By Michael Harrison
Darts stars Luke Humphries and Luke Littler defeated Dutch pair Michael Van Gerwin and Gian Van Veen 10-5 to win the Betvictor World Cup for England in Frankfurt.
After victory alongside “Bully Boy” Michael Smith in 2024, Luke Humphries added another World Cup trophy to his expansive silverware collection. Luke Littler acquired his first World Cup, another astonishing trophy for the explosive nineteen year old.
England demonstrated class, relentlessness and a deadly finishing nature in the tournament. After a manic 8-7 victory in the quarter finals over Wales, and a powerful performance from the duo against Scotland, the lethal Lukes claimed England’s sixth World Cup of Darts trophy in their country’s history.
Luke Littler, Gary Anderson and Rob Cross Darts selection at Sports Direct
The Match
Michael Van Gerwin struck the first point in the contest, after his partner Van Veen missed a dart at double sixteen. With an impressive treble ten – double ten checkout on fifty, Littler levelled the tie.
A huge 180 from Humphries seemed to sway the tie into England’s favour in leg three, but a monstrous 113 checkout from the “Mighty Mike” gave Holland a 2-1 advantage.
Leg four was England’s snapping point. Controlling the contest in stylish fashion, the English duo won four legs on the bounce with an awesome force of scores. A 110.05 average over the four legs put England in a promising position, and Littler wasn’t afraid to show this to the Frankfurt crowd.
In the break of throw after the first ad break, Humphries checked out a huge eighty seven checkout with double five. The Dutch were clawing back with all of their fight, however even with a magical Van Gerwin effort, a 91.46 combined average would slowly kill the Dutch hopes of a World Cup title.
Although Van Gerwin snatched a heavy point back on double eighteen, giving the Netherlands a 3 leg score, the match was still 7-3 heading into the second and final ad break.
A brilliant sixty-four strike back from Van Veen also struck life back into the contest, and more importantly, the Dutch duo. The contest truly spiced up in leg thirteen, when Van Veen hammered the contest’s eleventh 180, and Humphries the twelfth succeeding. Van Gerwin brilliantly fired a brilliant 49 checkout for Holland’s fifth leg.
For England’s fortunes, a bust on double four from Van Gerwin left Humphries a simple double twenty checkout to put them in pole position for the match. Following a swift chat between the duo, Humphries shot in a double eight for the match, and England won the contest.
Redemption for the Lukes
The victory arrives a year on from the disappointment of 2025, where the Lukes paired up as a duo for the first time. Crashing out in the second round against German pair Martin Schindler and Ricardo Pietreczko, the Englishmen can believe they have redeemed themselves with this year’s tournament.
Sarah Milkowska – darts influencer and content creator – described the occasion as a “Monumental night for the English. Humphries was sensational in the final and Littler showed his class all through the tournament”
“The players can rest now. After the busy schedule and relentless travelling, they can rest happy now.”
With the BetMGM Premier League taking place in New York City, the stars from the victorious England team will be looking forward to the prospect of more silverware, however maybe not the travel.
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