The World Matchplay, also known as the Betfred World Matchplay for sponsorship purposes, is a professional darts tournament and one of three legs of the Triple Crown. It is played in a legs format, and is run by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Luke Littler is the current champion after winning the 2026 edition.
History The World Matchplay has been played annually since 1994 in the Empress Ballroom at the Winter Gardens, Blackpool. The first ever winner was Larry Butler, who beat Dennis Priestley 16–12, and the current holder is Luke Littler.
The 1995 World Matchplay turned out to be Jocky Wilson's last appearance in a major televised event. Wilson had reached the quarter-finals of the inaugural tournament in 1994 and he beat Rod Harrington in the 1st round in 1995, but a 2nd round defeat against Nigel Justice was effectively the end of his career.
From 1994 to 2012, matches at the World Matchplay had to be won by two clear legs. For example, the first round was usually played over the first to 10 legs, but if the score reached 9–9, play continued until either player gained a two-leg lead. Starting with the 2013 World Matchplay, if a two leg-lead hadn't been established after six extra legs, then a sudden death leg is played, so sudden death would come into play in a first round match at 12–12.
Over the course of the tournament's 33-year existence, there have been fourteen different winners: Phil Taylor (16), Michael van Gerwen (3), Rod Harrington (2), Luke Littler (2), Gary Anderson (1), Nathan Aspinall (1), Larry Butler (1), Rob Cross (1), Peter Evison (1), Luke Humphries (1), Colin Lloyd (1), Dimitri Van den Bergh (1), James Wade (1) and Peter Wright (1).
From 2018 onwards, the World Matchplay champion will receive the Phil Taylor Trophy, as was announced by the PDC following the retirement of the sixteen-time winner of the tournament.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, the 2020 World Matchplay was held at the Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes, behind closed doors.
World Matchplay finals Year Champion (average in final) Score Runner-up (average in final) Prize money Sponsor Venue Total Champion Runner-up 1994 Larry Butler (92.70) Dennis Priestley (91.59) £42,400 £10,000 £6,000Winter Gardens, Blackpool 1995 Phil Taylor (90.72) 16–11 Dennis Priestley (87.63)Webster's 1996 Peter Evison (100.51) 16–14 Dennis Priestley (96.67) £46,000 £12,000 £7,000 1997 Phil Taylor (106.32) 16–11 Alan Warriner (98.42) £6,000 1998 Rod Harrington (95.03) 19–17 Ronnie Baxter (94.07) £58,000 £14,000 £7,000PDC 1999 Rod Harrington (85.95) 19–17 Peter Manley (86.91) 2000 Phil Taylor (100.32) 18–12 Alan Warriner (97.14)Stan James 2001 Phil Taylor (99.57) 18–10 Richie Burnett (90.99) £65,000 2002 Phil Taylor (98.76) 18–16 John Part (94.14) £75,500 £15,000 £7,500 2003 Phil Taylor (94.38) 18–12 Wayne Mardle (97.44) £80,000 £8,000 2004 Phil Taylor (100.20) 18–8 Mark Dudbridge (89.24) £100,000 £20,000 £10,000 2005 Colin Lloyd (97.89) 18–12 John Part (94.53) £120,000 £25,000 £12,500 2006 Phil Taylor (100.08) 18–11 James Wade (90.01) £150,000 £30,000 £15,000 2007 James Wade (96.83) 18–7 Terry Jenkins (91.62) £200,000 £50,000 £20,000 2008 Phil Taylor (109.47) 18–9 James Wade (102.58) £300,000 £60,000 £30,000 2009 Phil Taylor (106.05) 18–4 Terry Jenkins (92.32)£400,000£100,000£50,000 2010 Phil Taylor (105.16) 18–12 2011 Phil Taylor (103.84) 18–8 James Wade (98.84)Sky Bet 2012 Phil Taylor (98.97) 18–15 James Wade (95.92)Betfair 2013 Phil Taylor (111.23) 18–13 Adrian Lewis (105.92)BetVictor 2014 Phil Taylor (107.19) 18–9 Michael van Gerwen (101.49)£450,000 2015 Michael van Gerwen (99.91) 18–12 James Wade (90.37) 2016 Michael van Gerwen (103.93) 18–10 Phil Taylor (101.13) 2017 Phil Taylor (104.24) 18–8 Peter Wright (99.74) £500,000 £115,000 £55,000 2018 Gary Anderson (101.12) 21–19 Mensur Suljović (104.43) 2019 Rob Cross (95.16) 18–13 Michael Smith (95.91)£700,000£150,000£70,000Betfred 2020 18–10 Gary Anderson (92.81) 2021 18–9 Dimitri Van den Bergh (100.88) 2022 18–14 Gerwyn Price (96.92)£800,000£200,000£100,000 2023 18–6 2024 18–15 2025 18–13 202618–9£1,000,000£225,000£125,000
