The draw for the 2026 European Championship has been announced. Published on Monday 19 October, the day after the Dutch Darts Championship in Maastricht, it features two high-profile clashes right from the first round: Gerwyn Price versus Rob Cross, and Michael van Gerwen against Kevin Doets. The top 32 players in the European Tour Order of Merit will gather at the Westfalenhalle in Dortmund from 22 to 25 October to compete for £750,000 in prize money.
This draw is based not on the world rankings but on the European Tour standings, and that changes everything. Luke Littler is only the 11th seed, Luke Humphries the 12th: the two men in the world’s top three therefore face far tougher opponents than they would in a standard first round. Ross Smith, winner of two events this season, tops the draw ahead of Wessel Nijman and Krzysztof Ratajski.
The full first-round draw
| First round, best of 11 legs | |
|---|---|
| 1. Ross Smith (ENG) | 32. Karel Sedlacek (CZE) |
| 16. James Wade (ENG) | 17. Damon Heta (AUS) |
| 8. Gian van Veen (NED) | 25. Andrew Gilding (ENG) |
| 9. Luke Woodhouse (ENG) | 24. Dirk van Duijvenbode (NED) |
| 4. Niels Zonneveld (NED) | 29. Cameron Menzies (SCO) |
| 13. Gerwyn Price (WAL) | 20. Rob Cross (ENG) |
| 5. Danny Noppert (NED) | 28. Stephen Bunting (ENG) |
| 12. Luke Humphries (ENG) | 21. Ryan Searle (ENG) |
| 2. Wessel Nijman (NED) | 31. Martin Schindler (GER) |
| 15. Ryan Joyce (ENG) | 18. Jermaine Wattimena (NED) |
| 7. Jonny Clayton (WAL) | 26. Niko Springer (GER) |
| 10. Josh Rock (NIR) | 23. Chris Dobey (ENG) |
| 3. Krzysztof Ratajski (POL) | 30. Dave Chisnall (ENG) |
| 14. Kevin Doets (NED) | 19. Michael van Gerwen (NED) |
| 6. Nathan Aspinall (ENG) | 27. Cristo Reyes (ESP) |
| 11. Luke Littler (ENG) | 22. William O’Connor (IRL) |
Price v Cross: the clash the draw has produced
It’s the fixture nobody expected so early on. Gerwyn Price (13th) and Rob Cross (20th) face each other in the first round, in a match where the loser will leave Dortmund with £7,500 and no further legs to play. The two men know each other inside out, and the short, best-of-11-leg format leaves no room for a slow start.
The draw offers no favours in this quarter of the draw, either. The winner of the Price v Cross match will face either Danny Noppert or Stephen Bunting, before a potential quarter-final against Niels Zonneveld or Luke Humphries. Four players capable of winning a major title in the same quarter: this is the most packed section of the draw.
Van Veen is defending his title, whilst Zonneveld arrives with a different status
Reigning champion Gian van Veen is only the 8th seed and begins against Andrew Gilding, a slow, experienced opponent who is never easy to beat in a short format. The Dutchman is coming off a solid season on the European tour, but he won’t have time to get into his stride.
The other Dutch story is that of Niels Zonneveld, the fourth seed following his first PDC title in Maastricht. A week ago, his place in the draw was far from certain. He now arrives as a player to be wary of, facing Cameron Menzies, and makes his tournament debut alongside Kevin Doets.
Absentees: Michael Smith and Gary Anderson miss out
The 32-man field leaves no room for repechages. Stephen Bunting secured his place at the last minute in 28th position, but Michael Smith and Gary Anderson failed to make the cut, having not played enough or won enough on the European circuit. No French players managed to secure a place either.
The absence of these two former world champions highlights the nature of this competition: it rewards consistency across fifteen stages, not reputation. A player who skips part of the European tour puts themselves at mathematical risk, regardless of their track record.
Format, prize money and schedule
The first round is played as a best-of-11 legs, the last 16 and quarter-finals as best-of-19, and the semi-finals and final as best-of-21. The prize fund totals 750,000 pounds, with 150,000 pounds for the winner.
| Round | Prize money |
|---|---|
| Winner | £150,000 |
| Runner-up | £80,000 |
| Semi-finalists | £50,000 |
| Quarter-finalists | £35,000 |
| Round of 16 | £20,000 |
| First round | £7,500 |
The programme runs over four days, in local time: first round on Thursday 22nd and Friday 23rd October at 7.00 pm, round of 16 on Saturday 24th at 1.00 pm and 7.00 pm, followed by the quarter-finals on Sunday 25th at 1.00 pm, the semi-finals at 7.00 pm and the final at 9.30 pm.
What this draw suggests
The top half of the draw is a trap. With Smith, Wade, Van Veen and Woodhouse in the first quarter, the biggest name doesn’t even need to take to the floor to be knocked out as early as Friday. The second quarter, featuring Zonneveld, Price, Noppert and Humphries, looks like a weekend final right from the last 16.
Further down, Luke Littler faces William O’Connor, followed by a round of 16 match against either Nathan Aspinall or Cristo Reyes, with Kevin Doets or Michael van Gerwen lying in wait for a quarter-final. On paper, it’s doable. On the 2026 European tour, nothing has been straightforward for anyone: three of last year’s four semi-finalists have changed status since then, and the defending champion is only the eighth seed. Dortmund looks set to be the most wide-open tournament of the autumn.
The tournament will, in fact, expand to 48 players in 2027, a decision already announced by the PDC. In the meantime, it is indeed a field of 32 that will take to the stage at the Westfalenhalle, with just one certainty: the first round will prove costly for at least one of the favourites.
