World Cup appearances (including this year): One
Best World Cup: Debut
2025 team: Jesus Salate and Victor Guillin
First round: vs Finland and New Zealand
Tournament odds: 1000/1

Argentina will become the 49th nation to compete in the PDC World Cup of Darts when they make their debut in this year's tournament. The duo of Jesus Salate and Victor Guillin, who were both born in Argentina before emigrating to Spain, enjoyed a dream first tournament playing pairs together as they won the CDLC World Cup Qualifier in Panama City in April. Their toughest challenge came in the quarter-finals where they were pushed all the way to a last-leg decider by the Bahamas, whose team featured last year's Ally Pally cult hero Rashad Sweeting. During that encounter, Salate and Guillin went seven perfect darts into a nine-dart leg, hitting two 180s and another treble 20, before missing the next dart at the treble 19. The pair averaged in the high 70s in the qualifier, with Salate himself averaging 90 in the quarter-finals and Guillin clocking in a 92 in the semi-finals. They could do some damage on their debut.

World Cup appearances (including this year): 15
Best World Cup: Winners (2022)
2025 team: Damon Heta and Simon Whitlock
First round: vs Austria and Spain
Tournament odds: 28/1

Australia's 2022 World Cup-winning team remains in place for a sixth consecutive year, although it was not a foregone conclusion that Damon Heta and Simon Whitlock (pictured below) would be lining up together in Frankfurt again this summer. Heta's place was more than assured, 'The Heat' now proudly sits inside the world's top eight on the PDC Order of Merit after his run to the European Darts Open final earlier this month, but as of January he is the only Australian with a PDC tour card. Whitlock's 15+ year run on the tour came to an end after he lost his tour card at the end of last year, and 'The Wizard' was unable to win it back at Q-School. It meant that Australia's second World Cup spot was left TBC and, whilst New Zealand's vacant spots go to the top performers on their affiliate tour, the PDC announced in April that World Cup ever present Whitlock would be keeping his place in the team for 2025. 

World Cup appearances (including this year): 15
Best World Cup: Runners-up (2021 and 2024)
2025 team: Mensur Suljovic and Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
First round:  vs Spain and Australia
Tournament odds: 33/1

From the four players who contested the final of the 2024 World Cup, it won't just be England's Michael Smith who will be absent from Frankfurt this year. Rowby-John Rodriguez, one half of the 2021 and 2024 runners-up Austria, has also lost his spot in the team after failing to regain his PDC tour card at Q-School in January. Stepping up to partner World Cup ever present Mensur Suljovic will be Rodriguez's younger brother Rusty-Jake Rodriguez. The 24-year-old had a glistening youth career winning seven PDC Development Tour titles, the JDC World Championship and for a time held the record as the youngest winner of a WDF men's title, before a certain Luke Littler broke his record in 2021. After taking essentially a 'gap year' from darts in 2024 after losing his tour card, Rusty-Jake reclaimed his tour card at Q-School this year to earn a World Cup debut as Austria's second active tour card holder.

World Cup appearances (including this year): 15
Best World Cup: Runners-up (2013)
2025 team: Mike De Decker and Dimitri Van den Bergh
First round: vs Latvia and Philippines
Tournament odds: 18/1

Drama always seems to follow Belgium in the World Cup. The team's preparations were up in the air last year after Kim Huybrechts broke two bones in his shoulder after being attacked by a group of rival football fans at the Belgian Cup final a month before the tournament was due to start, but 'The Hurricane' recovered in time to help spear-head Belgium all the way to the semi-finals. Huybrechts is set to miss out on the World Cup for the first time since the inaugural event in 2010, which is largely down to the emergence of his compatriot Mike De Decker. 'The Real Deal' has become just that after winning the World Grand Prix last October and he recently became the Belgian number one on the PDC Order of Merit. This year, uncertainty surrounds the form of the Belgian number two Dimitri Van den Bergh. The World Cup will mark a return to competitive action for the first time in two months for Van den Bergh, who announced in April he was taking a break from darts to focus on his health and well-being.

