'They absolutely can beat England' - No Van Gerwen but no shortage of confidence in Dutch World Cup of Darts team

From Thursday 12 to Sunday 15 June, the 2025 World Cup of Darts returns to the Eissporthalle in Frankfurt. Representing the Netherlands this year are Danny Noppert and Gian van Veen.

It is England who enter the tournament as the overwhelming favourites though, boasting the formidable pairing of reigning world champion Luke Littler and world number one Luke Humphries. England are also the defending champions, though last year’s title was claimed with Humphries alongside Michael Smith.

In a new episode of the Darts Draait Door podcast, former professional player turned expert analyst Vincent van der Voort has looked ahead to evaluate his nation's hopes at this year’s event.

“I really like the World Cup of Darts because you get to see a wide range of countries and players,” Van der Voort said. “But I’m not exactly excited about Littler and Humphries as a duo. I’m not curious to see what they’ll do — you just expect them to win.”

“You hope there are a few countries that can really push them. Because if this is the new standard, it’s going to be very tough for everyone else. There aren’t many nations who stand a real chance against them.”

Notably absent from the Dutch team this year is Michael van Gerwen, who has opted to take a holiday during the tournament. That leaves Noppert and Van Veen — making his World Cup debut — to carry Dutch hopes.

“If both of them play well, they absolutely can beat England,” Van der Voort said with confidence. “It’s all pairs matches, after all, which is different to singles. A strong partnership becomes even more important — individual talent comes second.”

“That’s what determines whether you’re a good team or not,” he concluded. “You can’t just assume two good players automatically make a good pair.”