2026 World Matchplay of Darts first round predictions and previews: 6 seeds heading home early?

The 2026 World Matchplay of Darts will get underway this weekend, and the drama could begin early.

Several matches could be thrillers, as there's a strong non-seed field this year.

2026 World Matchplay of Darts first round predictions

Here are my predictions for the first round.

MORE: 2026 World Matchplay of Darts: Draw, schedule, prize money and format explained

(8) Josh Rock vs. Luke Woodhouse

Winner: Josh Rock, 10-8

2025 was the best year of Josh Rock's young career, and his semifinal run at Blackpool was one of the highlights.

After being selected to the Premier League this year, it's felt like a below-par year for Rock, despite him making a semifinal run at the UK Open and a quarterfinal run at the Masters. That may be due to him struggling in his PL debut, but in general, the consistency hasn't been as present as it was last year.

Woodhouse has had a breakout year of his own this year, picking up a pair of titles, but Rock will be a difficult first round opponent for him.

I expect resistance from Woodhouse, but I think Rock should be able to get through here, as he'll want to open up the event with a strong start.

(9) Stephen Bunting vs. Niels Zonneveld

Winner: Stephen Bunting, 10-5

Bunting is one of the favorites in my eyes to make a run at the title.

He'll have to take down some talented players along the way to do that, but it appears he's starting to trend back in a positive direction in recent months, after a below-average/inconsistent stretch of results during the past 18 months (mostly at majors).

We know Zonneveld can beat the best, but after a strong few months to open 2026, he hasn't played as well in the past couple of months.

From a momentum standpoint, Bunting is a strong favorite, but Zonneveld has already shown he can beat several Premier League-level players if he plays mistake-free.

(1) Luke Littler vs. Niko Springer

Winner: Luke Littler, 10-6

As many would expect, Littler is one of the favorites to win the event.

He's won every major since he lost in the European Championship last fall.

Springer is certainly one of the tougher opponents to get in the draw from the non-seeded side, but Littler shouldn't have a huge issue against the young German, who is making his Matchplay debut.

Springer can be just as good as Littler when he plays his A game, but he hasn't shown that on a big stage enough yet.

This could be his chance to get it done, but the Matchplay's longer format gives Littler an extra edge in this clash.

MORE: Watch: Luke Littler hits nine-darter in one of the greatest legs of all time against Josh Rock

(16) Nathan Aspinall vs. Joe Cullen

Winner: Nathan Aspinall, 10-7

Aspinall has had an odd year, playing very well on the Pro Tour, but hasn't done much at majors yet.

He just missed out on the Premier League after being in it for the past few years, and that may have had an impact on his mental game.

He's played in fewer events on the Pro Tour this year, but does have an Euro Tour event title and several other runs at ET events.

Cullen, as we've seen in recent years, is a bit unpredictable. He's competitive at his best, but when he plays his B-game, it's usually not enough for him to win at this stage of his career against a player like Aspinall.

PC events are the only tournaments he's found some positives in, so it's tough to see him winning here.

(13) Chris Dobey vs. Dirk van Duijvenbode

Winner: Dirk van Duijvenbode, 11-9

Heading in, this is one we expect to be a tight contest.

The two players actually faced off this past weekend in an ET match, which DVV won, so that could be a result we see happen again this weekend.

Dobey has two PC titles this year and some other runs there, but hasn't proved himself in more important on-stage matches.

It wouldn't be a surprise seeing Dobey win, but I'll give the slight edge to DVV given how little Dobey has accomplished on stage in the past few months.

(12) Gary Anderson vs. Ryan Joyce

Winner: Gary Anderson, 10-4

Joyce has had impressive patches of performance on the Euro Tour, but he's another inconsistent performer, and that makes it hard to see him going through here.

Anderson doesn't play in as many non-major events as he used to, but he tends to play well when the majors do come around on the schedule.

We saw him go all the way to the semifinals in the WC, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him get to a quarterfinal or semifinal in Blackpool next week.

Anderson tends to play his best stuff when it matters most, so expect a lopsided game in this instance.

MORE: Big names set to miss the 2026 World Matchplay of Darts

(4) Michael van Gerwen vs. Andrew Gilding

Winner: Michael van Gerwen, 10-7

MVG has started to find his rhythm again this year, after a down year in 2025.

He's also been a little picky with the events he plays in, but I think he'll be up for trying to make a run at the title in Blackpool this year.

Can he win the event? That I'm not very sure about entering the first round, but I see him at the very least starting well against Gilding.

(5) Jonny Clayton vs. Damon Heta

Winner: Damon Heta, 10-8

Heta going through in this match is one of my bold predictions of the first round.

Clayton hasn't played poorly, but I believe Heta has been on an upward trajectory that gives him a chance to get a win here.

Clayton's scoring has dropped just enough recently where Heta can have a chance to win this match if he plays error-free.

Heta has made a semifinal appearance in two of the last three ET events, and he looks much more confident on the oche.

Heta would likely have to win in a scrappy match to go through, as Clayton, at the very least, will have the chances to take command at points during this contest.

(11) Ryan Searle vs. William O'Connor

Winner: William O'Connor, 11-9

Searle has had a fairly disappointing year since his semifinal run at the WC.