World Cup appearances (including this year): 15
Best World Cup: Quarter-Finals/Group Stage (Last 8) (2010, 2016, 2019, 2020)
2025 team: Matt Campbell and Jim Long
First round: vs Malaysia and Denmark
Tournament odds: 50/1

Canada once again head into a World Cup with two PDC tour card holders in their ranks, with 57-year-old Jim Long (pictured below) joining Matt Campbell on the tour after battling his way through the field on the last day of UK Q-School in January. 'The Gentleman' is no stranger to representing his country, having reached the quarter-finals on his PDC World Cup debut alongside Dawson Murschell back in 2019. A year later Long retired from his day job as an autoworker and has committed more time to darts, with more visits across the pond to the UK to play darts part of his retirement plan. His best run so far with a tour card came last month with a last 16 at Players Championship 16, whilst his World Cup partner Campbell just made his first European Tour quarter-final in Leverkusen earlier this month. Last year's North American Championship winner is now into his fourth consecutive year on the PDC tour and is on the cusp of a place inside the world's top 50.

World Cup appearances (including this year): 12
Best World Cup: Last 16 (2016)
2025 team: Xiaochen Zong and Lihao Wen
First round: vs Republic of Ireland and Gibraltar
Tournament odds: 500/1

Optimism will be high in the China camp heading into this year's World Cup, having snapped a long losing streak in the tournament 12 months ago. After being whitewashed 4-0 by the eventual finalists Austria in their opening group game, the Chinese team of Xiaochen Zong and Chengan Liu notched their country's first World Cup win for eight years with a 4-2 victory over Guyana. Zong remains the clear number one player in China after following up a PDC China Championship victory last August by successfully retaining his PDC China Premier League title in April. 'The Pandaman' was pushed all the way in the play-off final, beating Lihao Wen 11-10 in a 68-minute thriller. The run to the final for Wen earned him a return to China's World Cup team, and he will hope to help his country to build on last year's campaign and their second-place finish in the group stages.

World Cup appearances (including this year): 15
Best World Cup: Last 16 (2012, 2016, 2022, 2023)
2025 team: Benjamin Drue Reus and Andreas Hyllgaardshus
First round: vs Canada and Malaysia
Tournament odds: 150/1

It has been two years since Benjamin Drue Reus announced himself on the world stage with a 114.67 individual average on his World Cup debut for Denmark. Drue Reus' stock continued to rise as he became only the second player from Denmark to win a PDC tour card at Q-School at the start of 2024. However, 18 months into his run on the professional tour and the 26-year-old looks set to lose his tour card at the end of this season. The Danish number one banked just £18,500 in his first year on the tour in 2024, which did include a quarter-final run in Players Championship 21 last September. But so far this year Drue Reus has gone out in the first round in 11 of his 14 Players Championship appearances. He will be joined in Frankfurt by the debuting Andreas Hyllgaardhus, who secured his place in the team as the highest ranked Dane on the PDC Nordic & Baltic Tour Order of Merit.

World Cup appearances (including this year): 15
Best World Cup: Winners (2012, 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2024)
2025 team: Luke Humphries and Luke Littler
Second round: vs TBC
Tournament odds: 4/11

Can the two Lukes be stopped? England are the red-hot favourites to win a record-extending sixth World Cup title this summer, and rightly so with their team made up of the world number one and recently crowned Premier League champion Luke Humphries and the world number two and reigning PDC world champion Luke Littler. It will be a World Cup debut for 'The Nuke', who this time last year was already ranked #25 in the world, but the 12th-highest ranked English player. Michael Smith, then the world number three, partnered up with the debuting Humphries and the pair (pictured below) stormed to the title on the final day, posting averages of 98, 96 and 100 to win a record fifth World Cup crown for England. 'Bully Boy' has slipped to #20 in the world (England's no. 11) so misses out on a chance to defend the title, but in the teenage superstar Littler in his place few will back against England triumphing again this year.

World Cup appearances (including this year): Four
Best World Cup: Quarter-Finals (2023)
2025 team: Thibault Tricole and Jacques Labre
First round: vs Sweden and Lithuania
Tournament odds: 80/1

Thibault Tricole continues to fly the flag for French darts and is on the brink of moving into the top 64 on the PDC Order of Merit. 'The French Touch' was the first Frenchman to play in the PDC World Darts Championship in 2023, and in the last edition he opened and closed the show on the first night at Ally Pally with a 3-1 victory over Joe Comito before losing in straight sets to the then defending champion Luke Humphries. Tricole is now the sole French representative on the PDC main tour this year, after his World Cup partner Jacques Labre lost his tour card at the end of last season. The duo have made it through the group stages at the World Cup in their two appearances together in 2023 and 2024. Anything less than progression through to the knockouts again this year would likely be seen as a disappointment given Tricole's continued push up the world rankings in the last 12 months.

