The draw for the 2026 World Snooker Championship has been made, with the full Crucible first-round matches confirmed.
All 16 seeds have learned their opponents following the conclusion of the qualifying rounds at the English Institute of Sport.
The complete draw and schedule for the 50th edition of the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield are detailed below.
2026 World Snooker Championship Draw
Round 1 (Best of 19)
All times are in BST
1. Zhao Xintong (1) vs Liam Highfield
Session 1: Sat 18 Apr 10:00
Session 2: Sat 18 Apr 19:00
2. Ding Junhui (16) vs David Gilbert
Session 1: Sun 19 Apr 10:00
Session 2: Mon 20 Apr 10:00
3. Xiao Guodong (9) vs Zhou Yuelong
Session 1: Sat 18 Apr 14:30
Session 2: Sun 19 Apr 19:00
4. Shaun Murphy (8) vs Fan Zhengyi
Session 1: Mon 20 Apr 19:00
Session 2: Tue 21 Apr 19:00
5. John Higgins (5) vs Ali Carter
Session 1: Sun 19 Apr 14:30
Session 2: Mon 20 Apr 14:30
6. Ronnie O’Sullivan (12) vs He Guoqiang
Session 1: Tue 21 Apr 14:30
Session 2: Wed 22 Apr 14:30
7. Chris Wakelin (13) vs Liam Pullen
Session 1: Tue 21 Apr 10:00
Session 2: Wed 22 Apr 10:00
8. Neil Robertson (4) vs Pang Junxu
Session 1: Wed 22 Apr 19:00
Session 2: Thu 23 Apr 19:00
9. Kyren Wilson (3) vs Stan Moody
Session 1: Mon 20 Apr 10:00
Session 2: Mon 20 Apr 19:00
10. Mark Allen (14) vs Zhang Anda
Session 1: Sat 18 Apr 10:00
Session 2: Sun 19 Apr 10:00
11. Barry Hawkins (11) vs Matthew Stevens
Session 1: Sat 18 Apr 19:00
Session 2: Sun 19 Apr 14:30
12. Mark Williams (6) vs Antoni Kowalski
Session 1: Sat 18 Apr 14:30
Session 2: Sun 19 Apr 19:00
13. Mark Selby (7) vs Jak Jones
Session 1: Wed 22 Apr 10:00
Session 2: Wed 22 Apr 19:00
14. Wu Yize (10) vs Lei Peifan
Session 1: Mon 20 Apr 14:30
Session 2: Tue 21 Apr 14:30
15. Si Jiahui (15) vs Hossein Vafaei
Session 1: Wed 22 Apr 14:30
Session 2: Thu 23 Apr 13:00
16. Judd Trump (2) vs Gary Wilson
Session 1: Tue 21 Apr 10:00
Session 2: Tue 21 Apr 19:00
Round 2 (Best of 25)
17. Winner of match 1 vs Winner of match 2
Session 1: Fri 24 Apr 14:30
Session 2: Sat 25 Apr 14:30
Session 3: Sun 26 Apr 10:00
18. Winner of match 3 vs Winner of match 4
Session 1: Thu 23 Apr 13:00
Session 2: Fri 24 Apr 10:00
Session 3: Fri 24 Apr 19:00
19. Winner of match 5 vs Winner of match 6
Session 1: Sat 25 Apr 19:00
Session 2: Sun 26 Apr 19:00
Session 3: Mon 27 Apr 13:00
20. Winner of match 7 vs Winner of match 8
Session 1: Sat 25 Apr 10:00
Session 2: Sun 26 Apr 14:30
Session 3: Mon 27 Apr 19:00
21. Winner of match 9 vs Winner of match 10
Session 1: Thu 23 Apr 19:00
Session 2: Fri 24 Apr 14:30
Session 3: Sat 25 Apr 10:00
22. Winner of match 11 vs Winner of match 12
Session 1: Fri 24 Apr 10:00
Session 2: Fri 24 Apr 19:00
Session 3: Sat 25 Apr 19:00
23. Winner of match 13 vs Winner of match 14
Session 1: Sun 26 Apr 10:00
Session 2: Sun 26 Apr 19:00
Session 3: Mon 27 Apr 13:00
24. Winner of match 15 vs Winner of match 16
Session 1: Sat 25 Apr 14:30
Session 2: Sun 26 Apr 14:30
Session 3: Mon 27 Apr 19:00
Quarter-Finals (Best of 25)
25. Winner of match 17 vs Winner of match 18
Session 1: Tue 28 Apr 10:00
Session 2: Tue 28 Apr 19:00
Session 3: Wed 29 Apr 14:30
26. Winner of match 19 vs Winner of match 20
Session 1: Tue 28 Apr 14:30
Session 2: Wed 29 Apr 10:00
Session 3: Wed 29 Apr 19:00
27. Winner of match 21 vs Winner of match 22
Session 1: Tue 28 Apr 10:00
Session 2: Tue 28 Apr 19:00
Session 3: Wed 29 Apr 10:00
28. Winner of match 23 vs Winner of match 24
Session 1: Tue 28 Apr 14:30
Session 2: Wed 29 Apr 14:30
Session 3: Wed 29 Apr 19:00
Semi-Finals (Best of 33)
29. Winner of match 25 vs Winner of match 26
Session 1: Thu 30 Apr 13:00
