The seeded stars have been confirmed ahead of the 2025/26 Paddy Power World Darts Championship, as reigning champion Luke Littler prepares to headline a star-studded 128-player field next month.
The sport's flagship tournament will take place at London's Alexandra Palace from December 11 until January 3, as Littler sets his sights on back-to-back titles in the capital.
The 2025/2026 World Darts Championship will see a record-breaking 128-player field vying to lift the iconic Sid Waddell Trophy, with a total prize fund of £5m on offer - including an incredible £1m prize to the winner.
The top 40 players from the respective PDC Werner Rankings Ladder and then PDC ProTour Rankings have qualified automatically, with 48 International Qualifiers completing the expanded field.
In a change from recent years, all players will enter the tournament in Round One, with 32 seeded players in the standard seed pattern joined by the players ranked 33-64 in the left hand side of the draw, pitted against the remaining 64 qualifiers.
World number one Littler will headline this year’s showpiece, as the teenage sensation aims to emulate Phil Taylor, Adrian Lewis and Gary Anderson by becoming just the fourth player to retain the World Darts Championship title.
2023/24 World Champion Luke Humphries will be the number two seed ahead of Dutch superstar Michael van Gerwen, who is chasing his fourth Alexandra Palace crown this year.
Two-time semi-finalist Stephen Bunting will be seeded fourth, with Welsh number one Jonny Clayton and Dutch number two Danny Noppert fifth and sixth respectively.
James Wade - a four-time World Championship semi-finalist - will make his 22nd appearance as the number seven seed, with 2024/25 semi-finalist Chris Dobey, 2020/21 World Champion Gerwyn Price and European Champion Gian van Veen completing the top ten.
The seeded stars also include former World Champions Gary Anderson, Rob Cross, Michael Smith and Peter Wright, Sunday's Players Championship Finals runner-up Nathan Aspinall, Australian ace Damon Heta - who hit a nine-darter last year - and Joe Cullen, who was confirmed as the 32nd seed following Ricardo Pietreczko’s Round Three exit at the Players Championship Finals.
Five-time World Champion Raymond van Barneveld narrowly missed out on the seeded positions, although the Dutch veteran will be drawn on the left hand side of the draw as he embarks on a 33rd World Championship appearance of his iconic career - equalling Steve Beaton’s record across the BDO and PDC.
Germany’s rising star Niko Springer leads the 40 ProTour Qualifiers, alongside former World Cup runner-up William O’Connor, Dutch duo Niels Zonneveld and Kevin Doets, as well as Czech number one Karel Sedlacek.
Two-time quarter-finalist Callan Rydz will also be eyeing another impressive showing in the capital, with 2022/23 semi-finalist Gabriel Clemens set to star alongside his returning compatriot Max Hopp.
Winmau Development Tour winner Cam Crabtree headlines the list of Ally Pally debutants, which also includes Dom Taylor and Grand Slam of Darts quarter-finalist Lukas Wenig.
The list of International Qualifiers features former World Championship runner-up Simon Whitlock, who confirmed his big stage return by lifting the inaugural ANZ Premier League title in Brisbane last weekend.
Cristo Reyes will also return following a six-year hiatus, as Women’s Series winner Beau Greaves makes her highly-anticipated Alexandra Palace comeback, having enjoyed a record-breaking 2025 campaign.
Singapore’s darting stalwart Paul Lim is amongst the leading PDC Asian Tour Qualifiers, while Argentina's Jesus Salate and Kenya's David Munyua will also make history next month, as they become the first players from their homeland to compete in darts’ biggest event.
The 128-player field will be finalised following the Tour Card Holder Qualifier at Leicester’s Mattioli Arena on Monday November 24, which will offer the final five places at next month’s extravaganza.
The draw for the Paddy Power World Darts Championship will take place at approximately 1630 GMT on Monday November 24, live on Sky Sports News in the UK.
