The schedule of play for round one of the 2026 Betfred World Matchplay has been confirmed, including details of contingency plans should England reach the FIFA World Cup final. This year’s prestigious event will take place from July 18-26 at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, as 32 top stars compete to win The Phil Taylor […]
The schedule of play for round one of the 2026 Betfred World Matchplay has been confirmed, including details of contingency plans should England reach the FIFA World Cup final.
This year’s prestigious event will take place from July 18-26 at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, as 32 top stars compete to win The Phil Taylor Trophy and the £225,000 top prize.
The summer showpiece begins on Saturday July 18, with round one split across four sessions from Saturday to Monday.
Should England reach the FIFA World Cup final, which is being held on Sunday night, the first three sessions of the World Matchplay will be moved forward – including the scheduled games and all tickets.
That would mean that Saturday’s opening session will be held from 1300 BST on July 18, with the previously planned Sunday afternoon session moving to Saturday night from 1900 BST.
The planned Sunday evening session would then take place on Sunday afternoon from 1300 BST.
All tickets booked for the original sessions would then be moved to the new time, ensuring that fans are still able to watch the matches scheduled for their visit to Blackpool.
Full details will be confirmed to ticket holders on Thursday July 16, following England’s semi-final game on Wednesday. Should a fan not be able to attend their planned session, they will be able to obtain a refund from SeeTickets or resell their tickets via the SeeTickets Fan-To-Fan platform.
Any change of sessions would also apply to tickets purchased through Sportsbreaks.com and Hospitality Packages purchased via Sport & Music.
The tournament’s opening session will include Luke Littler beginning his title defence against German ace Niko Springer.
Premier League stars Josh Rock and Stephen Bunting meet Luke Woodhouse and Niels Zonneveld respectively, while 2023 World Matchplay champion Nathan Aspinall closes the action against Joe Cullen.
The second session of round one action features the players in the second quarter of the draw, led by three-time World Matchplay winner Michael van Gerwen’s meeting with Andrew Gilding.
2018 champion Gary Anderson takes on Ryan Joyce, fifth seed Jonny Clayton faces Damon Heta and Chris Dobey opens up against Dirk van Duijvenbode.
World number three Gian van Veen takes on Krzysztof Ratajski in the third session of round one games, while 2007 champion James Wade – last year’s runner-up in his seventh appearance in the final – clashes with Jermaine Wattimena.
Wessel Nijman – the year’s form star on the PDC ProTour with eight titles so far – plays Dave Chisnall, while World Championship semi-finalist Ryan Searle faces Blackpool debutant William O’Connor.
Monday night sees round one conclude with the remaining four games, as 2024 champion Luke Humphries headlines against Cameron Menzies.
Gerwyn Price takes on Martin Schindler, Danny Noppert plays former World Matchplay winner Rob Cross, and Ross Smith goes up against debutant Kevin Doets.
The round two action will be split across Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, with the quarter-finals on Thursday and Friday.
Saturday July 25 sees the semi-finals take place before the final is held on Sunday July 26, after the Betfred Women’s World Matchplay takes place during the afternoon session.
Event tickets will issued to fans through the PDC Tickets App from Thursday July 16 onwards. Fans with queries relating to their ticket booking can contact SeeTickets via pdc.seetickets.com/customerservice.
2026 Betfred World Matchplay
Session Schedule – Subject To Change
Session One
Saturday July 18 (1900 BST) or Saturday July 18 (1300 BST)
Round One x4
Josh Rock v Luke Woodhouse
Stephen Bunting v Niels Zonneveld
Luke Littler v Niko Springer
Nathan Aspinall v Joe Cullen
Session Two
Sunday July 19 (1300 BST) or Saturday July 18 (1900 BST)
Round One x4
Chris Dobey v Dirk van Duijvenbode
Gary Anderson v Ryan Joyce
Michael van Gerwen v Andrew Gilding
Jonny Clayton v Damon Heta
Session Three
Sunday July 19 (1900 BST) or Sunday July 19 (1300 BST)
Round One x4
Ryan Searle v William O’Connor
James Wade v Jermaine Wattimena
Gian van Veen v Krzysztof Ratajski
Wessel Nijman v Dave Chisnall
Monday July 20 (1900 BST)
Round One x4
Ross Smith v Kevin Doets
Gerwyn Price v Martin Schindler
Luke Humphries v Cameron Menzies
Danny Noppert v Rob Cross
Tuesday July 21 (1900 BST)
Round Two x4 – match order TBC
Littler/Springer v Aspinall/Cullen
Rock/Woodhouse v Bunting/Zonneveld
Van Gerwen/Gilding v Dobey/Van Duijvenbode
Clayton/Heta v Anderson/Joyce
Wednesday July 22 (1900 BST)
Round Two x4 – match order TBC
Humphries/Menzies v Smith/Doets
Price/Schindler v Noppert/Cross
Van Veen/Ratajski v Nijman/Chisnall
Wade/Wattimena v Searle/O’Connor
Thursday July 23 (2000 BST *)
Quarter-Finals x2
Friday July 24 (2000 BST *)
Quarter-Finals x2
Saturday July 25 (2000 BST *)
Semi-Finals
Sunday July 26
Afternoon Session (1300-1700)
Betfred Women’s World Matchplay
Evening Session (2000 BST*)
Betfred World Matchplay Final
* For July 23-26 evening sessions, Sky Sports on air from 1930 BST, with play commencing approximately 2005 BST.