England dream duo Humphries en Littler hammered by Germany, Netherlands through after whitewashing Scotland

England’s title hopes at the 2025 World Cup of Darts came to a crashing halt in the very first knockout round, as tournament favourites Luke Humphries and Luke Littler were sent packing by hosts Germany.

The English pair, widely tipped to go all the way, were beaten 8-4 by Martin Schindler and Ricardo Pietreczko, who produced a composed and clinical performance in front of their home crowd in Frankfurt.

Germany flew out of the gates, taking a 2-0 lead, but England responded through a 123 checkout and a 14-darter to level at 2-2. However, a string of missed darts at doubles – five in the fifth leg alone – proved costly. Germany capitalised with a 106 finish to retake the lead at 3-2 and never looked back.

Schindler and Pietreczko strung together four more legs on the bounce to surge into a commanding 7-2 lead. Humphries and Littler fought back to 7-4, but a steady 62 finish from Germany sealed the shock result and sent the home fans into raptures.

If the England result was a surprise, what happened earlier from the Netherlands was sheer dominance. The Dutch duo produced one of the most lopsided results in recent World Cup history by whitewashing Scotland 8-0.

Much was expected from the clash between two darting powerhouses, with Gary Anderson and Peter Wright on the Scottish side. But it turned into a nightmare for the former world champions. The Netherlands were clinical from the very start, averaging 100.20, while the Scots struggled immensely, ending on just 79.37.

Incredibly, Anderson and Wright managed just three darts at double across the entire match, all of which were missed. By contrast, the Dutch hit 67% of their doubles, underlining the one-sided nature of the contest.

The tone was set early, with back-to-back 15-darters giving the Netherlands a 2-0 lead, before a 12-darter extended that to 3-0. A brilliant 130 finish from Gian van Veen made it 4-0, followed by a 14-dart leg to make it five. Two 16-darters and a tidy 17-darter completed the rout.

Wales looked sharp in their match against the Philippines. The Asian pair Lourence Ilagan and Paolo Nebrida were no match for Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton, who secured a comfortable 8-2 win to book their place in the last eight.

Australia, the 2022 champions, also made light work of their round. Damon Heta and Simon Whitlock dropped just one leg in their 8-1 demolition of debutants Argentina, underlining their title credentials once more.