Records and statistics
Total finalist appearances
RankPlayerNationalityWonRunner-upFinalsAppearances 1Phil Taylor1611724 2Michael van Gerwen32518 3Rod Harrington2029Luke Littler 2023 5James Wade16721 6Gary Anderson11218Dimitri Van den Bergh1125Peter Wright11215 9Larry Butler1013Peter Evison10111Colin Lloyd10115Rob Cross10110Nathan Aspinall1018Luke Humphries1016 15Dennis Priestley03317 16Alan Warriner02214John Part02215Terry Jenkins02213Gerwyn Price02211 20Ronnie Baxter01117Peter Manley01113Richie Burnett0119Wayne Mardle0117Mark Dudbridge0118Raymond van Barneveld01115Adrian Lewis01117Mensur Suljović0117Michael Smith01112Jonny Clayton0119 Active players are shown in bold Only players who reached the final are included In the event of identical records, players are sorted by date first achieved
Champions by country CountryPlayersTotalFirst titleLast title926199520261320152022222018202111199419941120202020
Nine-dart finishes Eleven nine-dart finishes have been thrown at the World Matchplay. The first one was in 2002, when Phil Taylor hit the first live 9-darter in UK television history. PlayerYear (+ Round)MethodOpponentResult Phil Taylor2002, Quarter-Finals3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 Chris MasonWon Raymond van Barneveld2010, 1st Round3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 Denis OvensWon John Part2011, 1st Round3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 Mark WebsterLost Michael van Gerwen2012, 2nd Round3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 Steve BeatonWon Wes Newton2012, 2nd Round3 x T20; 2 x T20, T19; 2 x T20, D12 Justin PipeLost Phil Taylor2014, 2nd Round3 x T20; 2 x T20, T19; 2 x T20, D12 Michael SmithWon Gary Anderson2018, Quarter-Finals3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 Joe CullenWon Gerwyn Price2022, Semi-Finals3 x T20; 3 x T20; T19, T20, D12 Danny NoppertWon Dimitri Van den Bergh2024, 1st Round3 x T20; 3 x T20; T19, T20, D12 Martin SchindlerWon Luke Littler2025, Semi-Finals3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T17, D15 Josh RockWon Luke Littler2026, 2nd Round3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T17, D15 Nathan AspinallWon
Tournament records
Longest match in Matchplay history The 2018 final went to 40 legs as a result of the format of "2 clear legs". Longest unbeaten run Phil Taylor from 2008 to 2015: Won 38 matches in a row. Taylor only lost eight matches in the history of the event: 1994 Bob Anderson 9–11 (tiebreak, second round) 1996 Peter Evison 1–8 (second round) 1998 Ronnie Baxter 10–13 (quarter-finals) 1999 Peter Manley 14–17 (semi-finals) 2005 John Part 11–16 (quarter-finals) 2007 Terry Jenkins 11–17 (semi-finals) 2015 James Wade 14–17 (semi-finals) 2016 Michael van Gerwen 10–18 (Final)
Averages In 2010, Phil Taylor became the first player to average over 100 in all five rounds of the tournament. He repeated this feat in 2011 and 2013. Luke Littler achieved this feat at the 2026 World Matchplay.
An average of over 105 in a match in the World Matchplay has been achieved 37 times, of which Phil Taylor is responsible for 24. The highest match average ever in the World Matchplay is 114.99 by Phil Taylor in his Last 32 victory over Barrie Bates in 2010. The highest match average ever in the World Matchplay Final is 111.53 by Luke Littler against Gerwyn Price in 2026.
