Van Barneveld edged past Stephen Bunting in a final set decider at the World Championship for a second year in a row and then played Michael van Gerwen, who he had lost to 10 times out of 13 throughout 2015. Van Barneveld produced a superb performance to win 4–3, despite Van Gerwen averaging 105.78 which was at the time the highest to ever lose a match in the event. A third successive match went the distance in the quarter-finals after Van Barneveld recovered from a 3–0 deficit against Michael Smith. In the final set he survived one match dart from Smith and Van Barneveld won four legs in a row to move into the semi-finals where he played Adrian Lewis. This time he was 5–0 down and then won a trio of sets, but his poor start cost him as he lost 6–3. Van Barneveld finished the year seventh in the Premier League table to fail to qualify for the Play-offs for the first time since 2012. It was also his lowest position out of all of his 11 appearances at the event. The Netherlands team reached the final of the World Cup and it went to a deciding singles match in which Adrian Lewis beat Van Gerwen 4–1.