Luke Littler is set to attend England at this summer’s World Cup and Thomas Tuchel and his team hope his magic rubs off on them. Nuke spent time with Tuchel’s team at their training camp at St George’s Park last week and spoke about how Tuchel’s fear factor was needed going into the final, which saw them draw with Uruguay and lose to Japan.
Coincidentally, and with perfect timing, the American Darts Masters will be held at Madison Square Garden on June 25th and 26th, while England’s final group match will be played in New Jersey on Saturday, June 27th. Double world champion Littler said he hopes to strengthen BetMGM’s position at the top of the Premier League tomorrow night, but added: “I hope they start winning. I don’t think there’s much point in a friendly. This is a friendly and the players need to stay healthy and get back to the club, which we still have to do.” We have a good chance of participating in the World Cup. We’re playing in New York and we have our last game against Panama next Saturday, so I hope I can play in that.
“I looked into it and the actual ground is only 25 minutes away, so it would be nice to get there.”England open against Croatia on June 17, then play Ghana on the 23rd before facing Panama in their final Group L game at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford.
Littler’s first and foremost priority is to regain Darts’ Premier League title, which he won in 2024. After a disappointing start to the season, he has moved to the top of the table with 21 points, two ahead of Johnny Clayton, as the tournament enters its ninth week in Manchester this evening.
Littler will face Jan van Veen in the quarterfinals. But The Nuke, who have won three straight games this season, didn’t make it to their first final until Week 5 in Cardiff, so there was no need to worry if things didn’t go to plan. “This is why darts is such a crazy sport,” Littler said.
“Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. There are bad moments, there are better moments. A few weeks didn’t go to plan, but look at where I am now. I don’t think there’s anything to worry about.”
“When I get on stage, I just enjoy myself and get excited by the fans and the chants. As long as I’m playing good darts and giving my best performance, I have nothing to worry about. I’m always looking forward to coming to Manchester and playing darts. I hope to win again.”
“I think over the last few years, if you get 25, 26 points you qualify for The 02 (final night). With 30 points you can say I’m in. The O2 is important to get there and that’s the main goal. But it would be great to be top of the table again.”
“Johnny has made a great start and I have no doubt that he will continue to chase. Everyone will continue to chase the top spot, we all know that, but we have to keep moving forward.”
On the seventh night, he lost 5-0 to Gerwyn Price in the final, but fought back to win 6-5. Littler added: “I’ve never been out of the game and it showed against Gaethje.”
“When I went 5-3, I said to myself on stage, ‘I got him.’ He was starting to fall below the treble and was trying to fight for the treble, trying to get past Oce, and was missing doubles. I don’t think I’m scared of anybody. I’m just standing there and doing my job.”
