There will be 128 players battling it out for a record-breaking £5m prize pool, with £1m of it going to the winner and a £60,000 bonus for anyone who achieves a nine-dart leg.
Luke Littler is the overwhelming favourite to lift successive Sid Waddell Trophies after destroying his competition throughout 2025, while several records are waiting to be shattered.
Here, Flashscore delves into the feats that could be broken in the latest edition of the tournament...
Most 180s in a single tournament overall
The level of quality on offer at the World Championship seems to increase every year, with maximum-hitting reaching new levels in 2025.
Across the calendar year, Littler has unsurprisingly hit the most 180s (886), followed by the sensational Beau Greaves (677), Stephen Bunting (625) and Gerwyn Price (593).
It’s shaping up to be a record-year of 180s hit at Alexandra Palace, and that total currently stands at 914, set in the 2024 event.
With more players than ever competing in the tournament (128) and the added incentive of Paddy Power pledging £1,000 for every 180 scored to Prostate Cancer UK, that 914 total could be toppled in 2026.
Most 180s in a single tournament by a player
While the players can collectively help break the 180 record, only one can win the Ballon d’Art, and that was awarded to Littler in 2025 after he hit 76 maximums across the tournament.
Littler is inarguably the favourite to win this trophy once more, and the 18-year-old is one of several who will be looking to break Michael Smith’s record of 83 set in the 2022 tournament.
Smith made it to the final that year, losing 7-5 to Peter Wright, before finally winning the showpiece event in 2023.
Bully Boy played out an Ally Pally classic against Van Gerwen, becoming only the second player in history - after Adrian Lewis in 2011 - to hit a nine-dart leg in the final.
Female player going deep into the tournament
A record five players from the Women’s Series have qualified for the event; Greaves, Lisa Ashton, Noa-Lynn van Leuven, Fallon Sherrock and Gemma Hayter.
All will fancy their chances of causing an upset at the tournament - in particular Greaves, who arrives at Alexandra Palace after producing the best Women’s Series season in history.
The 21-year-old kicks off her second World Championship with a tough showdown against world number 22 Daryl Gurney on December 19, with many hoping she can become the new ‘Queen of the Palace’.
Sherrock earned that tag for her stunning run to the third round in 2020, becoming the first woman in history to win two games in a row at the World Championship.
She saw off Ted Evetts and Mensur Suljovic, before Chris Dobey killed her dreams of reaching the fourth round with a 4-2 victory.
Three is the magic number of victories needed for history to be made by a woman at this event, and if anyone can achieve that, it’s Greaves.
Highest average
Arguably the toughest record on this list to break is Van Gerwen’s eye-watering 114.05 average, set in his semi-final showdown against Raymond van Barneveld in 2017.
The Green Machine was at the peak of his powers during this tournament and won his second World Championship with a 7-3 thrashing of Gary Anderson in the final.
Top five highest three-dart averages at the World Championship:
Michael van Gerwen - 114.05 (2017 semi-final)
Phil Taylor - 111.21 - (2002 2nd round)
Phil Taylor - 110.94 (2009 final)
Raymond van Berneveld - 109.34 (2017 semi-final)
Michael van Gerwen - 109.23 (2016 2nd round)
Van Gerwen features twice on the top-five list of averages at the World’s, and while the standard of the sport has increased dramatically, Phil Taylor’s two averages of over 110 were achieved in 2002 and 2009.
To put it into context, Littler’s highest average at Alexandra Palace is 106.12, achieved during a first-round demolition of Christian Kist in the 2024 tournament.
The Nuke is in red-hot form heading into the World’s, so don’t be surprised if he breaks Van Gerwen’s three-dart average of 114.05, although it would take a near-flawless performance.