2026 European Darts Championship: Draw, schedule, prize money and format explained

After 15 Euro Tour events in 2026, 32 of the best players remain to battle it out for the title of 2026 European Darts Champion.

The European Championship is a four-day event, starting Thursday, October 22, and ending Sunday, October 25.

What to know about the European Darts Championship

Let's take a look at some of the specifics of the tournament.

MORE: 2026 European Darts Championship qualifiers

2026 European Darts Championship draw & schedule

Here is the schedule for the event.

Day 1 - first round (evening session)

Match	Date	Time (local)
Luke Woodhouse vs. Dirk van Duijvenbode	Thurs., Oct. 22	7:15 p.m.
Danny Noppert vs. Stephen Bunting	Thurs., Oct. 22	7:45 p.m.
Niels Zonneveld vs. Cameron Menzies	Thurs., Oct. 22	8:15 p.m.
Gerwyn Price vs. Rob Cross	Thurs., Oct. 22	8:45 p.m.
James Wade vs. Damon Heta	Thurs., Oct. 22	9:15 p.m.
Kim Huybrechts vs. Ryan Searle	Thurs., Oct. 22	9:45 p.m.
Gian van Veen vs. Andrew Gilding	Thurs., Oct. 22	10:15 p.m.
Ross Smith vs. Karel Sedlacek	Thurs., Oct. 22	10:45 p.m.

Day 2 - first round (evening session)

Match	Date	Time (local)
Ryan Joyce vs. Jermaine Wattimena	Fri., Oct. 23	7:15 p.m.
Krzysztof Ratajski vs. Dave Chisnall	Fri., Oct. 23	7:45 p.m.
Nathan Aspinall vs. Cristo Reyes	Fri., Oct. 23	8:15 p.m.
Jonny Clayton vs. Niko Springer	Fri., Oct. 23	8:45 p.m.
Luke Littler vs. William O'Connor	Fri., Oct. 23	9:15 p.m.
Wessel Nijman vs. Martin Schindler	Fri., Oct. 23	9:45 p.m.
Kevin Doets vs. Michael van Gerwen	Fri., Oct. 23	10:15 p.m.
Josh Rock vs. Chris Dobey	Fri., Oct. 23	10:45 p.m.

Day 3 - second round (afternoon session)

Match	Date	Time (local)
Cameron Menzies vs. Gerwyn Price	Sat., Oct. 24	1:15 p.m.
Stephen Bunting vs. Kim Huybrechts	Sat., Oct. 24	2:15 p.m.
Ross Smith vs. Damon Heta	Sat., Oct. 24	3:15 p.m.
Gian van Veen vs. Luke Woodhouse	Sat., Oct. 24	4:15 p.m.

Day 3 - second round (evening session)

Match	Date	Time (local)
Krzysztof Ratajski vs. Kevin Doets	Sat., Oct. 24	7:15 p.m.
Martin Schindler vs. Jermaine Wattimena	Sat., Oct. 24	8:15 p.m.
Luke Littler vs. Nathan Aspinall	Sat., Oct. 24	9:15 p.m.
Jonny Clayton vs. Josh Rock	Sat., Oct. 24	10:15 p.m.

Day 4 - quarterfinals (afternoon session)

Match	Date	Time
Ross Smith vs. Luke Woodhouse	Sun., Oct. 25	1:15 p.m.
Gerwyn Price vs. Stephen Bunting	Sun., Oct. 25	2:15 p.m.
Martin Schindler vs. Jonny Clayton	Sun., Oct. 25	3:15 p.m.
Krzysztof Ratajski vs. Luke Littler	Sun., Oct. 25	4:15 p.m.

Day 4 - semifinals (evening session)

Match	Date	Time (local)
Smith/Woodhouse v Price/Bunting	Sun., Oct. 25	7:15 p.m.
Schindler/Clayton v Ratajski/Littler	Sun., Oct. 25	8:15 p.m.

Day 4 - final (evening session)

Match	Date	Time (local)
TBD	Sun., Oct. 25	9:25 p.m.

Bracket

Here's the bracket for the event.

First round

(1) Ross Smith vs. (32) Karel Sedlacek

(16) James Wade vs. (17) Damon Heta

(8) Gian van Veen vs. (25) Andrew Gilding

(9) Luke Woodhouse vs. Dirk van Duijvenbode

(4) Niels Zonneveld vs. (29) Cameron Menzies

(13) Gerwyn Price vs. (20) Rob Cross

(5) Danny Noppert vs. (28) Stephen Bunting

(12) Kim Huybrechts vs. (21) Ryan Searle

(2) Wessel Nijman vs. Martin Schindler

(15) Ryan Joyce vs. (18) Jermaine Wattimena

(7) Jonny Clayton vs. (26) Niko Springer

(10) Josh Rock vs. (23) Chris Dobey

(3) Krzysztof Ratajski vs. (30) Dave Chisnall

(14) Kevin Doets vs. (19) Michael van Gerwen

(6) Nathan Aspinall vs. (27) Cristo Reyes

(11) Luke Littler vs. (22) William O'Connor

Second round

Ross Smith vs. Damon Heta

Gian van Veen vs. Luke Woodhouse

Cameron Menzies vs. Gerwyn Price

Stephen Bunting vs. Kim Huybrechts

Martin Schindler vs. Jermaine Wattimena

Jonny Clayton vs. Josh Rock

Krzysztof Ratsjki vs. Kevin Doets

Nathan Aspinall vs. Luke Littler

Quarterfinals

Ross Smith vs. Luke Woodhouse

Gerwyn Price vs. Stephen Bunting

Martin Schindler vs. Jonny Clayton

Krzysztof Ratajski vs. Luke Littler

Semifinals

Smith/Woodhouse vs. Price/Bunting

Schindler/Clayton vs. Ratajski/Littler

Final

Prize Money

*Data via Wikipedia

Position (num. of players)Prize money
(Total: £750,000)

Winner	(1)	£150,000
Runner-up	(1)	£80,000
Semi-finalists	(2)	£50,000
Quarter-finalists	(4)	£35,000
Second round	(8)	£20,000
First round	(16)	£7,500

Format

The European Darts Championship field totals 32 players who are all seeded based on the prize money they accumulated across the 15 European Tour events in 2026.

Since all players are seeded, there was no draw to determine matchups, with first-round matchups strictly based on the players' positioning on the European Tour OoM.

The tournament starts on Thursday and ends on Sunday, with all the first-round games taking place on either Thursday (evening session) or Friday (evening session).

All players who advance to the second round (round of 16) will play during either the afternoon or evening session on Saturday.

The quarterfinals, semifinal and final will take place on Sunday.

First round games will be played best-of-11 legs.

The second round (round of 16) and quarterfinals will be played to best-of-19 legs.

The semifinals round and final will be played to best-of-21 legs.