2026 IDF World Darts Championship
| 2026 IDF World Darts Championship | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Tournament information | |||
| Dates | December 10, 2025 – January 7, 2026 | ||
| Venue | Winter Gardens | ||
| Location | Blackpool, England | ||
| Organisation(s) | International Darts Federation (IDF) | ||
| Format | Sets | ||
| Prize fund | $5,000,000 | ||
| Winner's share | $1,000,000 | ||
| |||
The 2026 IDF World Darts Championship is an upcoming professional darts tournament that will be held from 10 December 2025 to 7 January 2026 at Alexandra Palace in London, England. It will be the 4th World Darts Championship to be organised by the International Darts Federation and the 4th to be held at Alexandra Palace. The winner will receive $1,000,000 from a total prize fund of $5,000,000.
The tournament will feature a 128 player field, with the top 32 players on the IDF Order of Merit being seeded in the first round. Alex Brow is the defending champion, having defeated Logan White 7–4 in the 2025 final to win his first world title.
Overview
The International Darts Federation (IDF) was founded in 2022 to provide greater opportunities for players outside the established Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) system, particularly in Australia, where many competitors identified as casual or semi-professional sought access to major events with comparable prize funds. The federation staged its inaugural IDF World Darts Championship in 2023, with Alexandra Palace in London serving as the host venue since the beginning.
The upcoming 2026 IDF World Darts Championship will be the fourth edition of the tournament and the fourth consecutive to be held at Alexandra Palace, running from 10 December 2025 to 7 January 2026. A record field of 128 players, including 32 seeds, will compete following the IDF’s March 2025 decision to expand the draw from 96 to 128 entrants. Alex Brow will return as defending champion after defeating Logan White 7–4 in the 2025 final to claim his first world title.
Format
Under the new format, all players – including the 32 seeds – will enter the tournament in the first round, a change from previous years where seeds entered in the second round. The 32 seeds will be the top 32 players on the IDF Order of Merit heading into the tournament. The seeded players, plus players ranked 33–64 drawn at random, will be placed on the left hand side of the draw, and will be matched up against the remaining 64 qualifiers drawn at random.
All matches will consist of games of 501, where players are required to reduce their score from 501 to zero in order to win a leg, finishing on a double or the bullseye. The matches are played in set format, with the amount of sets required to win a match increasing as the tournament progresses. All sets will be played to the best of five legs in the first round, and also in non-deciding sets of subsequent rounds. In the deciding set of all but the first round, the first player to win at least three legs and be leading by two or more will win the set and the match. If the set reaches a 5–5 tie without a winner, it will be decided by a sudden death leg.
| Round | Best of (sets) | First to (sets) |
|---|---|---|
| First & second | 5 | 3 |
| Third & fourth | 7 | 4 |
| Quarter-finals | 9 | 5 |
| Semi-finals | 11 | 6 |
| Final | 13 | 7 |
Ranking
The IDF's main world ranking system, the IDF Order of Merit, is calculated on a two-year cycle. Prize money won by players in ranking tournaments are removed from their ranking after 104 weeks, meaning players who participated in the 2024 World Championship, who did not lose their IDF Tour Card during the two-year period, will be 'defending' their prize money from that event. At the end of the tournament, the prize money won at the 2026 tournament will be added and the prize money won at the 2024 tournament will be removed. After the tournament, the top 64 players in the IDF Order of Merit will receive a one-year extension on their Tour Card, joined by the players who earned two-year Tour Cards in 2025 who will enter their second year in 2026. Players with two or more years on their Tour Card, who finish outside of the top 64, will lose their Tour Card and see their ranking reset to $0, along with all other players who earned prize money in ranking tournaments without holding a Tour Card.
Prize money
On 31 March 2025, the IDF announced the biggest prize money increase in the organisation's history, starting from the 2026 season onward. Coinciding with the expansion of the field to 128 players, the World Championship's total prize money and winner's share doubled from $2,500,000 to $5,000,000 and from $500,000 to $1,000,000 respectively; this was the first time the tournament's prize money increased. The winner will also receive the IDF World Trophy. The prize money breakdown is shown below:
| Position (no. of players) | Prize money
(Total: $5,000,000) | |
|---|---|---|
| Winner | (1) | $1,000,000 |
| Runner-up | (1) | $400,000 |
| Semi-finalists | (2) | $200,000 |
| Quarter-finalists | (4) | $100,000 |
| Fourth round losers | (8) | $60,000 |
| Third round losers | (16) | $35,000 |
| Second round losers | (32) | $25,000 |
| First round losers | (64) | $15,000 |
Qualification
The 128-player field will comprise three sets of qualification routes. The top 40 players on the two-year IDF Order of Merit after the 2025 Players Championship Finals will qualify automatically, followed by the next 40 highest-ranked players on the one-year IDF Pro Tour Order of Merit. The remaining 48 places will go to various international qualifiers.
