Taylor and Lewis defeated Australian pair Simon Whitlock & Paul Nicholson 12 months ago to take the title at the Alsterdorfer Sporthalle in Hamburg, claiming victory in a sudden-death leg to end a thrilling final.

The pair’s status as the number one and two in the PDC Order of Merit means that they will again be partners for this year’s £150,000 tournament, which will be held from February 1-3 and screened live on Sky Sports HD.

Raymond van Barneveld, who led the Netherlands to victory in the inaugural World Cup of Darts alongside Co Stompe in 2010, has a third different partner in the tournament, with World Grand Prix champion Michael van Gerwen ousting Vincent van der Voort from the Dutch team.

UK Open champion Robert Thornton’s rise back into the world’s top 16 has seen him return to the Scotland team alongside Gary Anderson, while Andree Welge comes into the Germany team alongside Jyhan Artut and Connie Finnan makes his World Cup debut alongside William O’Connor for Ireland.

Brothers Kim and Ronny Huybrechts will create history as they represent Belgium as the first siblings to compete in the World Cup of Darts.

The SDC will be represented in force as Sweden’s Magnus Caris and Par Riihonen, Denmark’s Jann Hoffmann and Per Laursen and Finland’s Jarkko Komula and Jani Haavisto will all be trying to bring the Betfair World Cup back to Scandinavia.

The 24-nation event will begin with a Group Stage, which will see the teams drawn into eight three-team groups, which will see each nation face each other once over the best of seven legs.

The Group Stage will be split across two sessions on Friday February 1 and Saturday’s afternoon session, before the top two teams from each group progress to the knockout Last 16 on Saturday evening.

Sunday afternoon will see the Quarter-Finals take place, before the Semi-Finals and Final are held on Sunday evening.

The draw for the Group Stage will be made during Qualifying School this weekend, with each of the Seeded Nations being drawn with one team from Pool B and one team from Pool C, with nations ranked in order of the cumulative ranking of both players from the PDC Order of Merit.

GROUP A
England (1) (Phil Taylor & Adrian Lewis)
Austria (Mensur Suljovic & Maik Langendorf)
Japan (Haruki Muramatsu & Sho Katsumi)

GROUP B
Republic of Ireland (8) (William O’Connor & Connie Finnan)
Denmark (Per Laursen & Jann Hoffmann)
South Africa (Charl Pietersen & Shawn Hogan)

GROUP C
Scotland (4) (Gary Anderson & Robert Thornton)
Canada (John Part & Jeff Smith)
Sweden (Magnus Caris & Par Riihonen)

GROUP D
Wales (5) (Mark Webster & Richie Burnett)
Spain (Antonio Alcinas & Carlos Rodriguez)
Philippines (Lourence Ilagan & Christian Perez)

GROUP E
Netherlands (2) (Michael van Gerwen & Raymond van Barneveld)
Gibraltar (Dyson Parody & Dylan Duo)
Poland (Krzysztof Kciuk & Krzysztof Ratajski)

GROUP F
Germany (7) (Jyhan Artut & Andree Welge)
Finland (Jani Haavisto & Jarkko Komula)
USA (Darin Young & Larry Butler)

GROUP G
Australia (3) (Simon Whitlock & Paul Nicholson)
Croatia (Robert Marijanovic & Tonci Restovic)
New Zealand (Phil Hazel & Craig Caldwell)

GROUP H
Northern Ireland (6) (Brendan Dolan & Michael Mansell)
Belgium (Kim Huybrechts & Ronny Huybrechts)
Hungary (Nandor Bezzeg & Meszaros Zsolt)


Schedule of Play
Friday February 1
Afternoon Session
2pm-6pm Local Time (1pm-5pm UK Time)
8x Group Matches

Evening Session
8pm-12am Local Time (7pm-11pm UK Time)
8x Group Matches

Saturday February 2
Afternoon Session
2.30pm-6.30pm Local Time (1.30pm-5.30pm UK Time)
8x Group Matches

Evening Session
8pm-12am Local Time (7pm-11pm UK Time)
8x Second Round Matches

Sunday February 3
Afternoon Session
3pm-6.30pm Local Time (2pm-5.30pm UK Time)
Quarter-Finals

Evening Session
8pm-11.30pm Local Time (7pm-10.30pm UK Time)
Semi-Finals
Final

Format
The 24 competing nations will be drawn into eight groups of three teams, each comprising of one seeded nation, one team from Pool B and one team from Pool C.

All Group Matches will be played as the best of seven legs of 501 in a Doubles format, with the first team to win four legs winning the match. Players will throw alterately throughout.

Two points are awarded for a win, no points are awarded for a defeat.

In the event of a tie for positions in each Group Table, final placings will be determined by Leg Difference, followed by the overall Group Stage three-dart average of the tied nations.

Order of Matches:
Friday Afternoon Session Games
Pool B Teams v Pool C Teams

Friday Evening Session Games
Seeded Teams v Friday Afternoon Losers

Saturday Afternoon Session Games
Seeded Teams v Friday Afternoon Winners

Knockout Phase
The top two nations from each group will progress to the knockout stage from the last 16 onwards, which will be played in a bracket format as follows:
Last 16
Match One – Winner Group A v Runner-Up Group B
Match Two – Winner Group B v Runner-Up Group A
Match Three – Winner Group C v Runner-Up Group D
Match Four – Winner Group D v Runner-Up Group C
Match Five – Winner Group E v Runner-Up Group F
Match Six – Winner Group F v Runner-Up Group E
Match Seven – Winner Group G v Runner-Up Group H
Match Eight – Winner Group H v Runner-Up Group G
All matches will be played as the best of nine legs of 501 in a Doubles format, with the first team to win five legs winning the match.

Quarter-Finals
Match Nine – Winner Match One v Winner Match Two
Match Ten – Winner Match Three v Winner Match Four
Match 11 – Winner Match Five v Winner Match Six
Match 12 – Winner Match Seven v Winner Match Eight
The Quarter-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.

Semi-Finals
Match 13 – Winner Match Nine v Winner Match Ten
Match 14 – Winner Match 11 v Winner Match 12
The 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
Winner Match 13 v Winner Match 14
The Final will be played as four best of seven leg 501 Singles matches, with both nations nominating the order in which their players play the first two matches, and then Reverse Singles following, In the event of both nations winning two Singles matches apiece, a best of seven leg 501 Doubles match will be played to decide the tie.

Prize Fund
Winners – £20,000 each
Runners-Up – £10,000 each
Semi-Finalists – £6,500 each
Quarter-Finalists – £3,000 each
Last 16 Losers – £1,500 each
Group Stage Losers – £1,000 each
Total – £150,000