The 2026/27 PDC World Darts Championship runs from December 11, 2026 to January 3, 2027 at Alexandra Palace in London, for the first time in its Great Hall. 128 players take part, and all of them start in round one. The PDC has not yet published the sets and legs per round for this edition (checked September 25, 2026). At the last edition, 2025/26, every set was best of five legs, matches grew from best of 5 sets in round one to best of 13 sets in the final, and the deciding set had to be won by two clear legs.
Confirmed and not confirmed (checked September 25, 2026)
Confirmed by the PDC for 2026/27: dates, venue and hall, 128 players, all players in round one, 32 seeds, the qualification routes, the £5 million prize fund and a session plan by round. Not yet published by the PDC for 2026/27: the number of sets per round, legs per set and the tie-break rule. The format tables below are from the 2025/26 edition and are labeled that way. We will check this page again before the event.
2026/27 at a glance
| Fact | 2026/27 | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Dates | Friday, December 11, 2026 to Sunday, January 3, 2027 | PDC, August 6 and 7, 2026 |
| Venue | Alexandra Palace, London, in the Great Hall for the first time | PDC, August 6, 2026 |
| Players | 128, all entering in round one | PDC, February 24, 2026 |
| Seeds | 32 | PDC, February 24, 2026 |
| Sessions | 36 | PDC, August 7, 2026 |
| Tickets | a record 180,000, allocated by ballot | PDC, August 6, 2026 |
| Prize fund | £5,000,000 | PDC, February 24, 2026 |
| Defending champion | Luke Littler, who beat Gian van Veen 7-1 in the 2025/26 final | PDC, January 3, 2026 |
Schedule by round
From the PDC's session plan for 2026/27, published August 7, 2026. The PDC notes that "dates and timings" are "subject to change".
| Round | Players left | Dates | Sessions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Round one | 128 | December 11 to 19 | 16 sessions, 4 matches each |
| Round two | 64 | December 20 to 23 | 8 sessions, 4 matches each |
| Christmas break | December 24 to 26 | no play | |
| Round three | 32 | December 27 to 29 | 6 sessions |
| Round four | 16 | December 29 to 30 | 3 sessions, one shared with round three |
| Quarter-finals | 8 | Friday, January 1 | 2 sessions, 2 matches each |
| Semi-finals | 4 | Saturday, January 2 | 1 session |
| Final | 2 | Sunday, January 3 | 8:00 p.m. UK time |
Afternoon sessions start at 12:30 p.m. and evening sessions at 7:00 p.m. UK time, the semi-finals at 7:30 p.m. There is no session on December 31. The UK is on GMT in December and January, so US Eastern time is five hours earlier: the final starts at 3:00 p.m. ET (our conversion).
Sets and legs per round (2025/26 edition)
This is the format the PDC published for the 2025/26 edition, the latest one available. For 2026/27, Wikipedia states that the same format applies, but it cites a Sky Sports article about the 2025/26 edition, not a PDC announcement for 2026/27. Treat it as likely, not confirmed.
| Round | Best of (sets) | First to (sets) |
|---|---|---|
| Rounds one and two | 5 | 3 |
| Rounds three and four | 7 | 4 |
| Quarter-finals | 9 | 5 |
| Semi-finals | 11 | 6 |
| Final | 13 | 7 |
"All sets are the best of five legs" (PDC, 2025/26), so a set goes to the first player to win 3 legs. Each leg is a normal game of 501, straight in and double out, as in every PDC event unless its format says otherwise (DRA 6.3.1). The rules of a leg are in our 501 guide.
The tie-break in the deciding set
At 2025/26, "a deciding set must be won by two clear legs. If the score in the final set reaches 5-5 then a sudden-death leg will be played. There would be no throw for the bull in any sudden-death legs" (PDC). The deciding set is the last set a match can have, for example the fifth set at 2-2 in a best of 5 sets match.
| Deciding set reaches | What happens |
|---|---|
| 3-0 or 3-1 | Set and match won, already two legs clear |
| 2-2 | Play on: the winner needs 4-2 or 5-3 |
| 4-4 | Play on: the winner needs 6-4 |
| 5-5 | One sudden-death leg decides (6-5) |
The rows are worked out from the PDC's wording. With no bull throw, the player whose turn it is to throw first simply continues the usual order (Sky Sports, December 12, 2025). In all other sets, first to 3 legs wins as usual. The PDC rule book leaves tie-breaks to each event, announced in advance (DRA 6.16.1).
How players qualify
The 128 places are split three ways (PDC, February 24, 2026):
- the top 40 of the PDC world ranking,
- the next 40 players from the ProTour ranking who are not already in,
- 48 international qualifiers, including two places for African players for the first time and four places for women.
The 32 seeds and the players ranked 33 to 64 are drawn against the remaining 64 qualifiers in round one.
Play your own match in World Championship format
You can play a set match like Alexandra Palace in Darts Counter. In the X01 setup, choose Points: 501, Checkout Mode: Double Out and Starting Mode: Straight In, then set Sets and Legs as the number a player needs to win:
| Round (2025/26 format) | Sets | Legs |
|---|---|---|
| Rounds one and two | 3 | 3 |
| Rounds three and four | 4 | 3 |
| Quarter-finals | 5 | 3 |
| Semi-finals | 6 | 3 |
| Final | 7 | 3 |
The app offers up to 10 sets and 10 legs, keeps your 3-dart average for every leg and changes who throws first every leg.
Not in the app yet: the two-clear-legs tie-break
Darts Counter ends every set at the number of legs you set, also the deciding set. At 2-2 in the deciding set, the next leg wins it. Want the World Championship tie-break in Darts Counter? Tell us
Keep reading
- Darts rules: the official rules in one place
- 501 darts rules: bust, double out and the bull
- How to calculate your 3-dart average: the number every TV graphic shows
- Checkout chart: every finish from 170 to 2
Sources
Written by FLAME Apps, maker of Darts Counter since 2015. All sources fetched 2026-09-25. The pdc.tv pages load their text with JavaScript; we read them through the PDC news service that feeds those pages.
- PDC, 2026/27 Paddy Power World Championship International Qualifying structure confirmed, February 24, 2026: 128 players, qualification routes, seeding, prize fund
- PDC, Paddy Power World Darts Championship tickets to be allocated by ballot for the first time, August 6, 2026: dates, Great Hall, 180,000 tickets
- PDC, 2026/27 Paddy Power World Darts Championship ticket prices confirmed, August 7, 2026: 36 sessions and the session plan by round
- PDC, 2025/26 Paddy Power World Darts Championship preview, December 10, 2025: format by round, legs per set, tie-break
- PDC, Astounding Littler retains Paddy Power World Darts Championship title, January 3, 2026
- Sky Sports, World Darts Championship 2026 dates, format, schedule, December 12, 2025: throw order in a sudden-death leg
- Sky Sports, World Darts Championship: 2026/27 dates confirmed, August 6, 2026
- Wikipedia, 2027 PDC World Darts Championship, revision of September 23, 2026
- DRA Rules 2026, rules 6.3.1 and 6.16.1 (Darts Regulation Authority)
