The new format introduced in the 2023 tournament remained, with forty teams taking part. The top four teams were seeded to the second round, with the other 36 competing in a group stage of 12 groups of three, with one qualifying from each group.[3]
In this format, all rounds were a single match played in doubles format:
Group stage: Best of seven legs
Second round, quarter and semi-finals: Best of fifteen legs
The 40 nations taking part in the tournament were confirmed on 22 May, with three changes to the 2023 tournament.[4]
As in 2023, a qualifier was held to determine the Latin American representative, which was won again by Guyana.[5] For the first time, an Asian qualifier was held. However, five Asian teams were given automatic spots, with three more spots available in the qualifier. Singapore, Chinese Taipei and Malaysia came through the qualifier.[6] Chinese Taipei will make their World Cup debut, while Malaysia return for the first time since 2014.[7] Of the 2023 participants, India and Thailand failed to qualify and will not return.
Ukraine will not return after debuting in 2023, while Norway return for the first time since 2016.[8]
The top two players from nations represented by the PDC Order of Merit were confirmed on 27 May; the top players from nations on the PDC Asian Tour were confirmed on 19 May,[9] and the top players from the Nordic & Baltic regions were confirmed on 2 June.[10]
The players for the tournament were finalised on 18 June.[11]
The top four nations based on combined Order of Merit rankings were seeded to the second round, while the next twelve nations will be seeded in the group stage.[3]Gerwyn Price withdrew after the draw and was replaced with Jim Williams – as this was after the draw Wales's seeding was maintained.[12]
All group matches were best of 7 legs After three games, the team that finished top in each group qualified for the knock-out stage If teams were tied on points after all the matches were completed, the ties were broken based on leg difference
NB: P = Played; W = Won; L = Lost; LF = Legs for; LA = Legs against; LD = Leg difference; Pts = Points
