Where is the European Championship darts? The European Championship is held at the Westfalenhallen in Dortmund, Germany

The European Championship is one of the biggest darts tournaments held outside of the UK. First held in 2008, the European Championship is staged by the PDC (Professional Darts Corporation) every October and sees 32 of the world’s best players battling it out to be crowned the European champion.

The 2026 edition of the European Championship will be the 19th staging of the competition and will take place over four days from October 22-25. Former champions Michael van Gerwen, James Wade, Rob Cross and Ross Smith will be part of a star-studded line up in this year’s event along with the world number one Luke Littler and the defending European champion Gian van Veen who are all in the 32-player field.

The European Championship darts tournament has been held every year since 2008 and has grown a reputation as one of the hardest events to win. Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen hold the record for the most European Championship titles with four wins each, whilst Rob Cross and Peter Wright (both two titles) are the only other players to have won this event more than once.

The European Championship is the fifth ranking major event of the season. The World Masters, UK Open, World Matchplay and World Grand Prix are the first four majors held each year, with the season concluding with the Grand Slam of Darts, Players Championship Finals and PDC World Darts Championship all taking place between November and January.

The Westfalenhallen attracted a record 33,000+ fans for the European Championship last year

The European Championship is played under the popular legs format where the first player to win a certain number of legs wins the match. For example, first round matches are played over the best of 11 legs with the player who wins six legs first declared the winner.

The number of legs a player must win increases as the tournament progresses, with the semi-finals and final both contested over the best of 21 legs (or first to 11 legs). The format for each round has remained mostly the same since the event’s inception in 2008.

Here is a breakdown of the European Championship’s format for 2026:-

• Round 1 – best of 11 legs
• Round 2 – best of 19 legs
• Quarter-finals – best of 19 legs
• Semi-finals – best of 21 legs
• Final – best of 21 legs

In 2016, the qualification structure for the European Championship underwent a radical change with players qualifying solely based on their performances on the European Tour. Each year the PDC stages a number of European Tour events in countries including Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and prize money won from those events makes up the European Tour rankings.

After the final European Tour event of the season, the top 32 players on the European Tour rankings will qualify for the European Championship. The seedings are also based on these rankings, with the number one player on the rankings facing the 32nd-ranked player, the number two player taking on the 31st-ranked player and so on.

The European Championship darts 2026 line up was finalised following the Dutch Darts Championship (October 16-18), the 15th and final European Tour event of the season. The line up includes the world number one Luke Littler, last year's European Championship winner Gian van Veen and the four-time European champion Michael van Gerwen. Niels Zonneveld and Kevin Doets are the two debutants in the field this year.

Gian van Veen pocketed £120,000 for winning the 2025 European Championship

The prize money for the European Championship has increased many times during its near 20-year history. The inaugural edition of the European Championship in 2008 had a prize fund of £200,000, including £50,000 for the winner. The total prize pot has risen several times since then, with the latest jump coming this year with the prize fund increasing to £750,000, with £150,000 going to the champion.

All of the prize money from the European Championship is added to the PDC Rankings Ladder – the official world rankings of the PDC. Gian van Veen won his first major title at last year's European Championship which moved him into the world's top eight for the first time. Van Veen's run to the title moved him up to #7 in the rankings, with the Dutchman continuing his rise since then and climbing into the top four earlier this year.

Below is the European Championship darts prize money breakdown for 2026:-

Winner - £150,000

Runner-up - £80,000

Semi-finalists - £50,000

Quarter-finalists - £35,000

Round 2 (last 16) - £20,000

Round 1 (last 32) - £7,500

The European Championship was first held in 2008 and saw Phil Taylor beat Adrian Lewis 11-5 to win the title. Taylor would go on to win the first four editions of the European Championship, with his last success coming in 2011.

More history has been written in the European Championship since then with Michael van Gerwen claiming a record-equalling four titles on the spin from 2014 to 2017. Gian van Veen, Ritchie Edhouse, Simon Whitlock and Ross Smith all won their first PDC major titles in this event, with the latter seeing off Michael Smith 11-8 in the 2022 decider with a 101 average.