Session 2: Fri 01 May 10:00
Session 3: Fri 01 May 19:00
Session 4: Sat 02 May 14:30
30. Winner of match 27 vs Winner of match 28
Session 1: Thu 30 Apr 19:00
Session 2: Fri 01 May 14:30
Session 3: Sat 02 May 10:00
Session 4: Sat 02 May 19:00
Final (Best of 35)
31. Winner of match 29 vs Winner of match 30
Session 1: Sun 03 May 13:00
Session 2: Sun 03 May 19:00
Session 3: Mon 04 May 13:00
Session 4: Mon 04 May 19:00
CHAMPION:
The format
The 2026 World Snooker Championship draw features the top 16 players in the world rankings and an additional 16 players who came through a qualifying tournament.
The first round, played across 19 frames, is the only one during the venue stages where the matches will take place over only two sessions.
The World Snooker Championship format increases to the best of 25 frames during the second round which is then repeated for the quarter-finals, with each played across three sessions.
Four sessions are then on the World Snooker Championship schedule for the semi-finals and the final, which have a distance of 33 and 35 frames respectively.
World Snooker Championship prize money
Like in 2025, the player who emerges from the 2026 World Snooker Championship draw with the trophy in his hands will also pocket a cheque worth £500,000.
The overall prize money is much greater than the majority of other tournaments on the World Snooker Tour calendar, highlighting the prestige attached with playing at the Crucible.
Prize Money
Winner: £500,000
Runner-up: £200,000
Semi-finalists: £100,000
Quarter-finalists: £50,000
Last 16: £30,000
Last 32: £20,000
Highest break (including qualifiers): £15,000
147 break: £40,000
There is also the separate major-tournament maximum break bonus – a jackpot that Ronnie O’Sullivan and Chang Bingyu have already pocketed.
This season, a player who compiles two 147 breaks during the Triple Crown events – comprising the UK Championship, the Masters, and the World Championship – or at the Saudi Arabia Masters will collect a £147,000 jackpot.
O’Sullivan earned the bonus through his double in Jeddah while Chang hit the jackpot after recording maximum breaks in both the UK and World Championship qualifiers.
Previous world champions
More than a quarter of the field in the 2025 World Snooker Championship draw will understand what it takes to go all the way at the Crucible Theatre.
Indeed, all of the top eight seeds have got their hands on the trophy before, with 12th seed Ronnie O’Sullivan bidding for a record-breaking eighth world crown.
Zhao Xintong is the defending world snooker champion after orchestrating a maiden triumph in fantastic fashion 12 months ago.
As a first-time winner, the Cyclone from China will attempt to break the Curse of the Crucible and is in the form of his life having already won four titles during a prolific 2025/26 campaign.
World number one Judd Trump, meanwhile, will attempt to add a second world title to the one he captured seven years ago.
Mark Selby and John Higgins have won the crown on four occasions each, with Mark Williams a three-time winner.
Shaun Murphy, Neil Robertson, and Kyren Wilson are the other former champions in the field.
A further five players in the draw have contested World Snooker Championship finals only to fall one hurdle short of glory – Matthew Stevens, Ali Carter, Barry Hawkins, Ding Junhui, and Jak Jones.
How to watch the 2026 World Snooker Championship?
Live coverage of all 17 days will be available on the BBC, TNT Sports, and through the other broadcasting partners around the world.
Other territories will have access via a subscription on WST Play.
Featured photo credit: WST
