World matchplay: Michael van Gerwen may fall in the world rankings but Wessel Nijmann is a serious title threat | Darts News

Michael van Gerwen can erase concerns about his erratic form in World Matchplay, while Wessel Nijmann has emerged as a serious title threat at Blackpool.

The 2026 World Matchplay will begin on Saturday at the Winter Gardens, Live on Sky Sports, And here are five talking points ahead of the first round…

MVG under world ranking pressure

Van Gerwen, a three-time world matchplay champion, heads to Blackpool under serious pressure for the first time in his career as he defends his £100,000 world ranking, which he earned in his final defeat to Luke Humphries in 2024.

MVG could drop to seventh in the world rankings if he loses to Andrew Gilding in the first round on Sunday.

The Green Machine has shown some of the signs that once made him the world No. 1, winning the World Series and Players Championship event in Leicester this year, but has also shown weakness while often averaging in the mid-80s on the ProTour and EuroTour.

If MVG is to limit the damage to his world ranking, he will need to rediscover the form he showed at The Players Championship 15, when he dispatched Martin Schindler 7-0 in the semi-finals, averaging 122.34.

Gilding represents a tough opponent in the first round. Goldfinger beat van Gerwen 6-4 on the European Tour in Bratislava last month, losing just one dart in a double. There is also Gilding’s memorable UK Open win over MVG in the final in 2023.

Cross to go deep for Blackpool

The PDC can save the best for last with a first-round match between Danny Knoppert and Rob Cross on Monday night, live Sky Sports.

On the back of a very positive 2025 for Knoppert, the Dutchman was unlucky to miss out on the 2026 Premier League. The Freeze reached the last eight of the Winmow World Masters and the UK Open, and was a semi-finalist at the Grand Slam, World Grand Prix and European Championships.

However, since the turn of the new year, the former UK Open champion has struggled for form and has only twice got past the quarter-finals on the Euro Tour.

Rob Cross, on the other hand, is on a different trajectory. 2025 was a difficult year with him winning just one ranking event (The Players Championship 1 back in February) and missing out on the playoffs in 2025 after failing to secure a night win in the Premier League.

But in recent months, he has made up some ground and earned himself a place in Blackpool this weekend through the protour order of qualification. Coming off the back of 22 Players Championship titles, Voltage will be confident in his tie against an off-form Knoppert.

The Dutch star also recently revealed that he was the recipient Hateful social media messages About his mother’s death from cancer. Knoppert will look to put the offensive comments off his mind and focus on his clash with the 2018 world champion.

If Cross gets past Knoppert, he will potentially face Garwin Price before Luke Humphries. A tough run but one he will relish in current form and the chance to go deep into the winter garden, taking down some big names along the way.

In-form Nijman will beat?

Wessel Nijman won so much money on the ProTour in 2026 that he qualified for the tournament as a top-16 seed in the world rankings.

The Dutchman won an impressive six Players Championship titles in 2026 and also won two European Tour trophies in Göttingen and Bratislava.

The 26-year-old – the only player in the field without a nickname (because, he says, they’re silly), has yet to make a significant deep run at a major tournament, reaching the last eight of the Players Championship final and The Grand Slam of Darts, but this should be the tournament that changes that.

In the six ProTour events he has won, Nijman’s running average has never fallen below 95 and he reached 102.78 in his Players Championship 2 success.

He will no doubt look to build on this form as well as success on his matchplay debut last year when he knocked out Nathan Aspinall in the first round, winning 10-6.

Nizman’s first-round opponent this year is Dave Chisnall, who qualified last in the field after a good semifinal run at the Players Championship 23.

Despite only making his second appearance in Blackpool, the Dutchman is third favorite to win the title behind world numbers one and two, Luke Littler and Luke Humphries, but many will back him to go all the way.

Jonveld can beat The Bullet

Nils Jonveld heads to Blackpool to make his World Matchplay debut. ‘Triple Z’ earned his spot through the ProTour order of qualification and since reclaiming his Tour card for the third time in 2023, he has finally come to show his true potential.

The 27-year-old has reached two semi-finals on the European Tour this year and reached the last eight on four different occasions.

His standout moment came at the Belgian Darts Open this year when he became the first player to defeat Littler in that particular tournament. He was a 6-5 hitter with 147 checkouts and averaged a ton more. In doing so, he also became the first player to defeat Littler in a ranking event this year.

Jonveld took on Stephen Bunting in his round-one clash and The Bullet hasn’t had the strongest year yet. After controversially picking up the 2026 Premier League, he failed to reach the playoffs and did not win a single EuroTour or ProTour event this year. His only two successes have come as night wins in the Premier League at Belfast and Sheffield.

Jonveldt will be eyeing an upset as well as a debut World Matchplay win against an out-of-form Bunting.

Back to back in Blackpool for The Nuke?

Reigning world champion Littler will be looking to join Phil Taylor and van Gerwen as the only players to successfully defend their title at the Winter Garden.

This will be Nuke’s third World Matchplay Tournament. 2024 ended in a 10–6 loss to MVG in their first round.

However, in 2025 the teenager went all the way with remarkable comebacks against Jermaine Watimena and Josh Rock, a thrilling encounter with Gilding and a professional finals performance against James Wade.

Littler, who recently lost to ‘Cool Hand’ Humphries in a classic final at New York’s Madison Square Garden in the World Series, heads into Blackpool full of confidence having already won several major titles this year, including the World Championship, UK Open and Premier League.

Nuke is the undisputed favorite in his round one tie with Nico Springer. The German, known for his form on the EuroTour, has only played Littler once before in his professional career, an epic 6-5 at The Nuke last year’s Players Championship 5, with both averaging over 102.

They could serve up another classic in the first round but Littler is the odds-on favorite before this weekend and the longer formats will allow him to settle in and let his devastating scoring powers be in full flow, making it a very difficult task for ‘The Minger Bub’.

When is World Matchplay Live on Sky Sports?

World Matchplay begins on Saturday 18 July and ends on Sunday 26 July.

All nine days of the program will be shown Live on Sky Sportswith opening day coverage on Sky Sports+ at 7pm Didn’t get the sky? Get instant access now