"The biggest nightmare is not qualifying for the World Championship" - Raymond van Barneveld sets out 2026 goals after honest review on poor form

Raymond van Barneveld is not the player he once was. A five-time world champion regularly competing in the Premier League Darts and all the big majors, he is now trying to re-kindle that spark which made him the player he was.

Sitting down on The Darts Show, the Dutchman was immensely proud to see the calibre and depth of darters from his own country coming through, shining on the floor and stage in 2026. "I did my thing. Michael [van Gerwen] did his thing for Holland and for television. Now it's really important that others take over," he said.

"Maybe I'm going to give up within the next two years, so it's very important for Dutch TV that more players come through and perform well, like Wessel Nijman and Kevin Doets right now. They're producing quality games and really good averages. Look at Wessel on the floor events—wow, amazing. If you want to keep the TV companies happy, especially in Holland, it's very important that Dutch players are performing well."

In an attempt to save energy on travelling, van Barneveld has re-located to Milton Keynes. The city in Buckinghamshire hosts a number of Players Championship events throughout the years and is much easier to travel from when going to events with the majority of floor tournaments in England.

This is in an attempt to help him get back to his best. Currently ranked as the world number 39, 'Barney' has played four matches on the Euro Tour this year, losing them all, and has made it to the fourth round just once on the floor.

He was candid when explaining his form. "At this moment, it isn't going well. Everyone can see that. I can't really say what's going on. I try, I do my best, and every time I'm at home I'm practising. The travelling takes its toll, of course, and the early starts at the Pro Tours don't help. I can't really tell you what's going wrong. That's why I said I'm going to have a bit of a break now.

This has motivated him to move to the UK. "Today I got the keys to my house in Milton Keynes, so that should save me a lot of energy in terms of travelling," he acknowledged. "I've also joined new management in England with Victus and Steve Midgley, so we're going to be doing a lot more things in the future.

"I think living in the UK is better for me because I can do more work, exhibitions and other opportunities. It's a massive step, and I'm really looking forward to it. I was very happy to get the keys today. Hopefully I can find my way back, because I'm not giving up yet. Not yet."

The losing is taking its toll with early exits followed by all the time in the world to ponder in your hotel room. "I also have sponsor contracts for another year, but in all honesty, it's tough. You spend a lot of time travelling. You lie on your bed, you're at the venue from 10 in the morning, and if you get beaten at 1:30 in the afternoon you're back in your hotel room wondering what's going wrong.

"I do everything I can, and I will keep moving forward because we all know Raymond van Barneveld in form can still do damage. But I need a small break—maybe one or two months. I'm still going to play the Pro Tours. I'm not in the World Matchplay and not in some of the Euro Tours because I'm dropping down the rankings."

While away from the oche, he is enjoying precious time with his family. "Last week I had a fantastic time with my family at Disneyland Paris, and because of that I missed two Euro Tour qualifiers," he said. "It is what it is. I'm taking a little step back, and hopefully from August or September—maybe midway through August—we'll see what's going on. Hopefully things will be going well by the time we get to the World Championship."

For the time being, he will keep plodding on and doing his best in Players Championship events. "Of course. But sometimes it's nice to have a little break, look at the weather outside and enjoy life a bit. I miss a lot of things because you can barely plan anything.

"I'm not in a position where I can say I'm going to skip tournaments, so I'll keep playing the Pro Tours," he confirmed. "If I qualify for a Euro Tour, that's fine. But we all know the situation with the rankings at the moment. I'm not in the Matchplay, I'm not in the Grand Prix and I'm not in the European Championship positions.

"You need to save ranking points, otherwise you're going down the hill. The biggest nightmare is not qualifying for the World Championship. So I'm going to do everything I can with my new management, who give me a lot of positive vibes, and I'm looking forward to moving ahead. The floor tournaments are a bit of a problem for me because they're too early."

He described every round s a 'final' while also mentioning his diabetes. "I don't want to talk about diabetes all the time, but it's still there. It's harder to concentrate. I get blurred vision, I get cold hands sometimes, especially in the morning. It's difficult for me to focus. And all these young guys are so good. In my early years in the PDC it was maybe a little easier. My form was better, and sometimes you'd only run into trouble in the quarter-finals because you had to play really well. Now every round is a final for me."

Currently, van Barneveld is ranked 117th in the race to Minehead after amassing a measly £8,750 from the first 20 events. With the World Matchplay and other events put to one side, Ally Pally is the aim.

If he can stay in the top 40 in the world come the qualification cut-off, then he will be in a very good position. If not, then he will hope to have earned enough money to qualify via the ProTour Order of Merit.

This is now his main goal with others out of reach. "The first goal this year was qualifying for the majors. That's important because you need to qualify for the majors and the Euro Tours. If you're not in the Euro Tours, the points system is difficult. You're defending points from one or two years ago, and if you're not in the tournaments you can't move up. So you need to come through the qualifiers, which isn't easy. I qualified once for Sindelfingen and now I'm looking ahead to July and trying to qualify again after the summer break. But it's not easy. We need to see what happens."

He shared glowing praise for his team, and promised that he will do his best to rise back up the rankings. "All I can say is that I'm going to do my very best," he adamantly stated. "Sometimes one or two weeks off can give you an energy boost and help you refocus when you pick up your darts again. I've got the best sponsors in the world. Target do everything they can for me. We're constantly working on setups and making changes until we get it right. You have to get it right with the standard of averages at the moment because everyone is playing so well. So no, I'm not going to give up yet."

There really has been some special memories in his illustrious career. Van Barneveld noted some of them. "There have been so many great nights," he gleefully said.

Asked for his top three, he answered: "First, I'd say the opening night in Blackburn in the Premier League. It was such a huge difference compared to the stage matches I'd played in the BDO. I remember thinking, wow, this is what you want. You want the fans behind you, singing and shouting "Barney Army". The nine-darters I hit were incredible as well, when the crowd just went mad.

"Second would be the nights in Rotterdam. Seeing the whole crowd dressed in orange still gives me goosebumps. When you're playing, you're so focused that you don't really take it all in. But when you watch it back on videos or YouTube, you think, wow, what just happened? To have been part of that makes me really proud.

"The third moment has to be the World Championship final against Phil Taylor. Being 3–0 down and coming back to win 7–6 in such an epic final. That was my first year in the PDC, and from that point onwards it remains one of the greatest moments of my career."