He's won a PC event title and has made a couple other finals on the Pro Tour, but outside of the handful of positives he's had this year, he's had way more early exits at events.

Searle will play O'Connor, who is making his Matchplay debut, so he has the experience advantage over O'Connor, who doesn't play in many majors outside of the few most players qualify for.

He'll keep it close, but O'Connor has played a lot of encouraging darts this year, and in the past year, which gives him solid upside in this match.

MORE: 2026 World Matchplay Darts qualifiers

(6) James Wade vs. Jermaine Wattimena

Winner: Jermaine Wattimena, 12-10

Wade has had loads of deep runs at majors in recent years, including a semifinal run at the Matchplay last year, and a couple of UK Open final appearances.

Wade's issue is his consistency, as it makes him more beatable in a match like this that's longer than a Pro Tour match, but shorter than one that would be over an hour.

Wade plays better in events like this when he gets into the later stages of the event with a longer format, but I sense he's beatable here, especially against Wattimena, who's coming off a runner-up finish on the ET this past weekend.

If Wattimena doesn't open the game well, it could be an easy win for Wade, but I don't anticipate that type of game playing out, and I like Wattimena as a player stepping up in the clutch moments late in a game, especially if it goes into a tiebreaker scenario.

(3) Gian van Veem vs. Krzysztof Ratajski

Winner: Gian van Veen, 10-7

GVV was in the midst of the best stretch of his career starting from the Matchplay last year, until around the World Masters a few months ago, but he's struggled since his kidney stone issue that came up during the Premier League league phase.

His form hasn't been the same, and he's not found any rhythm on the Pro Tour.

We know GVV can win any title when he plays near his ceiling, but we just haven't seen that from him.

Ratajski was the winner of the ET event this past weekend and actually beat GVV en route to the title.

A lot seems to be working against GVV here, but he has a chance to get back on the right track in the second half of 2026.

Ratajski should give GVV a tough match, but even with GVV out of form, I still can't envision him losing a match like this on a big stage to Ratajski.

Ratajski's weekend average was 94.26, which isn't bad, but not entirely good enough to suggest he's the favorite here against GVV.

MORE: Beau Greaves makes more history, qualifying for two European Tour events

(14) Wessel Nijman vs. Dave Chisnall

Winner: Wessel Nijman, 10-4

Chisnall just barely squeezed in to qualify for this event on the cut-off date.

He's got a tough draw in the first round, but for him, he'll be happy to be there considering it was looking unlikely that he'd make it to Blackpool a few weeks ago.

His form has still been a major issue, and that won't help him against Nijman, who has been one of the best performers in the PDC this year.

I think Nijman will look at his quarter of the bracket as his to win, and he'll want to make that known with a strong opening match against Chisnall.

Nijman already has six PC event titles and two ET event titles in 2026, and a title at a major is what he'll be eying down next, as he's in a solid spot right now to have a chance at qualifying for the 2027 Premier League.

(15) Ross Smith vs. Kevin Doets

Winner: Kevin Doets, 10-8

With Smith being one of the lower seeds, and Doets being one of the higher-quality non-seeds in the event, this match is likely to be close.

Smith hasn't had a bad year at all, winning two PC events and one ET event so far.

Doets has also won some hardware, winning on the Pro Tour this year, and having many other deep runs on the Pro Tour.

He's making his Matchplay debut this year, and if he plays anything like how he has the last two years at Ally Pally, Smith will be in some trouble.

Doets is arguably one of the most in-form players at the moment, so I like his chances against Smith, who has done very little at majors in the last 18 months.

(7) Gerwyn Price vs. Martin Schindler

Winner: Gerwyn Price, 10-6

Price has been so good at majors in the last year-plus, with several semifinal appearances at events.

He's looking to get past that hurdle and make a final, which he has a solid chance at doing in Blackpool if he continues to play at the same level we've seen from him recently.

Schindler still hasn't had a standout performance at a major in recent years, and despite his Pro Tour success in his career, he's not been able to carry it into the big money events.

Price has a couple of titles on the Pro Tour in 2026, and will look to start a title run this weekend, with a win over a struggling Schindler.

MORE: Cameron Menzies wins first Pro Tour event since scary WC darts injury

(2) Luke Humphries vs. Cameron Menzies

Winner: Luke Humphries, 10-6

Humphries is one of the favorites to win the title, but he has an intriguing first round match set up.

Menzies has been in near career-best form in recent months, most notably winning a recent PC event.

If he plays near his ceiling, his scoring will be enough to get Humphries' attention and force him to think more, rather than play freely.

However, Humphries, even not at his very best, plays well enough to beat most players, so it would take a really special effort from Menzies to shock Humphries.

(10) Danny Noppert vs. Rob Cross

Winner: Rob Cross, 10-8

Noppert and Cross have had very different experiences on the oche in recent months.

Cross, after having a poor 2025, has started to find his form again.

This is the opposite of Noppert, who has had a drop in performance over the past few months, despite having an elite stretch of performances at events for over a year.

Cross just seems to be much more comfortable on the oche compared to Noppert recently, so I like his chances at winning his opening match in a tournament he's won before (2019).

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