World Cup appearances (including this year): 15
Best World Cup: Semi-Finals (2020, 2023)
2025 team: Martin Schindler and Ricardo Pietreczko
First round: vs Portugal and Singapore
Tournament odds: 20/1

Frankfurt's Eissporthalle plays host to the PDC World Cup of Darts for the fourth year running and, once again, the majority of the crowd will be rooting for the host nation to lift the title. For the first time, Germany line up with not one but two former PDC senior title winners, as three-time European Tour champion Martin Schindler is joined by the debuting one-time European Tour winner Ricardo Pietreczko. Since last year's World Cup, Schindler has become the most successful German player in PDC history by winning his second and third titles, results that has seen 'The Wall' rise to number 18 in the world and on the verge of the top 16. For his new World Cup partner Pietreczko, his sole title came at the back end of 2023, but a second European Tour final appearance last September has helped 'Pikachu' overtake Gabriel Clemens as the new German no. 2 and earn a debut at the World Cup this summer.

World Cup appearances (including this year): Four
Best World Cup: Last 32 (2014, 2015)
2025 team:  Nitin Kumar and Mohan Goel
First round: vs Czech Republic and Chinese Taipei
Tournament odds: 1000/1

India make their PDC World Cup of Darts return this year after missing out on the line up in 2024. In their three previous World Cup campaigns, India are winless with a 0-4 losing record which includes three whitewash defeats. In April, Nitin Kumar was a cut above the rest of the field in the India qualifiers, winning all three events and dropping just six legs across the weekend. Kumar's overall average of 78.18 was almost 10 points ahead of his World Cup partner Mohan Goel, who makes his big-stage debut this year after reaching a pair of finals in the qualifiers. With the minimum age of 16 to play in a PDC senior competition, it will be worth keeping an eye on teenager Aryaveer Chokhani in next year's qualifiers. 'The Explosion' turns 16 in December and recently had a spell at the top of the IDC men's rankings.

World Cup appearances (including this year): 13
Best World Cup: Quarter-Finals (2024)
2025 team: Michele Turetta and Massimo Dalla Rosa
First round: vs Netherlands and Hungary
Tournament odds: 250/1

Italy were one of the stories of the 2024 World Cup as they made it all the way to the quarter-finals for the first time. Rewind 12 months earlier and the Italians had yet to register a single victory at the World Cup, losing all of their first 11 matches before beating Switzerland in their 2023 opener. Last year, PDC tour card holder Michele Turetta and newcomer Massimo Dalla Rosa continued that momentum, racking up wins against the USA and Portugal to advance to the knockout stages as one of only two unseeded nations. In their first appearance in the last 16, the Italians famously knocked out former champions Australia 8-7 in a last-leg shootout, before their best-ever run ended with an 8-7 defeat to Belgium in the quarter-finals. With Dalla Rosa winning through the qualifiers to partner Turetta again this year, can the Italian pair make more history in 2025?

World Cup appearances (including this year): Five
Best World Cup: Last 16 (2020, 2022, 2023)
2025 team: Madars Razma and Valters Melderis
First round: vs Belgium and Philippines
Tournament odds: 125/1

For the first time this year there is some consistency in Latvia's World Cup line up, as PDC tour card holder Madars Razma teams up with Valters Melderis for a second consecutive campaign. Ahead of the 2024 tournament, the 'Latvian Razmatazz', who has held a tour card since 2017, had reached the last 16 of the World Cup with three different partners in Latvia's three previous World Cup appearances. That run came to an end last year when Razma and newcomer Melderis went out in the group stages, finishing second behind France. The pair signed off with a 91 average in a 4-2 victory over Denmark in their last group game which showed the duo's potential for the future. Melderis returns for a second World Cup with some form behind him this year. He sits in fourth place on the PDC Nordic & Baltic Order of Merit, having won his first title on the PDCN&B tour earlier this year.

