick (quarter-finals)
9. Callan Briggs (first round)
10. Toby Haines (first round)
11. Mason Drury (first round)
12. Brandon Shaw (second round)
13. Lewis Carter (first round)
14. Alfie Kent (first round)
15. Harvey Cole (first round)
16. Brandon Wells (first round)

Summary

The 2026 IDF World Matchplay took place from 18–26 July at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, England, featuring the top 16 players on the IDF Order of Merit alongside 16 qualifiers from the IDF Tour rankings. The tournament was widely regarded as one of the strongest editions in the event's history, with several high-quality matches, record-breaking averages and a final between the world's top two ranked players.

The first round saw few major upsets as the majority of the seeded players progressed. World number one Logan White opened his campaign with a comfortable 10–5 victory over Owen Quinn, while second seed Alex Brow defeated Callan Briggs 10–4. Fourth seed Elias Storm produced one of the standout performances of the opening round, averaging over 103 in a 10–4 win against Jack Morrow. The biggest upset came when qualifier Joel Merrick defeated 12th seed Blake Carter 10–8, while qualifier Dylan Rowe edged past ninth seed Kai Mitchell 11–9 in a deciding-leg encounter.

The second round narrowed the field to eight players. White continued his impressive form by defeating Nate Parker 11–6, while Theo Bartlett overcame Dylan Rowe 11–8. Storm defeated Zachary Moorcroft 11–7, and Joel Merrick continued his surprise run with an 11–9 victory over fifth seed Lukas Parker. In the bottom half of the draw, Brow delivered the most dominant performance of the tournament, whitewashing Callum Pike 11–0 while averaging 105.98. Zion Carter defeated qualifier Brandon Shaw 11–5, Max Mad edged past Ryan Thomas 11–9, and Rhys Donovan survived a deciding-leg thriller against Mason Owens to win 12–10.

The quarter-finals featured four highly competitive contests. White defeated Bartlett 16–13 in a match that featured heavy scoring throughout, while Storm produced the highest average of the tournament at that point, averaging 105.36 in a 16–9 victory over Merrick. Brow maintained his exceptional form by defeating Zion Carter 16–10, averaging 106.81, and Max Mad overcame Rhys Donovan 16–14 in the closest quarter-final of the event.

The semi-finals delivered two matches worthy of a major final. White and Storm met in a clash between two of the tournament favourites, with Storm leading for large portions of the contest before White recovered to win 17–15 and secure his place in the final. The second semi-final saw Brow face Max Mad in a battle between the second and third seeds. Brow established a commanding early lead before Mad fought back to level the match at 14–14. Brow responded by winning the final three legs to secure a 17–14 victory, averaging 107.62 and advancing to his first World Matchplay final.

The final brought together the world's top two ranked players, Logan White and Alex Brow, in the first World Matchplay final between the top two seeds in tournament history. White started strongly and opened up an early advantage before Brow gradually fought his way back into the match. The pair traded leads throughout a high-quality contest which featured numerous 180s and several ton-plus checkouts. At 15–15, White produced a spectacular 170 checkout to move within one leg of the title. Brow immediately responded with a 12-dart hold of throw before breaking White in the following leg with a 121 finish. Brow then completed the comeback with a 13-dart leg to secure an 18–16 victory and claim his first IDF World Matchplay title.

Brow finished the tournament with the highest average of the event and set a new record for the highest average in an IDF World Matchplay final, averaging 108.27 in the championship match. White finished as runner-up after reaching his second consecutive major final of the season. Semi-finalists Max Mad and Elias Storm rounded out the final four, while Joel Merrick's run to the quarter-finals represented the best performance by a qualifier in the tournament.

The title moved Alex Brow into a commanding position on the IDF Order of Merit and was widely regarded as one of the defining victories of his career. Many observers considered the 2026 edition to be among the strongest and most competitive IDF World Matchplay tournaments ever staged, due to the overall standard of play, the strength of the field, and the quality of the latter stages.

Draw

	First round (best of 19 legs) 18–20 July					Second round (best of 21 legs) 21–22 July					Quarter-finals (best of 31 legs) 23–24 July					Semi-finals (best of 33 legs) 25 July					Final (best of 35 legs) 26 July
	1	Logan White 101.44	10
		Owen Quinn 91.62	5
						1	Logan White 103.12	11
						16	Nate Parker 97.40	6
	16	Nate Parker 96.80	10
		Tyler Keane 93.18	8
											1	Logan White 102.84	16
											8	Theo Bartlett 101.27	13
	8	Theo Bartlett 99.27	10
		Josh Kincaid 94.33	6
						8	Theo Bartlett 100.25	11
							Dylan Rowe 96.88	8
	9	Kai Mitchell 95.92	9
		Dylan Rowe 97.10	11
																1	Logan White 103.91	17
																4	Elias Storm 104.44	15
	4	Elias Storm 103.65	10
		Jack Morrow 95.44	4
						4	Elias Storm 104.67	11
						13	Zachary Moorcroft 99.31	7
	13	Zachary Moorcroft 98.36	10
		Dylan Frost 96.29	7
											4	Elias Storm 105.36	16
												Joel Merrick 99.54	9
	5	Lukas Parker 100.18	10
		Quinn Sanders 92.91	3
						5	Lukas Parker 98.96	9
							Joel Merrick 101.42	11
	12	Blake Carter 94.86	8
		Joel Merrick 97.52	10
																					1	Logan White 104.12	16
																					2	Alex Brow 108.27	18
	2	Alex Brow 97.98	10
		Callan Briggs 86.42	4
						2	Alex Brow 105.98	11
						15	Callum Pike 83.30	0
	15	Callum Pike 95.61	10
		Toby Haines 90.47	6
											2	Alex Brow 106.81	16
											7	Zion Carter 102.41	10
	7	Zion Carter 98.73	10
		Mason Drury 96.02	7
						7	Zion Carter 99.76	11
							Brandon Shaw 95.28	5
	10	Harrison Lewis 93.65	8
		Brandon Shaw 96.84	10
																2	Alex Brow 107.62	17
																3	Max Mad 105.13	14
	3	Max Mad 102.28	10
		Lewis Carter 94.15	5
						3	Max Mad 102.92	11
						14	Ryan Thomas 98.74	9
	14	Ryan Thomas 97.88	10
		Alfie Kent 93.74	7
											3	Max Mad 103.78	16
											11	Rhys Donovan 101.62	14
	6	Mason Owens 99.41	10
		Harvey Cole 91.82	4
						6	Mason Owens 97.68	10
						11	Rhys Donovan 99.83	12
	11	Rhys Donovan 96.55	10
		Brandon Wells 92.19	6