The world No3 – a three-time winner at Alexandra Palace and last year’s beaten finalist – was dumped out by double champion Gary Anderson in another upset on Tuesday night.
Anderson now faces Justin Hood, who thrashed Josh Rock in round four to continue his superb run.
There was no such shock with regards to Luke Humphries, who eased past Kevin Doets to tee up a huge last-eight showdown with 10th seed Gian van Veen, who thrashed Charlie Manby.
He will meet Krzysztof Ratajski next after the latter saw off Luke Woodhouse, while Ryan Searle will clash with Jonny Clayton after their respective victories over James Hurrell and Andreas Harrysson.
“I’m not bothered [by the booing],” defending champion Littler, 18, said after beating Cross. “Really not bothered. You guys pay for tickets and you pay for my prize money, so thanks for booing me.
“No one wanted me to win but I proved them wrong yet again.”
World Darts Championship schedule and results
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
Ryan Searle vs Jonny Clayton
Gary Anderson vs Justin Hood
Luke Littler vs Krzysztof Ratajski
Luke Humphries vs Gian van Veen
Kim Huybrechts 1-3 Arno Merk
Michael Smith 3-0 Lisa Ashton
Luke Littler 3-0 Darius Labanauskas
Madars Razma 3-1 Jamai van den Herik
Niels Zonneveld 3-0 Haupai Puha
Ian White 3-2 Mervyn King
Ryan Searle 3-0 Chris Landman
Ross Smith 2-3 Andreas Harrysson
Ricky Evans 3-0 Man Lok Leung
Gian van Veen 3-1 Cristo Reyes
Damon Heta 3-1 Steve Lennon
Mario Vandenbogaerde 0-3 David Davies
Andrew Gilding 3-1 Cam Crabtree
Luke Woodhouse 3-1 Boris Krcmar
Gary Anderson 3-2 Adam Hunt
Jeffrey de Graaf 1-3 Paul Lim
Wessel Nijman 3-0 Karel Sedlacek
Luke Humphries 3-1 Ted Evetts
Gabriel Clemens 3-0 Alex Spellman
Luke Humphries is Luke Littler’s main rival for glory
Getty Images
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
Ritchie Edhouse 0-3 Jonny Tata
Dom Taylor 3-0 Oskar Lukasiak
Richard Veenstra 2-3 Nitin Kumar
Joe Cullen 3-0 Bradley Brooks
Lukas Wenig 1-3 Wesley Plaisier
Dimitri Van den Bergh 0-3 Darren Beveridge
Stephen Bunting 3-2 Sebastian Bialecki
James Hurrell 3-1 Stowe Buntz
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
Brendan Dolan 3-1 Tavis Dudeney
Cameron Menzies 2-3 Charlie Manby
Mensur Suljovic 3-1 David Cameron
Peter Wright 3-0 Noa-Lynn van Leuven
Martin Lukeman 1-3 Max Hopp
Dirk van Duijvenbode 3-2 Andy Baetens
Jonny Clayton 3-1 Adam Lipscombe
Connor Scutt 3-2 Simon Whitlock
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
Alan Soutar 3-2 Teemu Harju
Nick Kenny 0-3 Justin Hood
Scott Williams 3-0 Paolo Nebrida
Chris Dobey 3-1 Xiaochen Zong
Ricardo Pietreczko 3-1 Jose de Sousa
Danny Noppert 3-1 Jurjen van der Velde
Gerwyn Price 3-0 Adam Gawlas
Niko Springer 1-3 Joe Comito
Matt Campbell 1-3 Adam Sevada
Raymond van Barneveld 0-3 Stefan Bellmont
James Wade 3-0 Ryusei Azemoto
Martin Schindler 3-1 Stephen Burton
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
Callan Rydz 3-0 Patrik Kovacs
Thibault Tricole 0-3 Motomu Sakai
Ryan Joyce 3-0 Owen Bates
Mike De Decker 2-3 David Munyua
Jermaine Wattimena 3-2 Dominik Gruellich
Dave Chisnall 3-0 Fallon Sherrock
Michael van Gerwen 3-1 Mitsuhiko Tatsunami
Krzysztof Ratajski 3-0 Alexis Toylo
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
Kevin Doets 3-1 Matthew Dennant
Ryan Meikle 3-0 Jesus Salate
Mickey Mansell 2-3 Leonard Gates
Josh Rock 3-1 Gemma Hayter
William O’Connor 3-0 Krzysztof Kciuk
Daryl Gurney 3-2 Beau Greaves
Nathan Aspinall 3-1 Lourence Ilagan
Keane Barry 3-0 Tim Pusey
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
Van Duijvenbode 2-3 Hurrell
Afternoon Session (12.30pm) and Evening Session (7pm)
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
Wesley Plaisier 3-4 Kryzsztof Ratajski
Andrew Gilding 1-4 Luke Woodhouse
Jonny Clayton 4-3 Niels Zonneveld
Andreas Harrysson 4-2 Ricardo Pietreczko
Stephen Bunting 3-4 James Hurrell
Luke Littler 4-0 Mensur Suljovic
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
Martin Schindler 0-4 Ryan Searle
Gary Anderson 4-3 Jermaine Wattimena
Gian van Veen 4-1 Madars Razma
Luke Humphries 4-2 Gabriel Clemens
Michael van Gerwen 4-1 Arno Merk
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
Justin Hood 4-1 Ryan Meikle
Ricky Evans 2-4 Charlie Manby
Nathan Aspinall 3-4 Kevin Doets
Josh Rock 4-1 Callan Rydz
Luke Littler 4-2 Rob Cross
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
Luke Woodhouse 2-4 Krzysztof Ratajski
Jonny Clayton 4-2 Andreas Harrysson
Justin Hood 4-0 Josh Rock
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
Charlie Manby 1-4 Gian van Veen
Michael van Gerwen 1-4 Gary Anderson
Luke Humphries 4-1 Kevin Doets
How to watch the World Darts Championship
TV channel: The tournament is being broadcast in full on Sky Sports.
Every session is available to watch live on Sky Sports Darts, with some sessions also shown on Sky Sports Main Event.
Live stream: Sky Sports subscribers will also be able to watch on a live stream online through the Sky Go app.
