2026 IDF European Championship
| 2026 IDF European Championship | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Tournament information | |||
| Dates | 22–25 October 2026 | ||
| Venue | Westfalenhallen | ||
| Location | Dortmund, Germany | ||
| Organisation(s) | IDF | ||
| Format | Legs | ||
| Prize fund | £600,000 | ||
| Winner's share | £120,000 | ||
| |||
The 2026 IDF European Championship is an upcoming professional darts tournament organised by the International Darts Federation (IDF). It is scheduled to take place from 22 to 25 October 2026 at the Westfalenhallen in Dortmund, Germany.
The tournament will feature 32 players and will conclude the 2026 IDF European Tour season. Qualification is based on the 2026 IDF European Tour Order of Merit, with the top 32 players following the final qualifying event earning places in the tournament.
Alex Brow is the defending champion, having won the 2025 IDF European Championship.
The IDF announced a revised format for the 2026 tournament, increasing the length of matches from the second round onwards and extending the final to a best-of-31-legs contest.
Format
The tournament will be played as a 32-player single-elimination event.
All matches will be contested in straight legs, with players required to finish each leg on a double.
The match lengths will be:
- First round: best of 11 legs
- Second round: best of 21 legs
- Quarter-finals: best of 21 legs
- Semi-finals: best of 25 legs
- Final: best of 31 legs
The first round will therefore be first to six legs, the second round and quarter-finals first to 11, the semi-finals first to 13, and the final first to 16.
The 2026 edition will be the first European Championship to use the best-of-31-legs format for the final.
Prize money
The total prize fund for the tournament will be £600,000, with £120,000 awarded to the champion.
| Stage | Prize money | Players | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | £120,000 | 1 | £120,000 |
| Runner-up | £60,000 | 1 | £60,000 |
| Semi-finalists | £40,000 | 2 | £80,000 |
| Quarter-finalists | £25,000 | 4 | £100,000 |
| Second round | £12,500 | 8 | £100,000 |
| First round | £8,750 | 16 | £140,000 |
| Total | £600,000 | ||
Prize money earned at the tournament will count towards the IDF Order of Merit.
Qualification
Qualification is determined by the 2026 IDF European Tour Order of Merit.
The top 32 players on the European Tour Order of Merit following the final qualifying event will qualify for the tournament. Players will be seeded according to their final positions on the European Tour Order of Merit.
The first batch of qualifiers was confirmed before the conclusion of the European Tour season after a number of players had accumulated enough prize money to guarantee places in the top 32.
Confirmed qualifiers
The following players have mathematically secured qualification:
- Alex Brow
- Logan White
- Max Mad
- Parker Reeves
- Elias Storm
- Quinn Sanders
- Jack Mercer
- Wyatt Walker
- Duncan MacLeod
- Rhys Morgan
- Hunter Jackson
- Bram De Waal
- Niklas Hofer
- Benjamin Carter
- Ethan Mitchell
- Oliver Bartlett
The remaining 16 places will be confirmed following the conclusion of the final qualifying events.
Qualification race
Players outside the confirmed top 16 remain in contention for the remaining places through the European Tour Order of Merit.
Among those still in contention are:
- Harry Lewis
- Callum Pike
- Blake Carter
- Noah Parker
- Sean Donovan
- Nathan Owens
- Jeroen van Dijk
- Lukas Weber
- Matteo Vermeulen
- Connor Hayes
- Mason Kelly
- Cole Hamilton
- Jamie Fletcher
- Daniel McKenna
Draw
The 32-player bracket will be determined by the final European Tour Order of Merit standings.
Players will be seeded from 1 to 32 and placed into a fixed bracket according to their ranking positions.
The first-round structure will be:
- 1st v 32nd
- 16th v 17th
- 8th v 25th
- 9th v 24th
- 4th v 29th
- 13th v 20th
- 5th v 28th
- 12th v 21st
- 2nd v 31st
- 15th v 18th
- 7th v 26th
- 10th v 23rd
- 3rd v 30th
- 14th v 19th
- 6th v 27th
- 11th v 22nd
The complete bracket will be confirmed once all 32 qualifiers and their final seeding positions are known.
Schedule
The tournament will be played across eight sessions over four days.
| Date | Session | Round | Matches |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22 October | Afternoon | First round | 4 |
| Evening | First round | 4 | |
| 23 October | Afternoon | First round | 4 |
| Evening | First round | 4 | |
| 24 October | Afternoon | Second round | 4 |
| Evening | Second round | 4 | |
| 25 October | Afternoon | Quarter-finals | 4 |
| Evening | Semi-finals and final | 3 |
Background
The European Championship is the season-ending championship for the IDF European Tour.
Unlike most IDF ranking tournaments, qualification is based exclusively on the European Tour Order of Merit rather than the main IDF Order of Merit.
Brow enters the event as defending champion after winning the 2025 tournament.
Elias Storm is also expected to return to competitive play at the European Championship after sustaining a wrist injury during the break following his victory at the 2026 IDF World Grand Prix. The tournament will mark his first competitive appearance since the injury.