World Cup appearances (including this year): 15
Best World Cup: Winners (2010, 2014, 2017, 2018)
2025 team: Danny Noppert and Gian van Veen
First round: vs Italy and Hungary
Tournament odds: 18/1

It is hard to believe that the Netherlands head into this year's World Cup of Darts having not won a match in the tournament since 2022. Before England won their fifth title last year, the Netherlands held the joint record of most World Cup titles with four, but it has now been seven years since they lifted the trophy. World number three Michael van Gerwen is absent from the Dutch line up again for 2025, having also skipped the event in 2022 and 2023, and the reigning PDC world youth champion Gian van Veen takes his spot alongside Danny Noppert. Van Gerwen's absence means the Netherlands enter this World Cup with their lowest ever seeding (five) and, as a result, must start in the group stages this year. Will that be a help or a hinderence for this new Dutch line up having time to gel before the knockouts or will they come unstuck by the short format in the group stages?

World Cup appearances (including this year): 15
Best World Cup: Semi-Finals (2014, 2016)
2025 team: Josh Rock and Daryl Gurney
Second round: vs TBC
Tournament odds: 20/1

Brendan Dolan's ever present record for Northern Ireland at the World Cup comes to an end this year, as Daryl Gurney returns to the team to partner 2024 debutant Josh Rock. 'The History Maker' kept hold of his perfect attendance last year by the slimmest of margins, with just £500 separating Dolan and Gurney on the PDC Order of Merit heading into the last event before the cut off when Dolan edged further in front with a first-round victory on the European Tour. Dolan and Rock made the quarter-finals together last year, losing to the eventual champions England, having knocked out the hosts Germany 8-7 in a last-leg thriller in the previous round. Hopes will be high in the Northern Ireland camp of making the last day again this year, especially with the no. 4 seeding giving Rock and Gurney a bye straight through to the second round.

World Cup appearances (including this year): Five
Best World Cup: Last 16 (2016)
2025 team: Cor Dekker and Kent Joran Sivertsen
First round: vs Poland and South Africa
Tournament odds: 125/1

Norway returned to the World Cup after an eight year absence in 2024, finishing second in their group after following up a 4-2 defeat to Poland with a 4-3 victory over Hungary. Cor Dekker once again leads the Norwegian's charge in 2025 alongside the debuting Kent Jøran Sivertsen. Dekker heads into this year's World Cup off the back of a history-making last nine months. 'The Sheriff' produced perfection with a nine-dart leg on the European Tour last September, before following that up with a dominant week at European Q-School in January. Dekker topped the Order of Merit with 11 points to become the first player from Norway to win a tour card at Q-School. It has been somewhat of a baptism of fire so far for the Norwegian number one, losing in the first round in 12 of the 16 Players Championships this season, so the World Cup could be a welcome distraction from the rigours of life on the ProTour.

World Cup appearances (including this year): Ten
Best World Cup: Last 16 (2016, 2023)
2025 team: Lourence Ilagan and Paolo Nebrida
First round: vs Belgium and Latvia
Tournament odds: 500/1

Lourence Ilagan is back in the World Cup. Repeat. Lourence Ilagan is back in the World Cup. Fans of the charismatic Filipino, of which Wayne Mardle is one of them, will be delighted to see 'The Gunner' back on the World Cup stage this summer. Ilagan won four titles on the PDC Asian Tour last year, whilst his triumph in the PDC Asian Championship earned him a debut at the Grand Slam of Darts last November. Ilagan's partner this year, Paolo Nebrida, who makes his World Cup debut, is the one who has been making his mark on the big stage though. Nebrida (pictured below), also a four-time title winner on the Asian Tour last year, caused one of the biggest shocks in recent memory at the PDC World Championship when he whitewashed Ross Smith 3-0 in the second round. He followed that up by beating Rob Cross in the first round of the Bahrain Darts Masters this past January.

