Luke Littler and Luke Humphries face World Cup test as England return to Frankfurt
Luke Littler and Luke Humphries return to Frankfurt this week with the kind of World Cup of Darts question that only pairs darts can ask: can the two best players on the planet actually look like a team?
England will not enter the BetVictor World Cup of Darts until the last 16, but the story around them is already the loudest one in the room. The official PDC tournament preview confirms the event runs from June 11-14 at the Eissporthalle in Frankfurt, with 40 nations involved in the sport’s biggest annual pairs competition.
For England, though, this is less about the field size and more about the scar tissue. Littler and Humphries arrived last year as a dream ticket and left after an 8-4 defeat to Germany’s Martin Schindler and Ricardo Pietreczko. Twelve months on, the world No 1 and No 2 are back as top seeds for five-time winners England, but there is no pretending the same pressure has disappeared.
England’s star power still has to translate
The World Cup is not a normal week on the PDC calendar. Individual brilliance matters, of course, but rhythm, body language and trust between partners can be just as important when the match starts to tilt.
That is why England remain fascinating. Littler and Humphries are the pairing everyone will talk about, yet last year’s defeat showed how quickly status can be stripped away in this format. The German crowd played its part, Germany played superbly, and England never quite found the shared pulse that great pairs need.
Littler has not hidden from that. Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: “Me and Luke, we are up for it and hopefully we can get an easier draw this year.” He also admitted England had “a few good moments” against Germany but “just didn’t really bond on that stage”, adding: “Hopefully, this year is a lot different.”
Frankfurt gives England a second examination
Humphries has pushed back against any suggestion of a personal issue between the pair, stressing that the chemistry away from the stage was never the problem. He told Sky Sports: “I don’t think we didn’t bond well. Nothing changed. We weren’t separated on the practice board. We always get along really well.”
That distinction matters. England do not need to prove that Littler and Humphries get on. They need to prove that they can handle the peculiar demands of representing England together, in a format where the favourites can spend two days watching the group stage and then be thrown straight into a knockout tie.
As Sky Sports’ World Cup guide notes, the top four ranked nations enter at the last-16 stage. That group includes England, the Netherlands, defending champions Northern Ireland and Scotland. It is a reward for ranking strength, but it also removes the chance to settle into the tournament gradually.
The champions set the standard
Northern Ireland’s Josh Rock and Daryl Gurney are the reminder that this title is not handed to the side with the biggest names. They won the 2025 crown after edging Wales in a final-leg decider, and they return with something England do not yet have as this partnership: proof.
Sky Sports pundit Paul Nicholson has framed the challenge neatly, saying he does not expect England to fall early as they did last year, but does not see them winning it at a canter either. Chris Murphy, also speaking on Sky’s Love The Darts coverage, argued that Littler and Humphries have learned from last year’s failure and should be stronger, while warning that missing the group stage does not help the seeds.
That is the proper lens for England’s campaign. This is not a question of whether Littler and Humphries are good enough at darts. It is whether, when their Saturday entry arrives, England look like a genuine World Cup pair rather than two elite singles players sharing a shirt.