Friday 18 May 2018 18:31, UK
After Thursday's draw for the World Cup of Darts, the PDC has confirmed the schedule of play for four days of action which you can see live on Sky Sports.
The first round gets underway on Thursday May 31 from 7pm and will feature top seeds Scotland going up against the USA, while Brazil, China, Wales and Australia are among the other teams in action on the opening day.
The Scots, who have never won the event will be represented by Peter Wright and Gary Anderson and they will take on the American pair of veteran Larry Butler and Darin Young.
A new look Wales are seeded fifth with Jonny Clayton joining Gerwyn Price who was part of the team that reached the final last year only to come up short against Netherlands.
All eyes on opening night will also be on China's Momo Zhou, who will become only the second woman to compete in the event when she partners Xiaochen Zong against Switzerland.
Australia face Hong Kong, Brazil meet Denmark and Austria take on Japan on a bumper first day of the tournament - all first round ties are played as doubles matches over the best of nine legs.
The only two nations to have won the event, England and the Netherlands, are in action on Friday on a loaded second day's play.
World champion Rob Cross is partnered by Dave Chisnall as England chase a fifth title in the event although all four previous wins have been with Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis in tandem.
They are seeded second and take on the Czech Republic before what promises to be a raucous end to the evening with the home crowd certain to get behind the German pair of Max Hopp and Martin Schindler when they take on Sweden.
Defending champions Netherlands bring the first round to a close when Michael van Gerwen and Raymond van Barneveld take on Gibraltar with plenty of Dutch fans expected to make their way across the border,
Northern Ireland and former finalists Belgium are also in action while Paul Lim's Singapore start day two when they face New Zealand.
Saturday June 2 sees the second round split across two sessions.
The tournament then switches to a combination of Singles and Doubles ties from the last 16 onwards, with Saturday's eight second-round matches split across two sessions before the final day of action on Sunday featuring an afternoon of quarter-finals with the last four and final taking place in the evening.
The final day of action sees the quarter-finals in Sunday's afternoon session ahead of the semi-finals and final in the evening session.
The Second Round, Quarter-Finals & Semi-Finals will be played as two best of seven legs 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.
The Final will be played as two best of seven legs 501 Singles matches, with both nations nominating the order in which their players play the first two matches, followed by a best of seven leg 501 Doubles match and then Reverse Singles matches. The first team to win three games is declared the winner.
Darts is back on your Sky Sports screens at the end of this month with the World Cup of Darts, live from Frankfurt - four days of live coverage get underway on Sky Sports Action on Thursday May 31
Keep up to date with the latest darts news, previews, reports, reaction and expert analysis. Get all the latest at www.skysports.com/darts and join in the conversation @SkySportsDarts- don't forget to use #LoveTheDarts