The European Championship has been held in 10 different venues with Germany, Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands all having staged the event over the years. The first edition in 2008 was held at the Südbahnhof, in Frankfurt, Germany, before moving to the Claus Event Center, in Goofddorp, the Netherlands the year after.

The European Championship has mostly taken place in Germany, with Dinsalken, Düsseldorf, Mülheim, Göttingen and Oberhausen having all played host to the tournament. Between 2015 and 2017 the event was held in Belgium, at the Ethias Arena, in Hasselt, whilst the 2021 edition took place in Salzburg, Austria. The tournament moved to its current home at the Westfalenhallen, in Dortmund, in 2022.

Michael van Gerwen has won the European Championship a joint-record four times

Here is a list of European Championship darts winners since its inaugural staging in 2008. Phil Taylor dominated the competition during its early years, winning the first four editions, whilst Michael van Gerwen reeled off four titles on the bounce from 2014 to 2017. Ritchie Edhouse joined the roll of honour following his success in 2024.

European Championship roll of honour

2008 – Phil Taylor

2009 – Phil Taylor

2010 – Phil Taylor

2011 – Phil Taylor

2012 – Simon Whitlock

2013 – Adrian Lewis

2014 – Michael van Gerwen

2015 – Michael van Gerwen

2016 – Michael van Gerwen

2017 – Michael van Gerwen

2018 – James Wade

2019 – Rob Cross

2020 – Peter Wright

2021 – Rob Cross

2022 – Ross Smith

2023 – Peter Wright

2024 – Ritchie Edhouse

2025 – Gian van Veen

Jose De Sousa was the last player to throw a nine-dart leg at the European Championship in 2020

The European Championship has seen four nine-dart legs thrown during its history, with Adrian Lewis the first player to achieve the perfect leg during the 2011 tournament. ‘Jackpot’ hit a nine darter in his 11-10 semi-final win against Raymond van Barneveld, and it was his second televised nine-dart finish that year having also struck perfection in the PDC World Darts Championship final at the start of 2011.

More history was made at the 2014 European Championship when Michael van Gerwen threw a nine-dart leg in his semi-final clash against van Barneveld. In 2017, the late Kyle Anderson also threw a nine darter in an epic semi-final encounter with van Gerwen.

Portugal’s Jose De Sousa was the fourth player to throw the perfect leg, and to date the last in the European Championship. ‘The Special One’ threw a nine darter in his first-round tie against Jeffrey de Zwaan in 2020.

Gian van Veen became the newest first-time major champion in the PDC after winning the European Championship in Dortmund last year. The Dutchman defeated Damon Heta, Ryan Searle, Ryan Joyce, Michael van Gerwen and Luke Humphries to pocket the £120,000 top prize.

Van Veen, who was making only his third-ever appearance in the European Championship, had never been past the semi-finals of a major event before, but went all the way in Germany to add his name to the roll of honour.

“This is such a phenomenal feeling," van Veen said. "I will never forget this moment, and it's incredible to win my first major title in Germany. What a night!"

'The Giant' opened his tournament with a 6-3 win over Australia's Heta, averaging 98, before posting a stunning 109.92 average to knock out Searle 10-2, and advance to the final day. Van Veen continued his run with a 101 average helping him get past Joyce 10-5 in the quarter-finals, before breaking new ground with an 11-9 victory over his fellow Dutchman van Gerwen to reach his first major final in the PDC.

The deciding clash pitted van Veen against the then-world number one Humphries, and it was the higher-ranked player that stormed into a 4-1 lead at the first interval. Van Veen fought back with a 10-dart leg and a 160 checkout helping him to level at 4-4, before the Dutch star took the lead for the first time at 7-6. The first-time finalist moved 9-7 and 10-9 in front, before missing two match darts in the 20th leg and Humphries stepped in with an 85 checkout to force a deciding leg. In a dramatic decider, Humphries missed a match dart at tops and van Veen returned to check out 100 to win 11-10 and secure his first major title.

The next edition of the European Championship is almost upon us as 32 of the top darts players get ready to battle it out for the title. The 2026 European Championship takes place from October 22-25 at the Westfalenhallen, in Dortmund, and will be broadcast live on ITV.

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Pictures: PDC/PDC Europe