First round (pictured) eliminated defending champion
Luke Humphries. The first round (best of 19
legs) began on 19 July, where the last two World Matchplay champions were defeated in their opening match. Top seed and defending champion
Luke Humphries was eliminated, going out in an upset loss to
Gian van Veen. Humphries took a 3–2 lead early on by hitting a 146
checkout, but Van Veen would eventually
break Humphries's throw to go 8–7 ahead, before winning the match 10–8 after several missed
match darts. In his post-match interview, Van Veen told
Sky Sports that knocking out the defending champion was the "biggest win" of his career.
Nathan Aspinall, the
2023 champion, also suffered an early exit by losing to debutant
Wessel Nijman 10–6. Nijman stated that the win was "probably more special" than winning his first match at
Alexandra Palace during the
2025 World Championship. Making his 20th consecutive appearance at the event,
2007 champion
James Wade recorded his highest World Matchplay
three-dart average (104.44) in his 10–3 victory over
Joe Cullen, while
Danny Noppert defeated debutant
Cameron Menzies 10–2 – a match that included Menzies
busting 178 by hitting a
180. Former champions
Rob Cross (10th seed) and
Peter Wright (15th seed) lost to
Dirk van Duijvenbode and
Jermaine Wattimena respectively. Seventh seed
Damon Heta and former
UK Open winner
Andrew Gilding were the first pairing of the tournament to go to a
tiebreaker; Gilding, who missed
double 12 for a
nine-dart finish, eventually won 12–10. Twelfth seed
Dave Chisnall was also beaten, losing 10–7 to
World Grand Prix champion
Mike De Decker, who hit a 148 checkout to secure victory. Reigning world champion
Luke Littler, who lost in his World Matchplay debut to
Michael van Gerwen at the
previous year's event, achieved his first win at the tournament by defeating
Ryan Searle 10–2 with an average of nearly 109. He disclosed that he was putting "hours and hours" of his time into practising at home, saying that he was "glad it's paid off".
Gerwyn Price beat
Daryl Gurney 10–7, with the pair sharing an aggressive handshake and exchanging words after the match's conclusion, stemming from Gurney imitating Price's passionate celebrations after winning a leg. Gurney's
World Cup-winning teammate
Josh Rock claimed his first win at the World Matchplay in a 10–5 victory over
Ross Smith, avenging his loss to Smith the previous year and hitting a 167 checkout in the process.
Chris Dobey made the second round for the fourth consecutive year by beating
Ricardo Pietreczko 10–5.
Second round (pictured) completed a comeback from 7–2 down to defeat
Jermaine Wattimena 13–11. The second round (best of 21 legs) was played on 22 and 23 July. Gary Anderson won four consecutive legs to force a tiebreaker against Stephen Bunting at 10–10, but Bunting won the next two legs to triumph 12–10 and advance to the quarter-finals of the event for the second time. Bunting, who missed double 12 for a nine-dart finish in the 15th leg, revealed that he felt nervous playing "a legend of the sport", labelling Anderson "one of the best players to grace the stages". James Wade landed checkouts of 126, 121 and 108 on his way to defeating Wessel Nijman 11–5. Critical of his performance, Wade commented: "Wessel made a few mistakes, and I was fortunate he didn’t play how he can." Jermaine Wattimena raced into a 4–0 lead against Luke Littler in the opening session of their match. Littler won the next two legs but found himself trailing 7–2 as the Dutchman took the next three. Littler won six legs in a row to take charge and lead 8–7, before the match entered a tiebreak situation at 10–10. Littler went on to hit double 10 and complete a 13–11 comeback victory. In his post-match interview, he proclaimed that he was "a world champion for a reason" and admitted that he had "not felt pressure like that since the first round of the world championships." The win extended Littler's unbeaten record against Wattimena to 5–0. The match between Josh Rock and Michael van Gerwen also required extra legs to decide a winner. Van Gerwen opened the contest with a 150 checkout to break Rock's throw and initially led 5–1. Van Gerwen landed a 138 finish to level the score at 10–10 and send the match to a tiebreaker, but Rock pinned double 16 to win 13–11 and eliminate the three-time champion.
Quarter-finals (pictured) achieved the first
170 checkout of the tournament. The quarter-finals (best of 31 legs) were played on 24 and 25 July. James Wade, appearing in his 13th World Matchplay quarter-final, The second session commenced and Wade won the next eight legs to gain control of the match. Van Veen put Wade under pressure by finding another break of throw in the 23rd leg to reduce the gap to 13–11, They traded legs in the second session to bring the score to 10–5. The contest began with seven consecutive
holds of throw, but Littler soon established a three-leg buffer. He edged closer to victory by extending his lead to 12–8 and 14–9. However, Gilding found his way back into the match with checkouts of 124, 72 on the
bullseye, and 160 to reduce the deficit to 14–12. One leg away from a potential tiebreaker at 15–14, Littler won the next leg in 11 darts to claim a 16–14 victory. Littler hit eighteen 180s during the match, breaking the record for most
maximums in a World Matchplay quarter-final. Jonny Clayton featured in his second World Matchplay semi-final in three years, first reaching the last four of the event in 2023 when he lost in the final to Nathan Aspinall. He faced James Wade, who contested his 10th semi-final. All four players also comprised the semi-final lineup at the
UK Open earlier in the year, where Littler defeated Wade in the final. Wade landed a 161 checkout to take a 3–1 lead against Clayton but the Welshman found a break of throw in the final leg of the session. Wade extended his advantage to 7–3 before Clayton made a 161 checkout of his own in the 12th leg. Wade responded to his opponent's surge by pinning his second 161 checkout of the match. Clayton was able to level the match at 17–17 and 18–18, but costly misses at double 16 allowed Wade to hit double 9 to triumph 20–18. It was a repeat of the 2025 UK Open final, where Littler defeated Wade 11–2. His 18-year-old opponent Littler, who was appearing in his first final, was born six months after Wade reached his first final at the 2006 event, and was only six months old when Wade won the event in 2007. Littler was aiming to complete the so-called
PDC Triple Crown, referring to winning the
World Championship, World Matchplay and
Premier League – a feat that had only been achieved by
Phil Taylor, Michael van Gerwen, Gary Anderson and Luke Humphries. Wade was seeking his first televised ranking title since winning the
2021 UK Open. He took the lead for the first time at 7–6 before edging ahead again by converting a 97 checkout for 8–7. He also broke the record for the most maximums hit by an individual player during a World Matchplay campaign, ending the tournament with 64 which overtook
Adrian Lewis's previous best of 56. The win saw him go above the £1.5 million mark on the PDC Order of Merit, while also taking his total amount of prize money won since turning professional to over £2 million. Wade's run to the final saw him re-enter the top five of the Order of Merit. Speaking after the win, Littler acknowledged his idol Phil Taylor's sixteen title wins at the event and took pride in his name being added to the list of champions. He joked that he "definitely put [his] family and friends through it" after producing multiple comeback victories, before stating that winning the tournament "definitely rights the wrongs from losing in the first round last year". ==Schedule==