The World Series of Darts Finals returns to AFAS Live in Amsterdam from 17-20 September 2026, marking the 12th staging of the event by the PDC. The total prize fund has been increased to £450,000, with the winner receiving £100,000. The tournament is the culmination of the 2026 World Series of Darts, a collection of six unranked events held in six different countries. It sees 32 players face off, with 24 coming from the World Series rankings, the top four non-qualified players from the PDC World Rankings, and four Tour Card Holder qualifiers.
Michael van Gerwen is top seed and defending champion, having defeated Luke Littler 11-7 in the final last year. Both are set to appear, along with the usual faces including Luke Humphries, Gerwyn Price, and Jonny Clayton. Gary Anderson won't be involved after he snubbed an invite. The first round gets underway on Thursday night with a stacked schedule, headlined by Van Gerwen facing Daryl Gurney, who lately replaced Lourence Ilagan. Gian van Veen ends the night against Chris Dobey, while Jermaine Wattimena returns home to face Luke Humphries. Stephen Bunting takes on Josh Rock in a popcorn clash, and Ross Smith, in exceptional form as of late, faces Kevin Doets. Rob Cross meets Ryan Searle, Dirk van Duijvenbode opens against Viktor Tingstrom, and Karel Sedlacek is sandwiched in between against Ben Robb. Luke Littler and co play tomorrow, with the first round spread over two days.
The schedule continues on Friday September 18 with Adam Leek vs Jim Long, Motomu Sakai vs Callan Rydz, Wessel Nijman vs Simon Whitlock, Nathan Aspinall vs Raymond Smith, James Wade vs Damon Heta, Gerwyn Price vs Brody Klinge, Luke Littler vs Danny Noppert, and Jonny Clayton vs Maik Kuivenhoven. Saturday September 19 features the afternoon session with four second-round ties: Van Gerwen/Ilagan vs Doets/Ross Smith, Bunting/Rock vs Cross/Searle, Humphries/Wattimena vs Tingstrom/Leung, and Van Veen/Dobey vs Sedlacek/Robb. The evening session includes Price/Klinge vs Leek/Long, Wade/Heta vs Nijman/Whitlock, Littler/Noppert vs Aspinall/Raymond Smith, and Clayton/Toylo vs Sakai/Rydz. Sunday September 20 sees the quarter-finals in the afternoon and the semi-finals and final in the evening.
The draw in full: (1) Michael van Gerwen vs Daryl Gurney, Kevin Doets vs Ross Smith, (8) Stephen Bunting vs Josh Rock, Rob Cross vs Ryan Searle, (4) Luke Humphries vs Jermaine Wattimena, Viktor Tingstrom vs Dirk van Duijvenbode, (5) Gian van Veen vs Chris Dobey, Karel Sedlacek vs Ben Robb, (2) Gerwyn Price vs Brody Klinge, Adam Leek vs Jim Long, (7) James Wade vs Damon Heta, Wessel Nijman vs Simon Whitlock, (3) Luke Littler vs Danny Noppert, Nathan Aspinall vs Raymond Smith, (6) Jonny Clayton vs Maik Kuivenhoven, and Motomu Sakai vs Callan Rydz.
The format sees the first and second rounds best of 11 legs, quarter-finals best of 19 legs, and semi-finals and final best of 21 legs. In the history of the event, Michael van Gerwen has won five times (2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2023, 2025), Luke Littler won in 2024, Gerwyn Price in 2022, Jonny Clayton in 2021, and James Wade in 2018. Predictions from the DartsNews team are varied: Samuel Gill sees Jonny Clayton claiming the title, Nicolas Gayer picks Luke Littler, Mats Leering also backs Littler, Pieter Verbeek goes with Littler, Lucas Michael chooses Littler, and Oliver Ried predicts Gian van Veen as champion.
