Staged at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England, the tournament was the 48th consecutive World Snooker Championship to be held at the venue, where it has taken place annually since 1977.

Kyren Wilson won the event, defeating qualifier Jak Jones 18‍–‍14 in the final to become the 28th snooker world champion.

On his way to the final, Wilson eliminated Dominic Dale, Joe O'Connor, John Higgins, and David Gilbert in the earlier rounds of the tournament.

The defending champion, Luca Brecel, who had defeated Mark Selby in the 2023 final, lost in the first round to Gilbert.

Unable to defend his first world title at the venue, Brecel became the 19th player to experience the Crucible curse.

[6][8][9] Luca Brecel was the defending champion, having defeated Mark Selby 18‍–‍15 in the 2023 final to win his first world title.

Several professional players that did not enter the qualifying rounds were replaced by amateurs based on the 2023 Q School Order of Merit.

[14] The top 16 players in the world rankings were seeded per their standing following the 2024 Tour Championship and were drawn randomly against the 16 successful qualifiers in the first round.

[14] The qualifying matches were broadcast by Discovery+ in Europe (including the United Kingdom and Ireland); Huya in China; and Matchroom.live in all other territories.

Round four of qualifying, called "Judgement Day", was also streamed on World Snooker Tour's YouTube and Facebook pages.

[20] An additional bonus of £147,000 was offered for any player making two maximum breaks during the season's Triple Crown events.

[27] Martin Gould withdrew from the tournament for health reasons, having not played professionally since December 2023; his opponent, six‑time runner‑up Jimmy White, received a walkover.

Révész, who is the first Hungarian player on the professional tour, trailed Sean O'Sullivan 1‍–‍6 but took nine of the next 11 frames to win the match 10‍–‍8.

[39] Ian Burns defeated Dean Young 10‍–‍1, while Alexander Ursenbacher beat 18‑year‑old Iulian Boiko in a 10‍–‍0 whitewash.

[36] Veteran player Fergal O'Brien, the 1999 British Open champion and runner‑up at the 2001 Masters, had previously announced plans to retire at the end of the 2023‍–‍24 season.

[29] Bai Yulu had won the 2024 World Women's Championship to earn a two‑year tour card beginning in the 2024‍–‍25 season.

Bulcsú Révész and Mohammed Shebab were the closest to progressing, losing 8‍–‍10 to James Cahill and Tian Pengfei, respectively.

Liam Highfield was defeated by Stuart Carrington and Allan Taylor lost to Lukas Kleckers.

[46] Anthony McGill lost 5‍–‍10 to He Guoqiang, having successfully qualified for the main event in each of the last nine seasons.

[46] Noppon Saengkham, playing Andy Hicks, made a maximum break in the tenth frame and went 7‍–‍3 ahead, later winning 10‍–‍5.

[12] Former winner Neil Robertson failed to qualify for the main stage for the first time in 20 years, after losing in a deciding frame to Jamie Jones.

Brecel, the defending champion and top seed, met 2019 semi‑finalist David Gilbert in the opening match.

[63] Post match, Brecel commented that he had been unwell and had not liked the spotlight of being defending champion,[64] but he praised Gilbert's performance.

[79] Murphy, who had lost his previous two first round World Championship matches, called the result "rewarding".

[14] Trailing 4‍–‍7 against David Gilbert, Milkins threw his cue stick to the ground in frustration after missing a pot.

[113] Wilson stated, "To come off the back of absolute annihilation from John here last year, I had to put that to one side."

Higgins commented that "the best man won" and "I hope [Wilson] is holding the trophy aloft with his son on Bank Holiday Monday."

In the twelfth frame, a situation occurred where the referee, Desislava Bozhilova, was unable to properly re‑spot the black ball after it was potted.

[122] Needing foul shots from laying snookers, Gilbert was able to get the required points but was still unable to win frame 26.

Wilson made a break of 87 in the next frame and capitalised on a missed pot on the yellow by Jones to lead 15‍–‍10 before the final session.