Champions Northern Ireland Overcome Belgian Battlers

Reigning champions Northern Ireland kicked off their title defence by edging past Belgium on Saturday at the 2026 BetVictor World Cup of Darts in Frankfurt.

Day Three of the global darting festival included a colossal day of last 16 action at the Eissporthalle, as the knockout stage got underway and the four top seeded teams entered the fray.

Reigning champions Northern Ireland survived a scare to pip Belgium in a last-leg decider, winning six of the last eight legs to kick-start their title defence.

Mike De Decker and Dimitri Van den Bergh struck five 180s between them to put Belgium ahead 5-2, before Josh Rock and Daryl Gurney rallied, with the latter taking out a 102 kill to knock out the Belgians in dramatic fashion.

“At no stage did we think we were beaten,” insisted Gurney, as Northern Ireland will take on Latvia in the last eight.

“Until the very last throw, we still believed we could win that game, and we weren’t in front until we won it.

“That tells you we’re champions. We’re here to win, we’re trying to go back-to-back, but now this game is over, we start afresh tomorrow!”

Madars Razma and Valters Melderis edged past France in a thrilling last-leg decider to propel Latvia into the quarter-finals for the first time in the nation’s history.

The Latvian pair took out a 110 checkout each in consecutive legs to lead 6-5, and although France took the match to a deciding leg, Razma dispatched an accidental double-double finish to break new ground for Latvia.

Following Saturday’s action, the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final will take place during a bumper double session on Sunday, as the remaining eight nations go head-to-head for World Cup glory.

The 2026 BetVictor World Cup of Darts is being broadcast on Sky Sports for viewers in the UK & Ireland, through the PDC’s international broadcast partners, including DAZN and Viaplay, and on PDCTV for Rest of the World Subscribers.