Everton welcome Newcastle United to Hill Dickinson Stadium in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup on Thursday night and supporters are optimistic of a win that will see the Toffees progress to the quarter-final of the competition. The sides last met in this competition 24 years ago, and it was certainly a cracker.

It’s been three years since Everton last made it to the start of this competition, and Newcastle – winners of the competition in 2024 – will attempt to stop them.

It’s a game that truly could go either way. Everton have a very mixed record against the Magpies, as does David Moyes, and in the Premier League, just one point separates the two sides so far.

Interestingly, this game will be the first time Everton and Newcastle have met in a domestic cup competition since 2002. And that meeting just so happened to be in the League Cup – and it was certainly a thrilling contest.

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Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall of Everton celebrates his goal to make it 1-1 during the Premier League match between Hull City and Everton at MKM Stadium in Hull, United Kingdom, on October 11, 2026.

So it’s been nearly 25 years since the Toffees and the Magpies did battle in any domestic cup competition, and the last meeting took place in 2002, when the competition was called the Worthington Cup.

Newcastle were an exciting outfit under Bobby Robson, making this a tricky match for an Everton side still building under Moyes.

It promised to be an intriguing and entertaining affair – and that is exactly what the two sides served up at St. James’ Park, with new boy wonder Wayne Rooney shining on his first ever start for the club

Captain Kevin Campbell got Everton off to a great start, scoring in the 11th minute with a header from an Everton corner – Newcastle had left him unmarked.

In the second-half, Everton had a golden chance to go 2-0 up after a brilliant through ball by Rooney found Tomas Radzinski. His cross met Gary Naismith, but Steve Harper produced an outstanding save from close range.

Newcastle then equalised, a sumptuous through ball from Hugo Viana splitting the Everton defence to find Kieron Dyer, who tucked the ball under Richard Wright to score. Dyer then got his second, lashing the ball into the top corner from around 20 yards out.

Alessandro Pistone headed into his own goal to hand Newcastle the advantage again. But Moyes’ side didn’t lie down, and there was drama about the way they found their equaliser. Kevin Campbell latched onto a ball through and rounded the goalkeeper. But his effort was then handled on the line by Steve Caldwell, earning him a red card. Rooney had actually put the ball in the back of the net before the referee’s whistle had blown, but Everton then had to take a penalty. Thankfully, it was converted by David Unsworth.

So this frenetic game then headed to penalties. The exceptionally reliable Unsworth actually missed Everton’s first spot-kick, but misses by Viana and Michael Chopra allowed Everton back in. In the end, Laurent Robert needed to score, but Richard Wright denied him, putting Everton into the fourth round.

After the game, assistant manager Alan Irvine stated it was probably the worst Everton had played all season, but there was delight for Toffees fans to come through such a thrilling contest.

Sadly, Everton then lost in the next round 4-1 away at Chelsea.