PDC World Cup of Darts - All Winners up to 2022

With the end of another blistering world cup, we’re under no doubt that the PDC World Cup of Darts enjoyed its biggest and most successful competition to date. Attracting over 40 teams from around the world, the competition’s reach has never been wider. 

Championed by the media, fans, bookies, and video slots alike, there’s never been a better time to celebrate the beautiful world of darts, and with that in mind, we’re going to take this opportunity to take a look through and honour the champions of yesteryear.

Taking place at the Rainton Meadows Arena in England, fans were treated to a sizzling competition that saw the brilliant Co Stompé and Raymond van Barneveld take home the £40,000 winners' share as they defeated Mark Webster and Barrie Bates of Wales.

With Stompé, Webster, and van Barneveld having played one another earlier in the year at the 2010 World Championship and 2010 World Matchplay, no one was under any doubt that the 2010 World Cup of Darts final wasn’t going to set the bar for years to come.

The Dutch and Welsh teams defeated the Spanish, Scottish, and American teams to reach the final, which took place on 5 December. 

The match was close-knit as both teams won two games each, with both van Barneveld and Stompé defeating the outplayed Barrie Bates, who was kept in the game with impressive single-match performances by Mark Webster. In the final doubles match, the Dutch boys took home the glory with an 8-5 victory.

Since 2010, van Barneveld has gone in and out of retirement a handful of times, but has continued to be one of the most celebrated Dutch darts players in the world, having won the Grand Slam of Darts in 2012 and The Premier League darts championship in 2014. He most recently made a comeback in 2021, beating Joe Cullen to mark his first PDC ranking in eight years.

Coincidentally, Co Stompé announced his retirement in 2021 and professed mixed feelings about his career, saying that he felt he could have won more.

At times rivals, at times close friends, and sadly, at times estranged, the partnership of Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis is the most successful in PDC World Cup of Darts history, having amassed a total of four victories between them.

While neither player needs any introduction to our regular readers, they may need reminding of the 2012 sudden death final as the pair faced Paul Nicholson and Simon Whitlock of Australia.

Having already knocked out the Welsh, American, and Canadian teams, Taylor and Lewis were met with a hardened pair of Australians, leading to a sudden-death doubles leg to decide the winners. The match saw Nicholson choke first, only to be followed by Taylor, who was then followed by Whitlock — leaving Lewis to close the match with a double five.

The pair followed up their victory at 2013’s competition in Germany, which saw them defeat Kim Huybrechts and Ronny Huybrechts of Belgium. In this tournament, three-match wins were needed to win the title. Two best of seven legs singles were played, followed by reverse singles matches. The final result was 3-1 to Taylor & Lewis.

With an improved winner’s share of £50,000, Taylor & Lewis laid claim to the world cup title in 2015, where they defeated Peter Wright and Gary Anderson of Scotland 3-2. 

Their final victory, and the last for England, came only a year later when they put an end to a Dutch team consisting of Michael van Gerwen and previous winner Raymond van Barneveld with another final result of 3-2.

Today Phil Taylor continues to be one of the greatest darts players in the world and became the first person to hit a nine-darter in the World Series of Darts in 2015.

Adrian Lewis has had a troubled last couple of years, beginning the 2021 season with a shock loss to Danny Baggish in the second round of the 2021 PDC World Darts Championship. His luck did not improve this year, falling foul of Gary Anderson in the second round, losing 3-1.

Another team that puts the fear into any opponent, Michael van Gerwen & Raymond van Barneveld’s mid-decade win streak still brings fondness to the hearts of Dutch darts fans.

Although the two may not be the best of friends in 2022, in 2014 the duo thundered into the final to break Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis' winning streak with a three-match win. 

Having already beaten Northern Ireland, Belgium, Spain, and Italy to get there, van Gerwen and van Barneveld sailed through the final to deliver a knockout blow to the tournament’s previous winners.

Although the following two world cups belonged once more to the English, van Gerwen and van Barneveld stormed into the finals to beat Gerwyn Price and Mark Webster of Wales 3-1.

Already competition favourites, thanks to van Barneveld’s stunning win at the 2017 PDC World Darts Championship, the duo smashed through the United States, Czech Republic, and Germany. 

In the same year, it’s worth noting that van Barneveld won the Grand Slam of Darts, The Masters, Premier League, European Championship, World Series of Darts Finals, and Players Championship Finals.

Of course, van Gerwen & van Barneveld returned to the eighth edition of the tournament only a year later to retain their title. Facing Peter Wright and Gary Anderson, the dutch duo had already put an end to Belgium, Germany, Gibraltar, and South Africa and were only happy to end the dreams of Scotland, beating them 3-1.

In 2018 van Gerwen was awarded the Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau on behalf of Willem-Alexander, King of the Netherlands. Although enjoying a strong start to the 2022 PDC World Championship, van Gerwen had to pull out in the third round after testing positive for Covid-19.

