The second half of the year is filled with huge tournaments on the PDC calendar.
The World Matchplay, World Grand Prix and Grand Slam of Darts, just to name a few.
These tournaments are important, but not as coveted as the PDC World Championship, which starts in mid-December and runs until the beginning of January.
Players are slowly starting to qualify for the tournament, as a new format is set to be enforced with a record 128 players competing this year.
MORE: PDC Darts 2026 World Championship dates and sessions revealed
2026 PDC World Championship: Who's in?
The 128 players will consist of players qualifying through these routes (via the PDC website):
- Top 40 from PDC Order of Merit
- Top 40 from ProTour Order of Merit not otherwise qualified
- 48x International Qualifiers
PDC OOM Top 40
- Luke Littler
- Luke Humphries
- Michael van Gerwen
- Stephen Bunting
- Jonny Clayton
- James Wade
- Gian van Veen
- Chris Dobey
- Danny Noppert
- Josh Rock
- Ross Smith
- Gerwyn Price
- Gary Anderson
- Damon Heta
- Martin Schindler
- Rob Cross
- Mike De Decker
- Dave Chisnall
- Ryan Searle
- Nathan Aspinall
- Jermaine Wattimena
- Daryl Gurney
- Dimitri Van den Bergh
- Ryan Joyce
- Cameron Menzies
- Ritchie Edhouse
- Luke Woodhouse
- Dirk van Duijvenbode
- Peter Wright
- Michael Smith
- Joe Cullen
- Wessel Nijman
- Ricardo Pietreczko
- Andrew Gilding
- Raymond van Barneveld
- Scott Williams
- Krzysztof Ratajski
- Martin Lukeman
- Brendan Dolan
- Kevin Doets
ProTour non-qualifiers get top 40 spots
- William O'Connor
- Callan Rydz
- Niels Zonneveld
- Mickey Mansell
- Ricky Evans
- Madars Razma
- Gabriel Clemens
- Jeffrey de Graaf
- Richard Veenstra
- Ian White
- Niko Springer
- Kim Huybrechts
- Alan Soutar
- Keane Barry
- Nick Kenny
- Connor Scutt (provisionally qualified)
- Matt Campbell
- Mensur Suljović
- Thibault Tricole
- Ryan Meikle
- Dom Taylor
- James Hurrell
- Mario Vandenbogaerde
- Chris Landman
- Karel Sedláček
- Bradley Brooks
- Sebastian Białecki
- Cam Crabtree
- Lukas Wenig
- Matthew Dennant
- Darren Beveridge
- Justin Hood
- Wesley Plaisier
- Steve Lennon
- Max Hopp
- Adam Lipscombe
- Darius Labanauskas
- Dominik Grüllich
- Owen Bates
- Cor Dekker
48 int'l Qualifiers
*35/48 have qualified as of 11/1/25
*Please be aware that routes could change if the same player earns multiple routes, opening up opportunities for other players to qualify instead
| Qualification Route | Player | Notes |
| PDC World Youth Champion | ||
| PDC Development Tour Qualifier | Beau Greaves | |
| PDC Development Tour Qualifier | Owen Bates | |
| PDC Development Tour Qualifier | Charlie Manby | |
| PDC Development Tour Qualifier | Jamai van den Herik | |
| PDC Challenge Tour Qualifier | Stefan Bellmont | |
| PDC Challenge Tour Qualifier | Ted Evetts | |
| PDC Challenge Tour Qualifier | Mervyn King | *Qualifies via 4th place since Darius Labanuaskas qualifies via Pro Tour OoM |
| PDC Women's World Matchplay Winner | Lisa Ashton | |
| PDC Women's Series Qualifier | Fallon Sherrock | *Qualifies via 2nd place since Greaves already qualified |
| PDC Women's Series Qualifier | Noa-Lynn van Leuven | *Qualifies via 4th place since Ashton already qualified |
| PDC Women's Series Qualifier | Gemma Hayter | *Qualifies via 5th place since Ashton already qualified |
| Steel Darts Japan Tour Winner | ||
| PDC China Championship Winner | Xiaochen Zong | |
| IDC Indian Qualifier | Nitin Kumar | |
| PDC Asian Championship Winner | Lourence Ilagan | |
| PDC Asian Championship Runner-Up | Alexis Toylo | |
| PDC Asian Tour Qualifier | Man Lok Leung | Qualifies via 6th place since Toylo already qualified |
| PDC Asian Tour Qualifier | Motomu Sakai | |
| PDC Asian Tour Qualifier | Paolo Nebrida | Qualifies via 7th place since Ilagan already qualified |
| PDC Asian Tour Qualifier | Ryusei Azemoto | |
| PDC Asian Tour Qualifier | Paul Lim | |
| PDCE Netherlands & Belgium Qualifier | ||
| PDCE Mediterranean Qualifier | ||
| PDCE South-East Europe Qualifier | ||
| PDCE Czechia Qualifier | ||
| PDO Polish Qualifier | ||
| PDCE DACH Super League Winner | ||
| Hungarian Super League Winner | Patrik Kovacs | |
| PDC UK&IRE Tour Card Holder & Associate Member Qualifier | David Davies | |
| CDC Top-Ranked Non-Qualifier | Stowe Buntz | |
| CDC Continental Cup Winner | Alex Spellman | |
| CDC Cross-Border Challenge Winner | Leonard Gates | |
| CDC Top-Ranked American | Adam Sevada | |
| CDC Top-Ranked Canadian | David Cameron | |
| CDLC Qualifier | Jesús Salate | |
| PDC Nordic & Baltic Championship Winner | Teemu Harju | |
| PDCNB ProTour Winner | Andreas Harryson | |
| PDCNB ProTour Qualifier | Oskar Lukasiak | Qualifies via Harju winning Nordic/Baltic Championship |
| ANZ Premier League Winner | ||
| ADA Australian Tour Winner | Tim Pusey | |
| DPA ProTour Winner | Joe Comito | |
| DPNZ ProTour Winner | Jonny Tata | |
| African Darts Group Qualifier | David Munyua | |
| PDC Tour Card Holder Qualifier 1 | ||
| PDC Tour Card Holder Qualifier 2 | ||
| PDC Tour Card Holder Qualifier 3 | ||
| PDC Tour Card Holder Qualifier 4 | ||
| PDC Tour Card Holder Qualifier 5 |
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