World Championship 2026: Match schedule, BBC TV times & results
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The 2026 World Snooker Championship takes place at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield from 18 April to 4 May - and you can watch every shot of the tournament live on the BBC.
Top seed Zhao Xintong, who became the first champion from China by beating Mark Williams in last year's final, is the favourite this year.
Zhao has beaten Liam Highfield and Ding Junhui so far and faces eighth seed Shaun Murphy in the best-of-25 quarter-finals starting on Tuesday.
John Higgins beat Ronnie O'Sullivan 13-12 in a Crucible classic to book his place in the last eight, where he will face 2010 winner Neil Robertson.
Qualifier Hossein Vafaei of Iran pulled off a memorable final-frame victory over world number one Judd Trump to secure a last-eight match against China's 10th seed Wu Yize.
Mark Allen will face former finalist Barry Hawkins in the other quarter-final.
The two-day final starts on 3 May, with the winner taking home £500,000.
- Crucible pressure '50 times worse than driving test'
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Quarter-finals (best of 25 frames)
All times BST and subject to late changes, while session times could finish earlier or later than listed below. *denotes final session
Tuesday, 28 April
10:00
Zhao Xintong (1) v Shaun Murphy (8)
Mark Allen (14) v Barry Hawkins (11)
14:30
John Higgins (5) v Neil Robertson (4)
Wu Yize (10) v Hossein Vafaei
19:00
Zhao Xintong (1) v Shaun Murphy (8)
Mark Allen (14) v Barry Hawkins (11)
Live coverage
10:00-23:00 - uninterrupted coverage on BBC iPlayer, website and app
10:00-12:15 - BBC Two
10:00-14:00 - Red Button
14:15-18:00 - BBC Two & Red Button
19:00-22:00 - BBC Two & Red Button
Highlights
00:00-02:00 - World Championship Extra on BBC Two
Wednesday, 29 April
10:00
John Higgins (5) v Neil Robertson (4)
Mark Allen (14) v Barry Hawkins (11) *
14:30
Zhao Xintong (1) v Shaun Murphy (8) *
Wu Yize (10) v Hossein Vafaei
19:00
John Higgins (5) v Neil Robertson (4) *
Wu Yize (10) v Hossein Vafaei *
Live coverage
10:00-23:00 - uninterrupted coverage on BBC iPlayer, website and app
10:00-11:15 - BBC Two
10:00-14:00 - Red Button
14:15-18:00 - BBC Two & Red Button
19:00-22:00 - BBC Two & Red Button
Highlights
00:00-02:00 - World Championship Extra on BBC Two
Semi-finals (best of 33 frames)
Thursday, 30 April
13:00
Zhao Xintong (1)/Shaun Murphy (8) v John Higgins (5)/Neil Robertson (4)
19:00
Mark Allen (14)/Barry Hawkins (11) v Wu Yize (10) Hossein Vafaei
Live coverage
13:00-23:00 - uninterrupted coverage on BBC iPlayer, website and app
13:00-16:00 - BBC Two
19:00-22:00 - BBC Two
Highlights
00:00-02:00 - World Championship Extra on BBC Two
Friday, 1 May
10:00
Zhao Xintong (1)/Shaun Murphy (8) v John Higgins (5)/Neil Robertson (4)
14:30
Mark Allen (14)/Barry Hawkins (11) v Wu Yize (10) Hossein Vafaei
19:00
Zhao Xintong (1)/Shaun Murphy (8) v John Higgins (5)/Neil Robertson (4)
Live coverage
10:00-23:00 - uninterrupted coverage on BBC iPlayer, website and app
10:00-12:00 - BBC Two
14:15-18:00 - BBC Two
19:00-22:00 - BBC Two
Saturday, 2 May
10:00
Mark Allen (14)/Barry Hawkins (11) v Wu Yize (10) Hossein Vafaei
14:30
Zhao Xintong (1)/Shaun Murphy (8) v John Higgins (5)/Neil Robertson (4) *
19:00
Mark Allen (14)/Barry Hawkins (11) v Wu Yize (10) Hossein Vafaei
Live coverage
10:00-23:00 - uninterrupted coverage on BBC iPlayer, website and app
10:00-12:30 - BBC Two
14:00-16:30 - BBC One
16:30-17:30 - BBC Two
19:00-22:00 - BBC Two
Final (best of 35 frames)
Sunday, 3 May
Live coverage
13:00-23:00 - uninterrupted coverage on BBC iPlayer, website and app
13:00-16:00 - BBC Two
19:00-22:00 - BBC Two
Monday, 4 May
13:00-23:00 - uninterrupted coverage on BBC iPlayer, website and app
13:00-16:00 - BBC Two
19:00-22:00 - BBC Two
How to follow on the BBC
With comprehensive television coverage across BBC One, BBC Two and BBC Four, and uninterrupted streaming on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app, audiences won't miss a moment from the first break to the final frame.
