Everton’s missed opportunity laid bare as Premier League clubs equal European qualification record

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Everton fans are still frustrated with the way the club finished the 2025/26 season.

At one point, Everton were in a wonderful position and even had the Champions League in their sights.

The Europa League was very much on too, but many would have even taken qualification to the Conference League.

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But a run of seven games without a win to end the season saw Everton miss out.

A complete loss of defensive solidity, combined with David Moyes making some really poor decisions in-game and also not really rotating enough, proved costly.

Without a doubt, Everton threw away a golden opportunity to be playing in Europe.

And the representation there will be for English clubs next season really does emphasise this.

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Nine Premier League clubs to play in Europe as Everton rue missed opportunity

For Everton to have finished the season in 13th place is absolutely awful considering where they were.

For weeks, Everton were eighth and looked good for qualification for at least the Conference League.

All they had to do was to win just a couple of those matches. But Everton’s inability to hold a lead cost them.

In the end, it was Bournemouth, Sunderland and Brighton who grabbed the Europa League and Conference League spots.

And last night, Crystal Palace ran out 1-0 winners in the Conference League final against Rayo Vallecano. They now go into next season’s Europa League.

That means there will be nine English clubs – nearly half the Premier League – playing in European competitions next season.

With the likes of Chelsea, Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur all missing out, this just exacerbates the situation for Everton.

And what is frustrating is that there doesn’t even seem to be a particularly strong feeling about missing out on Europe.

Moyes and the players haven’t seemed bitterly disappointed about the failure to get into Europe and neither has the hierarchy.

James Tarkowski spoke of his disappointment but it wasn’t a particularly strong message, and just suggested that mediocrity is accepted.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
6	BournemouthBournemouth	38	13	18	7	58	54	4	57
7	SunderlandSunderland	38	14	12	12	42	48	-6	54
8	BrightonBrighton	38	14	11	13	52	46	6	53
9	BrentfordBrentford	38	14	11	13	55	52	3	53
10	ChelseaChelsea	38	14	10	14	58	52	6	52
11	FulhamFulham	38	15	7	16	47	51	-4	52
12	NewcastleNewcastle	38	14	7	17	53	55	-2	49
13	EvertonEverton	38	13	10	15	47	50	-3	49
14	LeedsLeeds	38	11	14	13	49	56	-7	47
15	Crystal PalaceCrystal Palace	38	11	12	15	41	51	-10	45
16	Nottingham ForestNottingham Forest	38	11	11	16	48	51	-3	44
17	TottenhamTottenham	38	10	11	17	48	57	-9	41
18	West HamWest Ham	38	10	9	19	46	65	-19	39
19	BurnleyBurnley	38	4	10	24	38	75	-37	22

And Jake O’Brien posted on Instagram, saying it wasn’t the season Everton wanted but talk about growth. Again, the tone wasn’t right.

Everton fans are crying out for the club to be ambitious, but it seems a big mentality shift is needed.

It is simply not good enough for almost half of the Premier League to be playing in European competitions next season – with Chelsea, Newcastle and Spurs all missing out – and Everton are not involved. Especially with the position they were in.