It’s that time again, the 2025/26 Carabao Cup Preliminary and First Round draw, live and in full as each tie gets drawn out.
As per their website, they wrote: “The Carabao Cup Round One Draw will take place live on Sky Sports News at 4:30pm on Thursday, 25 June, as part of the EFL’s Fixture Release Day.
“Presented by Sky Sports’ Dharmesh Sheth, former Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United midfielder Kevin Nolan will join former Ipswich Town and Nottingham Forest defender, Luke Chambers in picking out the balls.
“Round One will feature 70 Clubs – the two winners from the Preliminary Round alongside the other 68 EFL Clubs – with the draw regionalised into Northern and Southern sections.
“As confirmed here, Tranmere Rovers will host Rochdale on 1 August, before Crawley Town travel to York City on 3 August in the Preliminary Round, which was required due to the participation of nine Premier League Clubs in European competition in the 2026/27 season.
“Round One of the Carabao Cup will kick off the new season, with ties set to be played over the weekend of 7-9 August.”
Carabao Cup 2026/27 Round Dates
The round dates for the Carabao Cup have been confirmed as the following:
Round One: Weekend of 7-9 August 2026
Round Two: w/c 24 August 2026
Round Three: w/c 7 September and w/c 14 September 2026
Round Four: w/c 26 October 2026
Round Five: w/c 14 December 2026
Semi-Final First Leg: w/c 11 January 2027
Semi-Final Second Leg: w/c 1 February 2027
Final: Sunday 21 March 2027
Carabao Cup Northern Section ball numbers
1 Accrington Stanley
2 Barnsley
3 Blackburn Rovers
4 Blackpool
5 Bolton Wanderers
6 Bradford City
7 Burnley
8 Burton Albion
9 Chesterfield
10 Crewe Alexandra
11 Derby County
12 Doncaster Rovers
13 Fleetwood Town
14 Grimsby Town
15 Huddersfield Town
16 Lincoln City
17 Mansfield Town
18 Middlesbrough
19 Notts County
20 Oldham Athletic
21 Port Vale
22 Preston North End
23 Rotherham United
24 Salford City
25 Sheffield United
26 Sheffield Wednesday
27 Shrewsbury Town
28 Stockport County
29 Stoke City
30 West Bromwich Albion
31 Wigan Athletic
32 Wolverhampton Wanderers
33 Wrexham
34 Tranmere Rovers/Rochdale
Carabao Cup Northern Section ball numbers
1 AFC Wimbledon
2 Barnet
3 Birmingham City
4 Bristol City
5 Bristol Rovers
6 Bromley
7 Cambridge United
8 Cardiff City
9 Charlton Athletic
10 Cheltenham Town
11 Colchester United
12 Exeter City
13 Gillingham
14 Leicester City
15 Leyton Orient
16 Luton Town
17 Millwall
18 Milton Keynes Dons
19 Newport County
20 Northampton Town
21 Norwich City
22 Oxford United
23 Peterborough United
24 Plymouth Argyle
25 Portsmouth
26 Queens Park Rangers
27 Reading
28 Southampton
29 Stevenage
30 Swansea City
31 Swindon Town
32 Walsall
33 Watford
34 West Ham United
35 Wycombe Wanderers
36 York City / Crawley Town
CARABAO CUP FIRST ROUND DRAW:
NORTHERN
Middlesbrough vs Wrexham
Rotherham vs West Brom
Barnsley vs Wigan
Mansfield vs Sheff Utd
Stockport vs Doncaster
Sheff Wed vs Bolton
Fleetwood vs Chesterfield
Crewe vs Accrington
Stoke vs Oldham
Wolves vs Port Vale
Burnley vs Notts County
Derby vs Lincoln
Bradford vs Tranmere or Rochdale
Salford vs Shrewsbury
Grimsby vs Blackpool
Preston vs Huddersfield
SOUTHERN
QPR vs Millwall
Cheltenham vs Charlton
Gillingham vs Luton
Cardiff vs Swindon
Bristol City vs Walsall
Plymouth vs Exeter
Bristol Rovers vs Peterborough
Watford vs York or Crawley
Cambridge vs Barnet
Norwich vs MK Dons
Colchester vs Southampton
Leyton Orient vs Oxford
Wycombe vs Stevenage
Bromley vs Reading
Swansea vs Birmingham
West Ham vs Portsmouth
Leicester vs Northampton
AFC Wimbledon vs Newport
EFL fixtures for the 2026/27 season and TV selections revealed
LIST OF LEAGUE CUP FINALS
Final played over 2 legs between 1961 and 1966
1961
Rotherham United 2 ASTON VILLA 0
ASTON VILLA 3 Rotherham United 0 aet, VILLA won 3-2 on aggregate
1962
Rochdale 0 NORWICH CITY 3
NORWICH CITY 1 Rochdale 0
NORWICH won 4-0 on aggregate
1963
BIRMINGHAM CITY 3 Aston Villa 1
Aston Villa 0 BIRMINGHAM CITY 0
BIRMINGHAM won 3-1 on aggregate
1964
Stoke City 1 LEICESTER CITY 1
LEICESTER CITY 3 Stoke City 2
