Luke Littler and Luke Humphries lead England to World Cup of Darts glory

Luke Littler and Luke Humphries produced a masterclass to secure England’s sixth BetVictor World Cup of Darts with a dominant 10-5 triumph against the Netherlands.

Doubts clouded the heavyweight pairing following their shock last-16 exit in this team event 12 months ago, but they banished those demons by justifying their tag as heavy favourites to lift the trophy in Frankfurt.

The top two seeds traded early blows before England reeled off five straight legs either side of the first interval to surge 6-2 clear and they never looked back.

England were in total control as both teams continued to hold their throw, with Humphries finishing the contest in style by pinning double 20 in a 12-darter, sparking joyous celebrations from Littler after his maiden success.

England saved their best performance of the week for the finale, averaging 104.77 as a pair and rattling off four maximums apiece in the showpiece.

“I’m feeling amazing. As soon as we get into the night sessions then I think that’s when we both play at our best, in that final, especially in that second session, it was just unbelievable from both of us,” Littler said.

“Tonight is not only my night, it’s both of our nights together and we’ll celebrate together.”

When asked if he will return to Frankfurt to defending his crown, the 19-year-old added: “There’s no point winning it and not coming back!

“I think the first game against Spain was just nailing the coffin for ourselves, we know we can score, finish and obviously win together. And yeah, we’ll be back next year.”

Humphries said: “We know how good we are and we know how we could be as a team. We just want to prove to ourselves that we could do what we thought we could do and we did it.

“This was a really, really special win for both of us. Luke really wanted this one, this is another one ticked off. But for me, I’ve always wanted to win this more than once and I’ve done that now, so I’m really, really proud.”

The Dutch, who only had 10 attempts at doubles throughout the contest, started brightly with Michael van Gerwen checking out 113 to show England that they were in a contest.

The top seeds levelled in the next leg before claiming the first break with Littler’s double 10 to lead at the interval.

Humphries finished off 84 for a 4-2 advantage before the world number two pinned 87 for a second successive break and Littler checked 48 to win a fifth straight leg.

Van Gerwen got the Netherlands back on the board with double 18 before the two sides traded the four legs on throw.

Gian van Veen had a brilliant chance to earn the Netherlands’ first break but missed darts in the 14th leg, only for Littler to miss three darts. Van Gerwen then fluffed his lines when busting on double four by hitting double 18 before Humphries eventually hit double tops for a 9-5 lead.

Littler opened the 15th leg with a 180 and Humphries finished off the emphatic victory by closing out 41 with his second match dart.

World number one Littler, who averaged 108.22 in the final, has now won each of the PDC’s five televised events this season, while Humphries lifts the title for the second time after his success with Michael Smith in 2024.