World Cup appearances (including this year): 14
Best World Cup: Last 16 (2013, 2014, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024)
2025 team: Krzysztof Ratajski and Radek Szaganski
First round: vs South Africa and Norway
Tournament odds: 50/1

Will 2025 be the year that Poland finally reach their first World Cup quarter-final? The Poles, who hold the tournament record for the highest average in a pairs match (118.10 in 2023), have lost out in the last 16 on eight occasions, including in each of the last six editions of the World Cup. Despite recently slipping out of the top 32 on the PDC Order of Merit, Krzysztof Ratajski (pictured below) remains firmly in place as Poland's no. 1 and won his 11th PDC senior title just last month at Players Championship 15. Radek Szaganski, who made his World Cup debut last year, faces strong competition from Sebastian Bialecki to keep hold of his spot for 2026. His 21-year-old compatriot is enjoying an impressive start to life on the PDC tour and has already banked £20,000 in his first four months with a tour card.

World Cup appearances (including this year): Six
Best World Cup: Last 16 (2020, 2021, 2022)
2025 team: Jose De Sousa and Bruno Nascimento
First round: vs Germany and Singapore
Tournament odds: 125/1

The decline of Portugal's top star Jose De Sousa has seen the 2020 Grand Slam of Darts champion and 2021 Premier League finalist drop from the world's top eight in the rankings down to #51. It is not just his PDC tour card that 'The Special One' is now fighting to save, but Portugal's spot in the World Cup could be on the line if they lose their sole representative on the ProTour at the end of this season. Bruno Nascimento won through the Portuguese Qualifier in Caldas da Rainha back in March to partner De Sousa for his own big stage debut, but a tough-looking draw with hosts Germany and Singapore places them as the outsiders in their group to progress to the knockout stages.

World Cup appearances (including this year): 15
Best World Cup: Runners-up (2019)
2025 team: Willie O'Connor and Keane Barry
First round: vs Gibraltar and China
Tournament odds: 33/1

Willie O'Connor continues his ever present record at the PDC World Cup of Darts with this year marking the 15th time putting on the Republic of Ireland shirt. For a third consecutive year, the experienced pro O'Connor is joined by the young and talented Keane Barry. It is a pairing which on paper should be considered a dark horse, with O'Connor a World Cup finalist in 2019 and Barry a former major semi-finalist, reaching the last four of the 2022 UK Open. However, since the World Cup underwent a format change in 2023, the Republic of Ireland have the unwanted tag of being the only seeded nation to have gone out in the group stages in both of the last two years. In 2023, Croatia beat O'Connor and Barry 4-1 in the winner-tops-the-group clash and last year it was Chinese Taipei who dumped out the Irish on debut with a 4-3 victory. Will it be third time lucky for O'Connor and Barry to make it to the knockouts?

World Cup appearances (including this year): 15
Best World Cup: Winners (2019, 2021)
2025 team: Gary Anderson and Peter Wright
Second round: vs TBC
Tournament odds: 14/1

Could 2025 be the last year we see the two-time world champions Gary Anderson and Peter Wright teaming up together at a World Cup? Anderson and Wright have been one of the most successful pairings in the 15-year history of the World Cup, winning the title in 2019 and reaching three further finals in 2015, 2018 and 2023. Anderson recently reclaimed the Scotland number one ranking on the PDC Order of Merit, with his compatriot Wright having slipped down to #16. Scotland's number three Cameron Menzies, currently ranked 36th, continues to make strides up the rankings and is expected to give Wright a serious battle for that second spot in Scotland's World Cup team. Whether this is the last time we see the Scottish double world champions together or not, they are always a threat and know what it takes to lift the trophy.

World Cup appearances (including this year): 14
Best World Cup: Quarter-Finals (2012, 2014)
2025 team: Cameron Carolissen and Devon Petersen
First round: vs Poland and Norway
Tournament odds: 250/1

South African darts trailblazer Devon Petersen is back in the World Cup this year, having missed out in 2024, and looking to continue his resurgence as a player. 'The African Warrior' looked like a genuine major title contender back in 2020 when he won a European Tour title, making history as the first player from South Africa to win a PDC senior title. A severe drop in form followed the next year and saw Petersen tumble down the rankings, eventually losing his PDC tour card at the end of 2023. While he has not rediscovered the golden formula from 2020 yet, there have been signs of recovery for Petersen. Last December, he won the inaugural ADC Global Championship, beating future PDC tour card holders Darryl Pilgrim and Adam Lipscombe in the semi-finals and final. Petersen teams up with Cameron Carolissen, who made an impression on his Ally Pally debut last December, giving Wessel Nijman a big scare in a first-round thriller.

