2026 World Snooker Championship: Dates, Format, History, Prize Money & more

The 2026 World Snooker Championship will take place across April and May, so check out our all you need to know guide as Chinese star Zhao Xintong looks to defend his coveted crown at Sheffield's iconic Crucible Theatre.

2026 World Snooker Championship Dates

When is the 2026 World Snooker Championship?

The Sheffield showpiece gets underway on Saturday 18th April, 2026, and runs through until Monday 4th May in what is a thrilling 17 days of battles on the baize.

When is the draw for the 2026 World Snooker Championship?

The draw for the last 32 of the 2026 World Snooker Championship will take place on the morning of Thursday 16th April, 2026, a day after qualifying reaches its conclusion.

World Snooker Championship Draw: When is it & how to watch

World Snooker Championship Venue

Where is the 2026 World Snooker Championship?

The World Snooker Championship is held at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, with the fabled venue now synonymous with the WST's showpiece event.

Qualifying matches will take place at the English Institute of Sport, a few miles away from the Crucible in Sheffield.

Has the World Snooker Championship always been at the Crucible?

The World Snooker Championship moved to the Steel City venue in 1977, having been previously staged at various venues around the United Kingdom, and has been played at the Crucible ever since.

The Ladies World Snooker Championship was held at the Crucible between 1998 and 2003 but was eventually withdrawn due to financial difficulties.

World Snooker Championship Previous Winners

Zhao Xintong captured the coveted World Snooker Championship title in 2025, joining an illustrious list of players to have reigned supreme on snooker's grandest stage.

His feat also ensured he became the third successive first time winner of the competition, on the back of Kyren Wilson's success in 2024 and Luca Brecel's in 2023.

Last Five World Snooker Championship Winners

• 2025 - Zhao Xintong
• 2024 - Kyren Wilson
• 2023 - Luca Brecel
• 2022 - Ronnie O'Sullivan
• 2021 - Mark Selby

World Snooker Championship previous winners

Who has the most World Snooker Championship wins?

The World Snooker Championship reverted to a straight knockout in 1969, in what is now recognised as the modern era, and a total of 29 players have been crowned world champion.

Ronnie O'Sullivan and Stephen Hendry lead the way with seven titles apiece, whilst 2025 champion Zhao Xintong is the latest addition to the prestigious list.

Most World Snooker Championship wins

History of the World Snooker Championship

When was the first World Snooker Championship?

The World Snooker Championship was first played in 1927, albeit under the guise of the 'Professional Championship of Snooker', and was won by Joe Davis.

Over its first few decades, the World Championship alternated between a small knockout tournament featuring 10 players, and a 'challenge format', whereby defending champion Davis would advance to the final with six players competing for the opportunity to take on the champion.

The competition reverted to a straight knockout in 1969, in what is now recognised as the modern era.

How does the World Snooker Championship work?

A single game of snooker is known as a frame, with the winner being decided by which player has scored the most points by the time all the balls have been potted on the table or if there are not enough points available for the player that is trailing to be able to mount a comeback.

Most snooker matches at professional level are contested over more than just a one-frame format.

For example the first round of the World Snooker Championship is played over a best-of-19 frame format, essentially meaning the first player to ten frames is the winner.

At the World Snooker Championship, the number of frames played increases as the tournament goes on, with the second round and quarter-final matches being contested over a best-of-25 frame format, the semi-finals a best-of-33 and the final the best of 35, meaning the winner of the tournament will have to win a minimum of 71 frames before they can lift the trophy.

How many frames are played in World Snooker Championship games?

First-round matches are the best-of-19 frames contests, second-round and quarter-finals contests are the best-of-25, semi-finals move up to best-of-33, and the final, played over two days, is a best-of-35 marathon.

• Final - Best-of-35 frames
• Semi-Finals - Best-of- 33 frames
• Quarter-Finals - Best-of-25 frames
• Last 16 - Best-of-25 frames
• Last 32 - Best-of-19 frames

Who is playing at the 2026 World Snooker Championship?

The top 16 players on the WST Order of Merit will guarantee their spot at the Crucible for this year's event, with the other 16 players being made up of qualifiers.

The 16 players will be confirmed at the final ranking revision ahead of the competition in early April, following the Players and Tour Championship events.

The current top five or six players in the world are all but assured of a spot at the event as a consequence of the prize money they have accrued over the past two years.

These players are Judd Trump, Kyren Wilson, Mark Williams, John Higgins and Ronnie O'Sullivan.

World Snooker Championship Prize Money

How much will the World Snooker championship winner get?

The prize money for the 2026 World Snooker Championship is expected to remain unchanged from 2025 with the winner set to receive a bumper £500,000 and the runner-up taking home a cool £200,000.

World Snooker Championship Prize Money Breakdown