List of confirmed international qualifiers
Seeded (1–32):
- Max Mad
- Alex Brow
- Lukas Parker
- Blake Carter
- Mason Owens
- Ryan Thomas
- Logan White
- Aiden Brooks
- Nate Parker
- Zion Carte
- Kai Mitchell
- Owen Quinn
- Quinn Sanders
- Victor Vaughn
- Wyatt Walker
- Damon Edwards
- Xander Young
- Spencer Taylor
- Alec Baker
- Zane Adams
- Brody Clarke
- Caleb Daniels
- Eli Fletcher
- Nathan Reeves
- Felix Grant
- Toby Underwood
- Parker Reeves
- Wesley Adams
- Grant Hayes
- Hayden Ingram
- Isaac Johnson
- Jordan Knight
Qualified (33–48):
- Kevin Lee
- Hunter James
- Logan Morgan
- Miles Nash
- Harrison Lewis
- Noah O'Brien
- Patrick Richards
- Uriah Walker
- Xavier Baker
- Andy Dawson
- Tanner Vaughn
- Vince Young
International Qualifiers (49–96):
- Liam Cooper
- Ethan Wright
- Carter Mills
- Dylan Hayes
- Ashton Cole
- Brady Simmons
- Declan Ross
- Tyler McCoy
- Landon Ward
- Marcus Reed
- Jayden Cross
- Chase Wallace
- Colton Rivers
- Tristan Cole
- Jaxon Reed
- Cameron Doyle
- Corey Allen
- Dominic Flynn
- Reed Hamilton
- Oliver Scott
- Bryan Matthews
- Trevor Kane
- Shane Douglas
- Cole Bennett
- Damian Frost
- Eric Lawson
- Jett Pearson
- Connor Black
- Alex Harris
- Nolan Price
- Elias Carter
- Brandon Fox
- Carter Ellis
- Luke Hamilton
- Riley Morgan
- Hunter Clark
- Ashton Rivera
- Colby Anderson
- Sean McBride
- Tyler Freeman
- Zach Marshall
- Gabriel Torres
- Adrian Silva
- Jorge Mendoza
- Marco Castillo
- Javier Rojas
- Hugo Romero
- Leonardo Vargas
- Tomas Alvarez
- Carlos Mendes
- Paulo Ferreira
- André Santos
Regional Qualifiers (97–128):
- Daniel Chen
- Hiroshi Takeda
- Kenji Sato
- Yuji Tanaka
- Haruto Mori
- Min-Jae Park
- Ji-Hoon Kim
- Dae-Hyun Lee
- Wei Zhang
- Hao Li
- Junjie Wang
- Chen Liu
- Arjun Mehta
- Rohan Patel
- Sameer Sharma
- Amir Khan
- Ahmed Hassan
- Youssef Ibrahim
- Omar Khaled
- Tariq Mahmoud
- Jack O’Connor
- Sean Doyle
- Patrick O’Neill
- Cian Murphy
- Callum Fraser
- Angus McLeod
- Rory Campbell
- Alistair Gordon
- Dylan Hughes
- Rhys Morgan
- Gareth Evans
- Ieuan Davies
Schedule
The event will consist of 36 sessions held across 20 days from 10 December 2025 until the date of the final on Saturday, 7 January 2026.
| December 10, 2025 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match no. | Round | Player 1 | Score | Player 2 | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 |
| 01 | 1 | ||||||||
| 02 | |||||||||
| 03 | |||||||||
| 04 | |||||||||
| December 11, 2025 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match no. | Round | Player 1 | Score | Player 2 | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 |
| 05 | 1 | ||||||||
| 06 | |||||||||
| 07 | |||||||||
| 08 | |||||||||
| 09 | |||||||||
| 10 | |||||||||
| 11 | |||||||||
| 12 | |||||||||
| December 13, 2025 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match no. | Round | Player 1 | Score | Player 2 | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 |
| 13 | 1 | ||||||||
| 14 | |||||||||
| 15 | |||||||||
| 16 | |||||||||
| 17 | |||||||||
| 18 | |||||||||
| 19 | |||||||||
| 20 | |||||||||
| December 15, 2025 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match no. | Round | Player 1 | Score | Player 2 | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 |
| 21 | 1 | ||||||||
| 22 | |||||||||
| 23 | |||||||||
| 24 | |||||||||
| 25 | |||||||||
| 26 | |||||||||
| 27 | |||||||||
| 28 | |||||||||
| December 17, 2025 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match no. | Round | Player 1 | Score | Player 2 | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 |
| 29 | 1 | ||||||||
| 30 | |||||||||
| 31 | |||||||||
| 32 | |||||||||
| 33 | |||||||||
| 34 | |||||||||
| 35 | |||||||||
| 36 | |||||||||
| December 19, 2025 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match no. | Round | Player 1 | Score | Player 2 | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 |
| 37 | 1 | ||||||||
| 38 | |||||||||
| 39 | |||||||||
| 40 | |||||||||
| 41 | |||||||||
| 42 | |||||||||
| 43 | |||||||||
| 44 | |||||||||
| December 22, 2025 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match no. | Round | Player 1 | Score | Player 2 | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 |
| 45 | 1 | ||||||||
| 46 | |||||||||
| 47 | |||||||||
| 48 | |||||||||
| 49 | |||||||||
| 50 | |||||||||
| 51 | |||||||||
| 52 | |||||||||
| December 23, 2025 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match no. | Round | Player 1 | Score | Player 2 | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 |
| 53 | 1 | ||||||||
| 54 | |||||||||
| 55 | |||||||||
| 56 | |||||||||
| 57 | |||||||||
| 58 | |||||||||
| 59 | |||||||||
| 60 | |||||||||