World Cup appearances (including this year): 15
Best World Cup: Semi-Finals (2010)
2025 team: Daniel Zapata Castillo and Ricardo Fernandez Carballo
First round: vs Austria and Australia
Tournament odds: 1000/1

It will be a brand new line up for Spain at this year's World Cup of Darts and, for the first time, a pairing with zero World Championship appearances between them. Toni Alcinas and Carlos Rodriguez's giant-killing against England in the World Cup's first year in 2010 would be topped in terms of shock value were the 2025 pairing of Daniel Zapata and Ricardo Fernandez Carballo to go on a deep run on debut. With no Spanish representative currently on the PDC tour, their World Cup team was decided by a qualifier that Zapata and Fernandez won through last month. Zapata is a two-time WDF ranking event winner, having won the 2023 Gibraltar Classic and 2024 FCD Anniversary Open, while Fernandez's success has mainly come from playing in soft tip tournaments around Europe.

World Cup appearances (including this year): 15
Best World Cup: Quarter-Finals (2023 and 2024)
2025 team: Jeffrey de Graaf and Oskar Lukasiak
First round: vs Lithuania and France
Tournament odds: 80/1

Sweden head into this year's World Cup off the back of consecutive quarter-final runs in 2023 and 2024. The first of those runs from two non-PDC tour card holders Dennis Nilsson and Oskar Lukasiak was seen as a surprise result, but less eyebrows were raised when the Dutch-born Swede Jeffrey de Graaf teamed up with Lukasiak to make the final day of the World Cup 12 months ago. The Swedish duo looked well placed to break further ground as they led Scotland 5-3 in the quarter-finals, before being pipped at the post 8-7 in a last-leg decider. Lukasiak joined de Graaf on the PDC tour at the start of this year after winning a tour card at Q-School in January, with de Graaf now established in the top 64 on the PDC Order of Merit after a run to the last 16 at Ally Pally last year which included an astonishing 3-0 victory over the well-fancied Gary Anderson in the second round.

World Cup appearances (including this year): 15
Best World Cup: Group Stage(Last 8)/Quarter-Finals (2010, 2012)
2025 team: Danny Lauby and Jules van Dongen
First round: vs Hong Kong and Bahrain
Tournament odds: 66/1

PDC tour card holders Danny Lauby and Jules van Dongen are flying the flag for the United States again this year, but neither player will be brimming with confidence based on their ProTour form. Lauby has lost in the first round in 12 of the 16 Players Championship events so far this season, while van Dongen has not been seen on the tour since the UK Open in late February. 'The Dutch Dragon' elected to take a break from the game and has started practicing with his opposite hand (left hand), but it remains to be seen if he will throw right handed or left handed on his return to the stage. The pair's first World Cup outing together last year saw them lose both group games to Portugal and Italy and have the unwanted tag of being the only seeded nation to finish bottom of their group. The draw has been relatively kind to the Americans this year, with their group including winless Bahrain, as well as Hong Kong, who will be the favourites to progress, but have not been past the first round of a World Cup since 2015.

World Cup appearances (including this year): 15
Best World Cup: Winners (2020, 2023)
2025 team: Jonny Clayton and Gerwyn Price
Second round: vs TBC
Tournament odds: 7/2

One of the most formidable partnerships in World Cup history is set to be reunited this year when Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton team up for Wales. The 2020 and 2023 World Cup champions were broken up last year after Price withdrew due to health issues on the day before the tournament, with Welsh number three Jim Williams taking his place. Price and Clayton's last defeat as a pair at the World Cup was in 2022 when they lost to Australia in the final, while their record in pairs matches from 2020 onwards stands at an impressive P14 W13 L1. Were it not for the untouchable firepower of Luke Humphries and Luke Littler, the world number one and world number two, for England, then Wales would easily be the favourites to win a third World Cup this year. An England v Wales final would certainly provide a thrilling conclusion to the 2025 edition of the World Cup, but Price and Clayton will both know they must negotiate three potentially tricky hurdles to set up a possible meeting with England in the decider.

Tournament odds correct as of 04.06.2025

Pictures: PDC