World Cup of Darts 2023: format, favourites, list of pairs

Jose De Sousa's Portugal have already been eliminated as the competition's second day gets underway on Friday (16 June)

The World Cup of Darts returns this week when nations from every corner of the globe descend into Germany in a quest to win one of the sport's highest honours and their share of a £450,000 prize fund - but this year, things are very different.

All of the world's biggest and best darters - like world number one Michael Smith, Gerwyn Price, Michael van Gerwen and more - will fight it out on the oche in a fresh new format.

Here is everything you need to know about the World Cup of Darts 2023; including format, schedule and favourites to win in Frankfurt.

When and where is the World Cup of Darts 2023?

The competition will take place in Eissporthalle Frankfurt in Frankfurt, Germany and will get underway from Thursday, 15 June to Sunday, 18 June.

What is the new format of the World Cup of Darts 2023?

Unlike past iterations of the competition, which involved singles and doubles matches, the World Cup of Darts will involve pairs only right the way through in a major change that also sees the number of participating countries expand from 32 to 40 teams. Iceland, Ukraine, Guyana and Bahrain will be making their debuts.

The top four ranked nations - which is based on the lowest cumulative PDC Order of Merit ranking of the two competing darts players - will be seeded and enter at the Second Round stage. While the remaining 36 will be split into 12 groups of three teams for a round robin and each group winner will progress to the next round.

• Group Stage – Best of seven legs
• Second Round – Best of 15 legs
• Quarter-Finals – Best of 15 legs
• Semi-Finals – Best of 15 legs
• Final – Best of 19 legs

World Cup of Darts 2023 schedule

Thursday 15 June, Group Stage (6pm to 11pm)

• Belgium v Finland
• Germany v Hong Kong
• Australia v Guyana
• Northern Ireland v France
• Republic of Ireland v Thailand
• Austria v Denmark
• Poland v Portugal
• Canada v India
• Czech Republic v Singapore
• Spain v South Africa
• Latvia v New Zealand
• Switzerland v Italy

Friday 16 June, Group Stage

• Afternoon Session (11am to 4pm) - loser of the first match plays team three
• Evening Session (6pm to 10pm) - winner of the first match to play team three

Saturday 17 June, Second Round

• Afternoon Session (12pm to 4pm) - four second round matches to take place
• Evening Session (6pm to 10pm) - four second round matches to take place

Sunday 18 June, Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals and Final

• Afternoon Session (12pm to 4pm) - Quarter-Final games to take place
• Evening Session (6pm to 10pm) - Semi-Finals and Final games to take place

Who are the favourites to win the World Cup of Darts 2023?

• Wales - 13/8
• England - 3/1
• Netherlands - 4/1
• Scotland - 15/2
• Australia - 20/1
• Belgium - 25/1
• Germany - 25/1
• Northern Ireland - 40/1
• Republic of Ireland - 50/1
• Canada - 66/1

*Note that these odds have been supplied by Paddy Power and are correct at the time of publication. For more information visit the Paddy Power website and be gamble aware

How to watch the World Cup of Darts 2023 - TV channel and live stream

Sky Sports are set to show the tournament in full for fans in the UK and will mostly be broadcast on Sky Sports Arena. You will be able to watch it on the go and stream on your mobile device or laptop via Sky Go.

If for whatever reason you are not a Sky member or have its sports membership, visit the Sky website

You will also be able to watch it on your devices through a sports subscription on NOW TV which you can sign up for via the official NOW TV website. International viewers can tune into the World Cup through the likes of DAZN and Viaplay.

• Australia – Damon Heta, Simon Whitlock
• Austria – Mensur Suljovic, Rowby-John Rodriguez
• Bahrain – Basem Mahmood, Abdulnasser Yusuf
• Belgium – Dimitri Van den Bergh, Kim Huybrechts
• Canada – Matt Campbell, Jeff Smith
• China – Xiaochen Zong, Lihao Wen
• Croatia – Boris Krcmar, Romeo Grbavac
• Czech Republic – Adam Gawlas, Karel Sedlacek
• Denmark – Vladimir Andersen, Benjamin Reus
• England – Michael Smith, Rob Cross
• Finland – Marko Kantele, Paavo Myller
• France – Thibault Tricole, Jacques Labre
• Germany – Gabriel Clemens, Martin Schindler
• Gibraltar – Craig Galliano, Justin Hewitt
• Guyana – Norman Madhoo, Sudesh Fitzgerald
• Hong Kong – Man Lok Leung, Lok Yin Lee
• Hungary – Patrik Kovács, Levente Sárai
• Iceland – Hallgrimur Egilsson, Vitor Charrua
• India – Prakash Jiwa, Amit Gilitwala
• Italy – Michele Turetta, Massimo Dante
• Japan – Jun Matsuda, Tomoya Goto
• Latvia – Madars Razma, Dmitriy Zhukov
• Lithuania – Darius Labanauskas, Mindaugas Barauskas
• Netherlands – Danny Noppert, Dirk van Duijvenbode
• New Zealand – Ben Robb, Warren Parry
• Northern Ireland – Brendan Dolan, Daryl Gurney
• Philippines – Christian Perez, Lourence Ilagan
• Poland – Krzysztof Ratajski, Krzysztof Kciuk
• Portugal – Jose de Sousa, Luis Ameixa
• Republic of Ireland – William O’Connor, Keane Barry
• Scotland – Peter Wright, Gary Anderson
• Singapore – Paul Lim, Harith Lim
• South Africa – Devon Petersen, Vernon Bouwers
• Spain – Jose Justicia, Tony Martinez
• Sweden – Dennis Nilsson, Oskar Lukasiak
• Switzerland – Stefan Bellmont, Marcel Walpen
• Thailand – Attapol Eupakaree, Yong Gaweenuntavong
• Ukraine – Vladyslav Omelchenko, Illia Pekaruk
• USA – Jules van Dongen, Leonard Gates
• Wales – Gerwyn Price, Jonny Clayton