Having come incredibly close to victory in previous years, 2019’s title belonged to Scotland. With Gary Anderson and Peter Wright at the helm, the team raced through the competition, eventually beating close rivals, Steve Lennon and William O'Connor of Ireland.

Described as a “fairy tale ending” by some (especially because Lennon and O’Conner had already knocked out Michael Smith and Rob Cross of England), Ireland took the lead early on. Still, Wright’s two victorious singles matches on either side of the doubles saved Scotland from the jaws of defeat.

With a winner’s share of £70,000, the victory became Wright’s second major televised victory and Scotland’s first. Speaking to the television cameras, Anderson said: “We clicked this year and that's why we won. We've got to the final before and run out of steam in the past. Instead of those silver medals, we've got gold ones!”

The two, of course, met again in the 2022 World Championship semi-finals, but this time as respectful rivals. In a heart-stopping match that left viewers on tenterhooks, Wright overcame Anderson, beating him 6-4. Anderson’s victory wasn’t for nothing, however, as Wright defeated English legend Michael Smith 7-5 to take home the 2022 World Darts Championship Trophy.

As our readers might be aware, Wright became the PDC world number one in March 2022, becoming the oldest player ever to do so at 51.

Darts fans will remember that the 2020 PDC World Cup of Darts was a strange year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Not only was it delayed by five months, but it was also held behind closed doors.

This didn’t stop Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton of Wales, however, as they found themselves in sensational form and sailed to the final, defeating Belgium, Australia, Scotland, and Russia to get there.

Despite celebrating its tenth year, Wales became only the third team to win the competition, which saw them defeat Michael Smith and Rob Cross of England in a thunderous finale that ended 3-0.

England was, of course, hoping to win the final for the first time since 2016, and the plan started well as Smith hit two maximums in the very first leg. This lead was very quickly put to bed, however, as Price struck 70 on the bullseye. Despite some piercing throws, England was outclassed and Price finished them off with a D4 for a 3-2 lead.

Of the victory, Price said: “I've won the Grand Slam back-to-back, the World Grand Prix, the World Series, but for Wales, it means a lot. It's the proudest moment of my darting career — I'm quite emotional.”

Wales has not won the cup since, but came achingly close in the 2022 finals, as well as reaching the semis back in 2021. As our readers know, Price went on to win the Grand Slam of Darts in 2021, while Clayton defeated Dimitri Van den Bergh to win the 2021 World Series of Darts Finals.

With last year’s tournament (mostly) back to normal, the 2021 PDC World Cup of Darts saw Peter Wright and John Henderson team up to deliver a flurry of pinpoint, accurate throws that saw them defeat Wales, the Netherlands, Singapore, and Denmark to get to the final.

Having crashed out in the second round in 2020, Wright and Henderson had much to prove as they faced Mensur Suljović and Rowby-John Rodriguez of Austria. Had Austria pipped the Scots to the post, it would have made them the first unseeded nation to win the tournament — but this wasn’t to be.

With splits in the singles (as Suljović beat Henderson and Wright beat Rodriguez) the pairs contest was to be the ultimate decider. Although Write led with a 156, he missed five match darts, keeping Suljović in the game.

Wright finally won it for Scotland, however, having had Suljović winning the sixth leg, forcing one last decider; the final result was 3-1. 

Speaking to the cameras, Henderson said: “To go back home as World Cup champions, I'm speechless. To win this means everything — it's my first PDC title and it's been an honour to play with Peter.”

Wright, of course, won the 2022 PDC World Darts Championship back in January, while Henderson awaits his next major victory.

The 2022 World Cup of Darts likely needs no introduction to our readers. With a historic night for Australia's Damon Heta and Simon Whitlock, Australia wronged the rights of the 2012 final, which saw them despair with a nail-biting 4-3 loss to England.

Having beaten Belgium (five-times semi-finalists) and England (top seeds), Australia battled it out against Wales’ Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton. With a strong start, Heta defeated Price 4-0, who scraped together an average of just 80.

Whitlock, however, found himself in a tougher situation, having to overcome a 2-1 deficit before taking a 4-2 lead. Heta and Whitlock opened up a two-leg buffer in the doubles, only for Price and Clayton to produce a memorable resistance.

With Whitlock missing a dart at double 18, sweat poured from the brows of Australian fans as Clayton produced a double eight to bring the match score back to 2-1. Heta then took his place as a true man of steel, producing two 180s and pinning a double 16 to claim victory.

Speaking after the match, Whitlock said, “It feels amazing. I had a great partner. Damon has been amazing. He’s a great friend, and he’s the best player on the planet right now. He is going to be the next world champion.”

The victory adds to Whitlock’s 2012 European Championship victory, while Heta gets to boost his tally after winning the Brisbane Darts Masters in 2019.