LEICESTER won 4-3 on aggregate
1965 CHELSEA 3 Leicester City 2
Leicester City 0 Chelsea 0
CHELSEA won 3-2 on aggregate
1966
West Ham United 2 WEST BROMWICH ALBION 1
WEST BROMWICH ALBION 4 West Ham United 1
WBA won 5-3 on aggregate
Final played as single game at Wembley 1967-2000 and since 2008; at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 2001-2007
1967 Queen’s Park Rangers 3 West Bromwich Albion 2
1968 Leeds United 1 Arsenal 0
1969 Swindon Town 3 Arsenal 1 (aet)
1970 Manchester City 2 West Bromwich Albion 1 (aet)
1971 Tottenham Hotspur 2 Aston Villa 0
1972 Stoke City 2 Chelsea 1
1973 Tottenham Hotspur 1 Norwich City 0
1974 Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 Manchester City 1
1975 Aston Villa 1 Norwich City 0
1976 Manchester City 2 Newcastle United 1
1977 Aston Villa 3 Everton 2 (aet, after 0-0, 1-1 draws)
1978 Nottingham Forest 1 Liverpool 0 (after 0-0 draw)
1979 Nottingham Forest 3 Southampton 2
1980 Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 Nottingham Forest 0
1981 Liverpool 2 West Ham United 1 (after 1-1 draw)
1982 Liverpool 3 Tottenham Hotspur 1 (aet)
1983 Liverpool 2 Manchester United 1 (aet)
1984 Liverpool 1 Everton 0 (after 0-0 draw)
1985 Norwich City 1 Sunderland 0
1986 Oxford United 3 Queen’s Park Rangers 0
1987 Arsenal 2 Liverpool 1
1988 Luton Town 3 Arsenal 2
1989 Nottingham Forest 3 Luton Town 1
1990 Nottingham Forest 1 Oldham Athletic 0
1991 Sheffield Wednesday 1 Manchester United 0
1992 Manchester United 1 Nottingham Forest 0
1993 Arsenal 2 Sheffield Wednesday 1
1994 Aston Villa 3 Manchester United 1
1995 Liverpool 2 Bolton Wanderers 1
1996 Aston Villa 3 Leeds United 0
1997 Leicester City 1 Middlesbrough 0 (aet, after 1-1 draw)
1998 Chelsea 2 Middlesbrough 0 (aet)
1999 Tottenham Hotspur 1 Leicester City 0
2000 Leicester City 2 Tranmere Rovers 1
2001 Liverpool 1 Birmingham City 1 (aet, 5-4 pen)
2002 Blackburn Rovers 2 Tottenham Hotspur 1
2003 Liverpool 2 Manchester United 0
2004 Middlesbrough 2 Bolton Wanderers 1
2005 Chelsea 3 Liverpool 2 (aet)
2006 Manchester United 4 Wigan Athletic 0
2007 Chelsea 2 Arsenal 1
2008 Tottenham Hotspur 2 Chelsea 1
2009 Manchester United 0 Tottenham Hotspur 0 (aet, 4-1 pen)
2010 Manchester United 2 Aston Villa 1
2011 Birmingham City 2 Arsenal 1
2012 Liverpool 2 Cardiff City 2 (aet, 3-2 pen)
2013 Swansea City 5 Bradford City 0
2014 Manchester City 3 Sunderland 1
2015 Chelsea 2 Tottenham Hotspur 0
2016 Manchester City 1 Liverpool 1 (aet, 3-1 pen)
2017 Manchester United 3 Southampton 2
2018 Manchester City 3 Arsenal 0
2019 Manchester City 0 Chelsea 0 (aet, 4-3 pen)
2020 Manchester City 2 Aston Villa 1
2021 Manchester City 1 Tottenham Hotspur 0
2022 Liverpool 0 Chelsea 0 (aet, 11-10 pen)
2023 Manchester United 2 Newcastle United 0
2024 Liverpool 1 Chelsea 0 (aet)
2025 Newcastle United 2 Liverpool 1
2026 Arsenal 0 Manchester City 2
Competition known as Milk Cup from 1982-83 to 1985-86
Competition known as Littlewoods Challenge Cup from 1986-87 to 1989-90
Competition known as Rumbelows Cup from 1990-91 to 1992-93
Competition known as Coca-Cola Cup from 1993-94 to 1997-98
Competition known as Worthington Cup from 1998-99 to 2002-03
Competition known as Carling Cup from 2003-04 to 2011-12
Competition known as Capital One Cup from 2012-13 to 2015-16
Competition known as EFL Cup in 2016-17
Competition known as Carabao Cup from 2017-18
Winners
10 – Liverpool
9 – Man City
6 – Man Utd
5 – Aston Villa, Chelsea
4 – Nott’m Forest, Tottenham
3 – Leicester City
2 – Wolves, Norwich City, Arsenal, Birmingham
1 – West Brom, QPR, Leeds, Swindon, Stoke, Oxford, Luton, Sheffield Wednesday, Blackburn, Middlesbrough, Swansea, Newcastle
Finalists
15 – Liverpool
10 – Man Utd, Chelsea
10 – Aston Villa, Man City, Tottenham
9 – Arsenal
6 – Nottingham Forest
5 – Leicester City
4 – Norwich City
3 – West Brom, Middlesbrough, Birmingham, Newcastle
2 – Stoke, Wolves, West Ham, Everton, QPR, Luton Town, Sheffield Wednesday, Leeds, Bolton, Sunderland, Southampton
1 – Rotherham, Rochdale, Swindon, Oxford, Oldham, Tranmere, Blackburn, Wigan, Cardiff, Swansea, Bradford