Ten highest PDC World Matchplay one-match averagesdartsdatabase.co.uk; best winning averagesAveragePlayerYear (+ Round)OpponentResult114.99 Phil Taylor2010, Last 32 Barrie Bates10–6113.68 Luke Littler2026, Last 16 Nathan Aspinall11–8113.43 Phil Taylor1997, Last 32 Gary Mawson8–0112.17 Phil Taylor2002, Quarter-Final Chris Mason16–7111.53 Luke Littler2026, Final Gerwyn Price18–9111.23 Phil Taylor2013, Final Adrian Lewis18–13110.93 Michael van Gerwen2015, Last 16 Jamie Lewis13–2110.88 Luke Littler2026, Semi-Final Dirk van Duijvenbode17–5110.51 Adrian Lewis2014, Last 32 Andrew Gilding10–0110.37 Peter Wright2021, Semi-Final Michael van Gerwen17–10
Five highest losing averagesAveragePlayerYear (+ Round)OpponentResult105.92 Adrian Lewis2013, Final Phil Taylor13–18105.68 Gary Anderson2014, Semi-Final Phil Taylor15–17105.17 Gary Anderson2017, Last 16 Daryl Gurney9–11104.97 Gerwyn Price2026, Final Luke Littler9–18104.57 Peter Wright2019, Quarter-Final Daryl Gurney13–16
Different players with a 100+ match average (Updated 26/07/26)PlayerTotalHighest Av.Year (+ Round) Phil Taylor62114.992010, Last 32 Michael van Gerwen20110.932015, Last 16 Peter Wright15110.372021, Semi-Final Gary Anderson13109.962026, Last 32 James Wade11104.442025, Last 32 Luke Littler10113.682026, Last 16 Adrian Lewis9110.512014, Last 32 Gerwyn Price9108.732025, Last 16 Luke Humphries7108.762024, Last 32 Rob Cross7106.992024, Last 16 Dimitri Van den Bergh6103.682021, Last 164104.322025, Last 32 Michael Smith4102.082024, Last 32 Nathan Aspinall3105.322026, Last 32 Ryan Searle3105.192023, Last 32 Daryl Gurney3104.432023, Last 16 Raymond van Barneveld3103.862010, Last 16 Jonny Clayton3101.902023, Last 16 Mervyn King3101.062014, Last 32 Krzysztof Ratajski2107.532020, Last 32 Glen Durrant2106.932020, Last 32 Mensur Suljović2104.432018, Final Peter Evison2103.771996, Last 16 Dirk van Duijvenbode2103.612022, Last 32 Ian White2103.512015, Last 32 Dave Chisnall2103.022018, Last 16 Stephen Bunting2102.482016, Last 32 Danny Noppert2102.362022, Last 16 Andrew Gilding2101.822025, Last 32 Steve Beaton2100.982011, Last 32 Damon Heta2100.932024, Last 32 Joe Cullen2100.672023, Last 32 Kevin Doets1104.192026, Last 32 Martin Schindler1103.452025, Last 32 José de Sousa1103.262022, Last 16 Jeffrey de Zwaan1103.222018, Quarter-Final Colin Lloyd1102.572005, Last 16 Shayne Burgess1102.031999, Last 16 Andy Hamilton1101.882006, Semi-Final Wessel Nijman1101.722025, Last 32 Alan Warriner-Little1101.551997, Quarter-Final John Henderson1101.332019, Last 32 Cristo Reyes1101.292017, Last 32 Rod Harrington1101.221997, Last 32 Jamie Hughes1101.132020, Last 32 Kevin Painter1101.012009, Last 32 Gian van Veen1100.812024, Last 32 Ricardo Pietreczko1100.742024, Last 32 Ross Smith1100.552026, Last 32 Mark Walsh1100.412008, Last 32
Five highest tournament averagesAveragePlayerYear111.04 Luke Littler2026106.31 Phil Taylor2010105.81 Phil Taylor2013105.73 Phil Taylor2009105.50 Phil Taylor2011
Format From the beginning of the tournament in 1994, the World Matchplay has always been a legs only event. The length of matches for each round has changed several times over the years, with the table below showing how many legs needed to win.
Year Round 1 Round 2 Quarters Semis Final Notes 1994 8 8 11 11 16 Must win by 2 clear legs 1995–1996 13 1997 Preliminary round: First to 6 legsAll rounds: Must win by 2 clear legs 1998 13 18 Must win by 2 clear legs 1999–2012 10 13 16 17 2013–2015 Must win by 2 clear legsSudden death after 6 extra legs 2016–present 11
Women's World Matchplay
Since 2022, the PDC have held a Women's event on the Sunday afternoon before the main event final. The winner qualifies for the World Championship and the Grand Slam of Darts.
Year Winner Score Runner-up Prize money Venue Total Winner Runner-up 2022 £25,000£10,000£5,000Winter Gardens, Blackpool 2023 6–1 2024 6–3 2025 6–5 2026 6–5 £40,000 £15,000 £8,000
Media coverage The World Matchplay has been broadcast in the UK by Sky Sports since the first tournament.
References
External links World Matchplay page on the PDC website World Matchplay on Darts Database