Portugal will compete in the BetVictor World Cup of Darts for the first time next weekend after replacing Singapore, while the first round schedule of play is also now available.

The 2020 World Cup of Darts will take place from November 6-8 at the Salzburgarena in Austria, featuring 32 two-player teams from nations around the globe. Due to regulations in Singapore, Harith Lim is now unable to travel to Austria and as such the former quarter-finalists – who would also have featured Hong Kong-based Paul Lim – have withdrawn.

Portugal will now step into the event and be represented by Jose De Sousa – who won a European Tour title recently and landed a nine-darter at the European Championship – and Jose Marques, who competed at the 2020 Qualifying School.

Cristo Reyes will be replaced by Jesus Noguera in the Spain team, and Zizhao Zheng has replaced Xicheng Han for China. Due to a change in regulations in Austria, the World Cup will now be held behind closed doors at the Salzburgarena, with the action starting on Friday with a double session of first round action.

Four-time winners England will be in action in the afternoon session against Philippines, alongside former finalists Belgium and host nation Austria. Scotland’s title defence will commence in the evening session as they play Japan, while four-time champions Netherlands are in action, while two former finalists face off as Republic of Ireland play Australia.

The BetVictor World Cup of Darts will be televised on Sky Sports as well as through the PDC’s international broadcast partners including RTL7 and DAZN, as well as for PDCTV ‘Rest of the World Subscribers’ and on matchroom.live.

2020 BetVictor World Cup of Darts

Friday November 6th
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 GMT)
8x First Round
Lithuania v Gibraltar
Hong Kong v China
Portugal v Hungary
New Zealand v Denmark
Northern Ireland v Canada
Belgium v Czech Republic
Austria v USA
England v Philippines

Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 GMT)
8x First Round
Italy v Spain
Sweden v Greece
Japan v Scotland
Poland v South Africa
Republic of Ireland v Australia
Wales v Russia
Germany v Finland
Netherlands v Brazil

Saturday November 7th
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 GMT)
4x Second Round

Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 GMT)
4x Second Round

Sunday November 8th
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 GMT)
Quarter-Finals

Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 GMT)
Semi-Finals & Final

Format
First Round
Best of nine legs 501 Doubles

Second Round, Quarter-Finals & Semi-Finals
The Second Round, Quarter-Finals & Semi-Finals will be played as two best of seven leg 501 Singles matches, with both nations nominating the order in which their players play. In the event of both nations winning one Singles match apiece, a best of seven leg 501 Doubles match will be played to decide the tie.

Final
The Final will be played as two best of seven leg 501 Singles matches, with both nations nominating the order in which their players play the first two matches, followed by a best of seven leg 501 Doubles match and then Reverse Singles matches. The first team to win three games is declared the winner.

(1) England v Philippines
Lithuania v Gibraltar
(8) Austria v USA
Portugal v Hungary
(4) Northern Ireland v Canada
New Zealand v Denmark
(5) Belgium v Czech Republic
Hong Kong v China
(2) Wales v Russia
Japan v Scotland
(7) Republic of Ireland v Australia
Poland v South Africa
(3) Netherlands v Brazil
Italy v Spain
(6) Germany v Finland
Sweden v Greece

Competing Nations & Players
(1) England – Michael Smith & Rob Cross
(2) Wales – Gerwyn Price & Jonny Clayton
(3) Netherlands – Michael van Gerwen & Danny Noppert
(4) Northern Ireland – Daryl Gurney & Brendan Dolan
(5) Belgium – Dimitri Van den Bergh & Kim Huybrechts
(6) Germany – Max Hopp & Gabriel Clemens
(7) Republic of Ireland – William O’Connor & Steve Lennon
(8) Austria – Mensur Suljovic & Rowby-John Rodriguez
Australia – Simon Whitlock & Damon Heta
Brazil – Diogo Portela & Bruno Rangel
Canada – Jeff Smith & Matt Campbell
China – Di Zhuang & Zizhao Zheng
Czech Republic – Karel Sedlacek & Adam Gawlas
Denmark – Niels Heinsøe & Per Laursen
Finland – Marko Kantele & Veijo Viinikka
Gibraltar – Craig Galliano & Justin Hewitt
Greece – John Michael & Veniamin Symeonidis
Hong Kong – Kai Fan Leung & Royden Lam
Hungary – Patrik Kovacs & Janos Vegsö
Italy – Andrea Micheletti & Daniele Petri
Japan – Seigo Asada & Yuki Yamada
Lithuania – Darius Labanauskas & Mindaugas Barauskas
New Zealand – Cody Harris & Haupai Puha
Philippines – Lourence Ilagan & Noel Malicdem
Poland – Krzysztof Ratajski & Krzysztof Kciuk
Portugal – Jose De Sousa & Jose Marques
Russia – Boris Koltsov & Aleksei Kadochnikov
Scotland – John Henderson & Robert Thornton
South Africa – Devon Petersen & Carl Gabriel
Spain – Toni Alcinas & Jesus Noguera
Sweden – Daniel Larsson & Dennis Nilsson
USA – Chuck Puleo & Danny Lauby
NB: Singapore replaced by Portugal. For Spain, Jesus Noguera replaced Cristo Reyes. For China, Zizhao Zheng replaced Xicheng Han.