| December 24, 2025 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match no. | Round | Player 1 | Score | Player 2 | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 |
| 61 | 1 | ||||||||
| 62 | |||||||||
| 63 | |||||||||
| 64 | |||||||||
| December 26, 2025 | |||||||||
| 65 | 2 | ||||||||
| 66 | |||||||||
| 67 | |||||||||
| 68 | |||||||||
| December 27, 2025 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match no. | Round | Player 1 | Score | Player 2 | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 |
| 69 | 2 | ||||||||
| 70 | |||||||||
| 71 | |||||||||
| 72 | |||||||||
| 73 | |||||||||
| 74 | |||||||||
| 75 | |||||||||
| 76 | |||||||||
| December 28, 2025 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match no. | Round | Player 1 | Score | Player 2 | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 |
| 77 | 2 | ||||||||
| 78 | |||||||||
| 79 | |||||||||
| 80 | |||||||||
| 81 | |||||||||
| 82 | |||||||||
| 83 | |||||||||
| 84 | |||||||||
| December 29, 2025 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match no. | Round | Player 1 | Score | Player 2 | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 |
| 85 | 2 | ||||||||
| 86 | |||||||||
| 87 | |||||||||
| 88 | |||||||||
| 89 | |||||||||
| 90 | |||||||||
| 91 | |||||||||
| 92 | |||||||||
| December 30, 2025 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match no. | Round | Player 1 | Score | Player 2 | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 |
| 93 | 2 | ||||||||
| 94 | |||||||||
| 95 | |||||||||
| 96 | |||||||||
| January 2, 2026 | |||||||||
| 97 | 3 | ||||||||
| 98 | |||||||||
| 99 | |||||||||
| 100 | |||||||||
| January 3, 2026 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match no. | Round | Player 1 | Score | Player 2 | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 |
| 101 | 3 | ||||||||
| 102 | |||||||||
| 103 | |||||||||
| 104 | |||||||||
| 105 | |||||||||
| 106 | |||||||||
| 107 | |||||||||
| 108 | |||||||||
| January 4, 2026 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match no. | Round | Player 1 | Score | Player 2 | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 |
| 109 | 3 | ||||||||
| 110 | |||||||||
| 111 | |||||||||
| 112 | |||||||||
| January 5, 2026 | |||||||||
| 113 | QF | ||||||||
| 114 | |||||||||
| 115 | |||||||||
| 116 | |||||||||
| January 6, 2026 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match no. | Round | Player 1 | Score | Player 2 | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 |
| 117 | SF | ||||||||
| 118 | |||||||||
| January 7, 2026 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match no. | Round | Player 1 | Score | Player 2 | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 |
| 119 | F | ||||||||
Draw
Finals
| Quarter-finals (best of 9 sets) 1 January | Semi-finals (best of 11 sets) 2 January | Final (best of 13 sets) 3 January | ||||||||||||
Top half
Section 1
| First round (best of 5 sets) 10–14 December | Second round (best of 5 sets) 10–14 December | Third round (best of 7 sets) 12–16 December | Quarter-finals (best of 9 sets) 12–16 December | ||||||||||||||||
Section 2
| First round (best of 5 sets) 10–14 December | Second round (best of 5 sets) 10–14 December | Third round (best of 7 sets) 12–16 December | Quarter-finals (best of 9 sets) 12–16 December | ||||||||||||||||
Section 3
| First round (best of 5 sets) 10–14 December | Second round (best of 5 sets) 10–14 December | Third round (best of 7 sets) 12–16 December | Quarter-finals (best of 9 sets) 12–16 December | ||||||||||||||||
Section 4
| First round (best of 5 sets) 10–14 December | Second round (best of 5 sets) 10–14 December | Third round (best of 7 sets) 12–16 December | Quarter-finals (best of 9 sets) 12–16 December | ||||||||||||||||
Bottom half
Section 5
| First round (best of 5 sets) 10–14 December | Second round (best of 5 sets) 10–14 December | Third round (best of 7 sets) 12–16 December | Quarter-finals (best of 9 sets) 12–16 December | ||||||||||||||||
Section 6
| First round (best of 5 sets) 10–14 December | Second round (best of 5 sets) 10–14 December | Third round (best of 7 sets) 12–16 December | Quarter-finals (best of 9 sets) 12–16 December | ||||||||||||||||
Section 7
| First round (best of 5 sets) 10–14 December | Second round (best of 5 sets) 10–14 December | Third round (best of 7 sets) 12–16 December | Quarter-finals (best of 9 sets) 12–16 December | ||||||||||||||||
Section 8
| First round (best of 5 sets) 10–14 December | Second round (best of 5 sets) 10–14 December | Third round (best of 7 sets) 12–16 December | Quarter-finals (best of 9 sets) 12–16 December | ||||||||||||||||