[BBC]The 2026 World Matchplay Darts starts on Saturday, 18 July at Winter Gardens in Blackpool.The 32-player event is one of the Professional Darts Corporation's (PDC) eight major events of the darting calendar.Luke Littler is the defending champion after winning the Phil Taylor Trophy 12 months ago. The teenage world number one has also won the first three majors in 2026.There is also a women's event played on the final day of the tournament on Sunday, 26 July. Lisa Ashton is the reigning champion following a win over Fallon Sherrock in last year's final.Before the tournament, here is all you need to know on the format, draw, prize money and how the schedule was nearly affected by football's World Cup final.How does the World Matchplay work?In 2025, Luke Littler became the ninth different player in as many years to win the World Matchplay [Getty Images]The tournament consists of 32 players. They are made up of the 16 highest-ranked players from the PDC's Order of Merit and the 16 best players from this year's ProTour Order of Merit who had not yet qualified.The draw has been seeded, with the top 16-ranked players all kept apart in the opening round.In the women's tournament, the best eight players from the Women's Series tour qualify.Both competitions are straight knockout events, meaning winners progress and losers are eliminated.The tournament is played in legs rather than sets. The number of required to win a match increases after every round in the mixed competition and increases after the semi-finals for the women's competition.Victories are by two clear legs, with a sudden death leg to be used in the event that the two players cannot be separated after a certain number of legs.World Matchplay formatFirst round: Best of 19 legs (sudden death at 12-12)Second round: Best of 21 legs (sudden death at 13-13)Quarter-finals: Best of 31 legs (sudden death at 18-18)Semi-finals: Best of 33 legs (sudden death at 19-19)Final: Best of 35 legs (sudden death at 20-20)Women's World Matchplay formatQuarter-finals: Best of 9 legsSemi-finals: Best of 9 legsFinal: Best of 11 legsWhat is the prize money?The trophy is named after Phil Taylor, who is the World Matchplay's most successful player ever with 16 title wins [Getty Images]For the World Matchplay competition, the prize money has increased by 200,000 in total to 1m. In 2025, the total prize pot was at 800,000.The winner will win 225,000 in prize money, an increase of 25,000 from 12 months ago.World Matchplay prize moneyWinner - 225,000Runner-up - 125,000Semi-final losers - 65,000Quarter-final losers - 35,000Second round losers - 22,500First round losers - 12,000The prize pool for the women's competition has significantly increased from 25,000 to 40,000, with the winner taking 15,000.The winner of the women's competition will also qualify for the 2026 Grand Slam of Darts and the 2027 PDC World Darts Championship.Women's World Matchplay prize moneyWinner - 15,000Runner-up - 8,000Semi-final losers - 4,500Quarter-final losers - 2,000How did the 2026 World Cup almost affect the tournament?With England making the semi-finals of the 2026 Fifa World Cup, the PDC had announced plans to change the schedule if the Three Lions made it to the final.Had England beat Argentina on Wednesday night to set up a final with Spain on Sunday, the PDC were planning on moving all three sessions from the opening weekend forward. That would have left Sunday evening free so that there was no session which clashed with the final.However, a 2-1 defeat for Thomas Tuchel's side means the schedule goes ahead as originally planned.World Matchplay Darts - draw, schedule & resultsRound oneSaturday, 18 July(8) Josh Rock 10-4 Luke Woodhouse(9) Stephen Bunting 13-12 Niels Zonneveld(1) Luke Littler 10-6 Niko Springer(16) Nathan Aspinall 10-5 Joe CullenSunday, 19 July(13) Chris Dobey 11-13 Dirk van Duijvenbode(12) Gary Anderson 10-2 Ryan Joyce(4) Michael van Gerwen 10-6 Andrew Gilding(5) Jonny Clayton 10-7 Damon HetaSunday, 19 July 19:00 BST(11) Ryan Searle 10-6 William O'Connor(6) James Wade 10-7 Jermaine Wattimena(3) Gian van Veen 10-6 Krzysztof Ratajski(14) Wessel Nijman 10-5 Dave ChisnallMonday, 20 July 19:00 BST(15) Ross Smith v Kevin Doets(7) Gerwyn Price v Martin Schindler(2) Luke Humphries v Cameron Menzies(10) Danny Noppert v Rob CrossRound twoTuesday, 21 July 19:00 BST (match order TBC)(1) Luke Littler v Aspinall (16)(8) Josh Rock v Stephen Bunting (9) (4) Michael van Gerwen v Dirk van Duijvenbode(5) Jonny Clayton v Gary Anderson (12)Wednesday, 22 July - 19:00 BST (match order TBC)Humphries/Menzies v Smith/DoetsPrice/Schindler v Noppert/Cross(3) Gian van Veen v Wessel Nijman (14) (6) James Wade v Ryan Searle (11)Quarter-finalsThursday, 23 July 20:05 BSTTwo matchesFriday, 24 July 20:05 BSTTwo matchesSemi-finalsSaturday, 25 July 20:05 BSTTwo matchesFinalSunday, 26 July 20:05 BSTOne matchWomen's World MatchplaySunday, 26 July 13:00 BSTQuarter-finalsBeau Greaves (1) v Kirsi Viinikainen (8)Gemma Hayter (4) v Vicky Pruim (5)Lisa Ashton (2) v Rhian O'Sullivan (7)Fallon Sherrock (3) v Deta Hedman (6)Semi-finalsGreaves/Viinikainen v Hayter/PruimAshton/O'Sullivan v Sherrock/HedmanFinalGreaves/Viinikainen/Hayter/Pruim v Ashton/O'Sullivan/Sherrock/HedmanWho are the previous World Matchplay winners?Lisa Ashton became the third winner of the women's World Matchplay in 2025 [Getty Images]Last 10 World Matchplay winners2025 Luke Littler2024 Luke Humphries2023 Nathan Aspinall2022 Michael van Gerwen2021 Peter Wright2020 Dimitri van den Bergh2019 Rob Cross2018 Gary Anderson2017 Phil Taylor2016 Michael van GerwenEvery women's World Matchplay winner2025 Lisa Ashton2024 Beau Greaves2023 Beau Greaves2022 Fallon SherrockThis article is the latest from BBC Sport's Ask Me Anything team.More questions answered...Why are nine-darters on the rise?What is the UK Open?What is dartitis and what causes it?How does the World Cup of Darts work?