Northern Ireland claimed a historic victory at the 2025 BetVictor World Cup of Darts, defeating Wales 10-9 in a dramatic final in Frankfurt on Sunday.
Josh Rock and Daryl Gurney – the tournament’s fourth seeds – broke down in tears after holding their nerve to make history with a 10-9 defeat of Jonny Clayton and Gerwyn Price.
Having trailed 7-5, the triumphant pair hit back to lead 9-7, only to miss four match darts for the title at 9-8, allowing Clayton and Price – champions in 2020 and 2023 – to force a decider.
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Josh Rock and Daryl Gurney were in tears after clinching the World Cup of Darts title after an epic last-leg shootout
The deciding leg saw Rock and Gurney throw an 11-dart leg to fend off the challenge of Wales to become the sixth nation to claim World Cup glory.
“We’ve made history for Northern Ireland and we’re so proud as a team,” said an emotional Rock.
“As a team we were fantastic and we fought hard all the way through.”
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An emotional Rock and Gurney attempted to put into words how they were feeling after Northern Ireland won the World Cup for the first time
Gurney added: “I would like to congratulate Wales, it shows the class of the Welsh team to stay on stage and congratulate us.
“Jonny and Gezzy are legends of the game, I think they’ll go on and win big titles this year.
“Josh’s power scoring was amazing and I was there to clean up the finishing; I was never going to miss the double eight to win the title.
“I’m so proud of Josh and myself, I put higher regard on this title than any individual events I’ve won.”
Northern Ireland led 3-1 but then lost six of the next eight legs before regaining control of a captivating contest courtesy of a devastating combination of Rock’s scoring power and Gurney’s finishing.
Following the four missed darts for glory in the penultimate leg, Wales were given a glimmer of hope, only for Gurney to finally nail double eight to secure the trophy.
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Gurney hit this 130 checkout in the opening leg of the final…
They began the day with an 8-5 win over Republic of Ireland in the quarter-finals before thrashing host nation Germany 8-1 in the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, Wales defeated Hong Kong 8-4 in the quarter-finals before overcoming Netherlands 8-5 in the semi-finals.
“We gave it our all but congratulations to those two [Rock and Gurney],” said Clayton. “To be fair to Josh and Daryl they flew out the blocks in the last leg.
“Gezzy is a class act, I’m a proud man to have a teammate like him.”
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Price and Clayton said they gave it their all but struggled to keep up with Northern Ireland
Price added: “We started off really slow, trying to get in the game was really difficult. Testament to the Northern Irish team, Josh’s scoring was unbelievable and we couldn’t keep up with them.
“At 9-9 we gave ourselves a chance but they were a bit better than us and they deserve it.”
Mardle: Record-breaker Rock has finally arrived
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Wayne Mardle believes Josh Rock’s performance in the World Cup of Darts could be the catalyst for him to reach major finals
Rock finished with a 110 individual average and started six out of 19 legs with a 180. He hit nine maximums to break the record for most number of 180s in a World Cup final.
Wayne Mardle believes this can be a catalyst for the 24-year-old, saying: “There was a lot of fake news going around with Rock saying he was on the decline because of the media. He wasn’t, he was actually climbing up the rankings but for some reason that got banded around. ‘What’s happened to Josh Rock?’ Nothing, he’s just got better and better.
“Because he’s off someone’s radar, it was like he’s not good anymore. He has been getting better and better and this shows you that you can’t play like that if you don’t have the game or the belief. Belief is so important especially in this kind of format.
“We go on about how pairs wrecks rhythms, but it didn’t wreck his. He’s got the game and we know what he can do.”
Mardle added: “There was a massively hyped game a few years ago when he played Michael van Gerwen in the Grand Slam. He hit a nine-darter as if to say ‘I’ve arrived, I’m here’. Well, he’s here now.
“We’ve seen Josh Rock come up here and play one of the games of his life in the biggest game of his life. That’s not easy to do. That tells you what kind of character he is.”
What’s the next darts event on Sky Sports?
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Highlights of the World Matchplay final as Luke Humphries defeated Michael van Gerwen
The highlight of the darting summer will see the Betfred World Matchplay held from July 19-27 at the Winter Gardens, as Luke Humphries bids to retain the coveted Phil Taylor Trophy, with world champion Luke Littler and three-time winner Michael van Gerwen also set to headline the £800,000 event across nine days.
Sunday July 27 will also feature the fourth staging of the Betfred Women’s World Matchplay, featuring eight players competing across one session – with Beau Greaves having won the 2023 and 2024 events.
Sky Sports will once again be the home of the World Cup of Darts, World Matchplay, World Grand Prix, Grand Slam of Darts and more! Stream darts and more top sport with NOW