2025/26 Paddy Power World Darts Championship Field
PDC Werner Rankings Ladder Top 40
1. Luke Littler (England)
2. Luke Humphries (England)
3. Michael van Gerwen (Netherlands)
4. Stephen Bunting (England)
5. Jonny Clayton (Wales)
6. Danny Noppert (Netherlands)
7. James Wade (England)
8. Chris Dobey (England)
9. Gerwyn Price (Wales)
10. Gian van Veen (Netherlands)
11. Josh Rock (Northern Ireland)
12. Ross Smith (England)
13. Martin Schindler (Germany)
14. Gary Anderson (Scotland)
15. Nathan Aspinall (England)
16. Damon Heta (Australia)
17. Rob Cross (England)
18. Mike De Decker (Belgium)
19. Jermaine Wattimena (Netherlands)
20. Ryan Searle (England)
21. Dave Chisnall (England)
22. Daryl Gurney (Northern Ireland)
23. Dimitri Van den Bergh (Belgium)
24. Ryan Joyce (England)
25. Luke Woodhouse (England)
26. Cameron Menzies (Scotland)
27. Ritchie Edhouse (England)
28. Michael Smith (England)
29. Dirk van Duijvenbode (Netherlands)
30. Peter Wright (Scotland)
31. Wessel Nijman (Netherlands)
32. Joe Cullen (England)
33. Ricardo Pietreczko (Germany)
34. Andrew Gilding (England)
35. Raymond van Barneveld (Netherlands)
36. Scott Williams (England)
37. Krzysztof Ratajski (Poland)
38. Martin Lukeman (England)
39. Brendan Dolan (Northern Ireland)
40. Ricky Evans (England)
2025 ProTour Ranking – 40 Qualifiers
Niko Springer (Germany)
William O’Connor (Ireland)
Niels Zonneveld (Netherlands)
Kevin Doets (Netherlands)
Karel Sedlacek (Czechia)
Bradley Brooks (England)
Jeffrey de Graaf (Sweden)
Mickey Mansell (Northern Ireland)
Mario Vandenbogaerde (Belgium)
Callan Rydz (England)
Cam Crabtree (England)
Ian White (England)
Sebastian BIalecki (Poland)
Dom Taylor (England)
Richard Veenstra (Netherlands)
Madars Razma (Latvia)
Alan Soutar (Scotland)
Lukas Wenig (Germany)
Kim Huybrechts (Belgium)
Mensur Suljovic (Austria)
Gabriel Clemens (Germany)
Thibault Tricole (France)
Matthew Dennant (England)
Darren Beveridge (Scotland)
Justin Hood (England)
Wesley Plaisier (Netherlands)
Steve Lennon (Ireland)
Max Hopp (Germany)
Ryan Meikle (England)
James Hurrell (England)
Nick Kenny (Wales)
Matt Campbell (Canada)
Keane Barry (Ireland)
Adam Lipscombe (England)
Darius Labanauskas (Lithuania)
Dominik Gruellich (Germany)
Chris Landman (Netherlands)
Owen Bates (England)
Cor Dekker (Norway)
Connor Scutt (England)
International Qualifiers
Beau Greaves (England) - PDC Development Tour Qualifier
Charlie Manby (England) - PDC Development Tour Qualifier
Jamai van den Herik (Netherlands) - PDC Development Tour Qualifier
Jurjen van der Velde (Netherlands) - PDC Development Tour Qualifier
Stefan Bellmont (Switzerland) - PDC Challenge Tour Qualifier
Ted Evetts (England) - PDC Challenge Tour Qualifier
Mervyn King (England) - PDC Challenge Tour Qualifier
Lisa Ashton (England) - Women’s World Matchplay Champion
Fallon Sherrock (England) - PDC Women’s Series Qualifier
Noa-Lynn van Leuven (Netherlands) - PDC Women’s Series Qualifier
Gemma Hayter (England) - PDC Women’s Series Qualifier
Mitsuhiko Tatsunami (Japan) - Steel Darts Japan Champion
Xiaochen Zong (China) - PDC China Championship Winner
Nitin Kumar (India) - IDC Indian Qualifier Winner
Lourence Ilagan (Philippines) - PDC Asian Championship Winner
Alexis Toylo (Philippines) - PDC Asian Championship Runner-Up
Motomu Sakai (Japan) - PDC Asian Tour Qualifier
Ryusei Azemoto (Japan) - PDC Asian Tour Qualifier
Paul Lim (Singapore) - PDC Asian Tour Qualifier
Man Lok Leung (Hong Kong) - PDC Asian Tour Qualifier
Paolo Nebrida (Philippines) - PDC Asian Tour Qualifier
Andy Baetens (Belgium) - Netherlands & Belgium Qualifier
Cristo Reyes (Spain) - Mediterranean Qualifier
Boris Krcmar (Croatia) - South-East Europe Qualifier
Adam Gawlas (Czechia) - Czechia Qualifier
Krzysztof Kciuk (Poland) - PDO Polish Qualifier
Arno Merk (Germany) - PDC Europe DACH Super League Winner
Patrik Kovacs (Hungary) - Hungarian Super League Winner
David Davies (Wales) - UK & Ireland Tour Card Holder & Associate Member Qualifier
Alex Spellman (USA) - CDC Continental Cup Winner
Leonard Gates (USA) - CDC Cross-Border Challenge Winner
Adam Sevada (USA) - CDC Top-Ranked American
David Cameron (Canada) - CDC Top-Ranked Canadian
Stowe Buntz (USA) - CDC Top-Ranked Non-Qualified Player
Jesus Salate (Argentina) - CDLC Qualifier
Teemu Harju (Finland) - PDC Nordic & Baltic Championship Winner
Andreas Harrysson (Sweden) - PDCNB ProTour Winner
Oskar Lukasiak (Sweden) - PDCNB ProTour Runner-Up
Simon Whitlock (Australia) - ANZ Premier League Winner
Tim Pusey (Australia) - ADA Australian Tour Winner
Joe Comito (Australia) - DPA ProTour Winner
Jonny Tata (New Zealand) - DPNZ ProTour Winner
David Munyua (Kenya) - African Darts Group Qualifier
Plus: 5x PDC Tour Card Holder Qualifiers