The Cazoo World Cup of Darts returns tonight from Jena, Germany with Simon Whitlock set to maintain his record of appearing at every edition of the tournament, partnering up with Damon Heta to represent Australia.
Northern Ireland’s Daryl Gurney and Brendan Dolan will make their 6th consecutive appearance at the World Cup, whilst three-time winner Michael van Gerwen once again represents the Netherlands with a new partner in Dirk van Duivenbode.
Jeff Smith returns to represent Canada for the third time in his career, entering as an unseeded team with Matt Campbell.
The annual 32-nation event will see two-player teams competing from September 9-12 at the Sparkassen Arena in Jena, Germany - featuring both Singles and Doubles matches during the four days.
Reigning champion Wales, who will feature World Champion Gerwyn Price and Premier League winner Jonny Clayton, meet Finland's Marko Kantele and Veijo Viinikka in Thursday's opening first round games.
Third seeds Netherlands begin their bid to win a fifth World Cup title against Denmark's Andreas Toft Jørgensen and Niels Heinsøe.
Scotland will see Peter Wright and John Henderson team up this year, and the 2019 champions will play Chinese debutants Jianfeng Lu and Wenqing Liu.
Former finalists Australia drew Italy, while Thursday's opening night will also see Singapore - including veteran star Paul Lim - meet Gibraltar, the Czech Republic play Poland, Hungary's tie with Lithuania and Sweden's clash with America, for whom Chuck Puleo partners Danny Lauby in the absence of Danny Baggish.
The first round will conclude on Friday, with top seeds England being represented by the new pairing of James Wade and Dave Chisnall as they take on Brazi's Diogo Portela and Artur Valle.
Fourth seeds Belgium, for whom Dimitri Van den Bergh partners Kim Huybrechts, drew Croatia's Boris Brcmar and Pero Ljubic.
2019 runners-up Ireland will take on Portugal as Grand Slam of Darts champion Jose de Sousa makes his second World Cup appearance, while Northern Ireland take on Hong Kong.
Host nation Germany, for whom Gabriel Clemens and Max Hopp reached the 2020 semi-finals, drew Canada in a tasty tie as Jeff Smith and Matt Campbell renew a partnership which reached the quarter-finals last year.
Austria will play the Philippines, South Africa will face the new Spanish pairing of Jesus Noguera and Jose Justicia and Russia's Boris Koltsov and Evgenii Izotov take on Japan's Matsuda Jun and Yoshihisa Baba.
2019 quarter-finalists New Zealand will not be represented at the World Cup for the first time due to the ongoing difficulties with international travel which means Ben Robb and Warren Parry will be unable to compete in Jena.
Following the first round on Thursday and Friday, the second round will be split across two sessions on Saturday September 11.
Sunday's afternoon session will feature the quarter-finals, ahead of the semi-finals and final in the decisive evening session.
The Cazoo World Cup of Darts will be broadcast through Sky Sports, RTL7, DAZN and worldwide broadcast partners, as well as through PDCTV for Rest of the World Subscribers (outside UK & Ireland) and matchroom.live.
2021 Cazoo World Cup of Darts
September 9-12, Sparkassen Arena, Jena
Draw Bracket
(1) England v Brazil
Spain v South Africa
(8) Germany v Canada
Russia v Japan
(4) Belgium v Croatia
Austria v Philippines
(5) Northern Ireland v Hong Kong
Republic of Ireland v Portugal
(2) Wales v Finland
Hungary v Lithuania
(7) Australia v Italy
USA v Sweden
(3) Netherlands v Denmark
Gibraltar v Singapore
(6) Scotland v China
Czech Republic v Poland
Schedule of Play
Thursday September 9
Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)
8x First Round
Hungary v Lithuania
Czech Republic v Poland
Gibraltar v Singapore
USA v Sweden
Scotland v China
Netherlands v Denmark
Wales v Finland
Australia v Italy
Friday September 10
Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)
8x First Round
Russia v Japan
Spain v South Africa
Republic of Ireland v Portugal
Austria v Philippines
Northern Ireland v Hong Kong
Germany v Canada
England v Brazil
Belgium v Croatia
Saturday September 11
Afternoon Session (1400 local time, 1300 BST)
4x Second Round
Evening Session (2000 local time, 1900 BST)
4x Second Round
Sunday September 12
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 BST)
Quarter-Finals
Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)
Semi-Finals & Final
Competing Countries
The top eight countries are seeded for the draw, based on the lowest combined PDC Order of Merit ranking of the two competing players.
(1) England - James Wade & Dave Chisnall
(2) Wales - Gerwyn Price & Jonny Clayton
(3) Netherlands - Michael van Gerwen & Dirk van Duijvenbode
(4) Belgium - Dimitri Van den Bergh & Kim Huybrechts
(5) Northern Ireland - Daryl Gurney & Brendan Dolan
(6) Scotland - Peter Wright & John Henderson
(7) Australia - Simon Whitlock & Damon Heta
(8) Germany - Gabriel Clemens & Max Hopp
Austria - Mensur Suljovic & Rowby-John Rodriguez
Brazil - Diogo Portela & Artur Valle
Canada - Jeff Smith & Matt Campbell
China - Jianfeng Lu & Wenqing Liu
Croatia - Boris Krcmar & Pero Ljubic
Czech Republic - Karel Sedlacek & Adam Gawlas
Denmark - Andreas Toft Jørgensen & Niels Heinsøe
Finland - Marko Kantele & Veijo Viinikka
Gibraltar - Sean Negrette & Justin Hewitt
Hong Kong - Kai Fan Leung & Man Lok Leung
Hungary - János Végső & Patrik Kovács
Italy - Danilo Vigato & Michele Turetta
Japan - Matsuda Jun & Yoshihisa Baba
Lithuania - Darius Labanauskas & Mindaugas Barauskas
Philippines - Lourence Ilagan & Christian Perez
Poland - Krzysztof Ratajski & Krzysztof Kciuk
Portugal - Jose de Sousa & Jose Marques
Republic of Ireland - William O’Connor & Steve Lennon