Legends of the game Stephen Hendry, Steve Davis, John Parrott, Ken Doherty and Dennis Taylor will offer their expert analysis throughout the tournament.
The BBC Sport website and app will provide daily coverage via live streams and live text pages, while BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds will have regular updates throughout.
BBC Sport social media channels will deliver behind-the-scenes content as well as highlight clips from the tournament and player interviews.
What is the highest break?
Chang Bingyu made a magnificent 147 break against Luca Brecel in the qualifying tournament to earn himself a £147,000 bonus and a shot at the £15,000 highest break prize.
The Chinese player, who lost his match to Brecel, also made a 147 in the qualifying tournament for the UK Championship and earned the £147,000 bonus on offer for any player making two maximums in snooker's major tournaments.
The highest break at the Crucible is currently 140, a score achieved twice by Mark Allen and once by Murphy.
Allen made a 147 break in his second-round match against Chris Wakelin last year, becoming only the 11th player to make a 147 at the Crucible.
The maximum was the 15th at the venue in the tournament's history and the first since Mark Selby's clearance in the 2023 final.
What happened in the second round?
Ronnie O'Sullivan's bid for a record eighth world title came to an end with a 13-12 second-round defeat by Higgins, the man he beat to win his first world title in 2001.
Former champions Judd Trump, Kyren Wilson, Mark Williams and Mark Selby also went out in the last 16.
Second round results
Shaun Murphy (8) 13-3 Xiao Guodong (9)
Zhao Xintong (1) 13-9 Ding Junhui (16)
Barry Hawkins (11) 13-9 Mark Williams (6)
Mark Allen (14) 13-9 Kyren Wilson (3)
John Higgins (5) 13-12 Ronnie O'Sullivan (12)
Wu Yize (10) 13-11 Mark Selby (7)
Neil Robertson (4) 13 -7 Chris Wakelin (13)
Hossein Vafaei 13-12 Judd Trump (2)
Crucible seeds record equalled in first round
For only the third time in Crucible history, all but one of the 16 seeds made it through to the second round.
Iran's Hossein Vafaei was the only qualifier to progress thanks to a comprehensive 10-3 victory over 15th seed Si Jiahui.
First round results
Zhao Xintong (1) 10-7 Liam Highfield
Mark Allen (14) 10-6 Zhang Anda
Barry Hawkins (11) 10-4 Matthew Stevens
Mark Williams (6) 10-4 Antoni Kowalski *
Xiao Guodong (9) 10-6 Zhou Yuelong
Ding Junhui (16) 10-5 David Gilbert
John Higgins(5) 10-7 Ali Carter
Kyren Wilson (3) 10-7 Stan Moody *
Wu Yize (10) 10-2 Lei Peifan
Judd Trump (2) 10-5 Gary Wilson
Shaun Murphy (8) 10-9 Fan Zhengyi
Chris Wakelin (13) 10-6 Liam Pullen *
Ronnie O'Sullivan (12) 10-2 He Guoqiang *
Mark Selby (7) 10-2 Jak Jones
Hossein Vafaei 10-3 Si Jiahui (15)
Neil Robertson (4) 10-4 Pang Junxu
* denotes Crucible debutant
Try our quiz
Who were the 16 qualifiers?
Stan Moody and Liam Pullen both made their debuts after coming through the qualifying tournament at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield.
Moody gave 2024 champion Wilson a tough test before falling to a 10-7 defeat, while Pullen lost 10-6 to 13th seed Chris Wakelin.
China's He was another debutant, while Antoni Kowalski, 22, became the first player from Poland to play at the Crucible.
Former finalists Matthew Stevens, Ali Carter and Jak Jones all claimed one of the 16 qualifying places before being beaten in the first round.
Iran's Hossein Vafaei was the only unseeded player to make it into the second round thanks to a comprehensive 10-3 victory over 15th seed Si Jiahui.
- Vafaei 'fighting to make Iranians proud' at Worlds
- How many nationalities have played at the World Snooker Championship?
How much is the Crucible prize money?
The winner receives £500,000 and there was a total prize fund of almost £2.4m.
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 (qualifying stage included): £15,000
Who are the past 10 champions?
2025: Zhao Xintong (China) *
2024: Kyren Wilson (England) *
2023: Luca Brecel (Belgium) *
2022: Ronnie O'Sullivan (England)
2021: Mark Selby (England)
2020: Ronnie O'Sullivan (England)
2019: Judd Trump (England)
2018: Mark Williams (Wales)
2017: Mark Selby (England)
2016: Mark Selby (England)
* first-time winner
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