Jonny Clayton and Nick Kenny battled past the United States 8-5 at the 2026 World Cup of Darts, setting up a potential quarter-final clash with England’s Luke Littler and Luke Humphries — but not before Nick Kenny fired a warning shot. “We’ll see what England turn up tonight,” Kenny said after the match, referencing England’s last-16 tie against Spain later in the evening.
Wales’ victory was far from straightforward. After leading 6-2, they saw the USA fight back to 6-5 before Clayton produced two brilliant 141 checkouts to steady the ship. “It did not start great for me personally,” Kenny admitted. “But to be fair, Jonny won them two 141s. When he left the second one, I said, ‘Just do it again, mate.’ And he did. I was like, ‘What is going on?’” Wales averaged 89.32 in the match, with Clayton’s finishing proving decisive against Stowe Buntz and Adam Sevada.
Kenny, playing in his first World Cup alongside Clayton, praised his partner’s quality. “He is top ten in the world for a reason,” he said. “Them two 141s pulled me out of trouble a little bit there.” Clayton, meanwhile, corrected a question about the captaincy, insisting he was also captain when Gerwyn Price played last year. “Get that one right!” he said. “Genuinely, we are there to win games. It does not matter how we do it.”
Wales are now three wins from three in Frankfurt, having progressed through the group stage before beating a USA team that had already knocked out Australia and Canada. Kenny believes there is more to come. “We have not reached our potential,” he said. “We have not reached the ceiling yet. If I can play my A-game, look out basically.”
England’s return comes 12 months after Littler and Humphries were beaten 8-4 by Germany in their opening match, a defeat Clayton and then Wales partner Gerwyn Price both commented on critically at the time. Spain, who topped Group K with wins over Croatia and Japan, stand in England’s way. “But do not underestimate Spain,” Kenny added. “They are a good team.” Wales will face the winner in Sunday’s quarter-finals, with Clayton summing up the team’s mindset: “It does not matter how we do it, as long as you are here on Sunday. That is all that counts.”