This takes place on Sky Sports News on Thursday, 26th June at 4:20pm, see the live stream further down in the article.

The Carabao Cup maintains regionalised draws (northern and southern sections) until Round Three.

A new Preliminary Round, featuring National League promoted teams Barnet and Oldham against League Two’s 21st and 22nd-placed teams Accrington and Newport, will take place the week of August 4th.

Round One follows the week of August 11th.

This format accommodates nine Premier League teams in European competitions, who enter in Round Three.

Preliminary Round ties are regionalised, with Accrington facing Oldham and Barnet facing Newport, home sides will be set before the Round One draw on Sky Sports News.

Ball numbers:

1 AFC Wimbledon
2 Bristol City
3 Bristol Rovers
4 Bromley
5 Cambridge United
6 Cardiff City
7 Charlton Athletic
8 Cheltenham Town
9 Colchester United
10 Coventry City
11 Crawley Town
12 Exeter City
13 Gillingham
14 Ipswich Town
15 Leyton Orient
16 Luton Town
17 Millwall
18 Milton Keynes Dons
19 Northampton Town
20 Norwich City
21 Oxford United
22 Plymouth Argyle
23 Portsmouth
24 Queens Park Rangers
25 Reading
26 Southampton
27 Stevenage
28 Swansea City
29 Swindon Town
30 Watford
31 Wycombe Wanderers
32 Barnet or Newport County

1 Barnsley
2 Barrow
3 Birmingham City
4 Blackburn Rovers
5 Blackpool
6 Bolton Wanderers
7 Bradford City
8 Burton Albion
9 Chesterfield
10 Crewe Alexandra
11 Derby County
12 Doncaster Rovers
13 Fleetwood Town
14 Grimsby Town
15 Harrogate Town
16 Huddersfield Town
17 Hull City
18 Leicester City
19 Lincoln City
20 Mansfield Town
21 Middlesbrough
22 Notts County
23 Peterborough United
24 Port Vale
25 Preston North End
26 Rotherham United
27 Salford City
28 Sheffield United
29 Sheffield Wednesday
30 Shrewsbury Town
31 Stockport County
32 Stoke City
33 Tranmere Rovers
34 Walsall
35 West Bromwich Albion
36 Wigan Athletic
37 Wrexham
38 Accrington Stanley or Oldham Athletic

CARABAO CUP PRELIMINARY AND FIRST DRAW LIVE AND IN FULL

Accrington Stanley v Oldham Athletic

Barnet v Newport County

Coventry v Luton
Bristol City v MK Dons
Bromley v Ipswich Town
Bristol Rovers v Cambridge United
Leyton Orient v Wycombe Wanderers
Watford v Norwich
Charlton v Stevenage
Oxford v Colchester
Barnet or Newport v Millwall
Cardiff v Swindon
Gillingham v AFC Wimbledon
Northampton v Southampton
Cheltenham v Exeter
Plymouth v QPR
Swansea v Crawley
Portsmouth v Reading

Barrow v Preston
Grimsby v Shrewsbury
Blackpool v Port Vale
Salford v Rotherham
Harrogate v Lincoln
Tranmere v Burton
Stockport v Crewe
Huddersfield v Leicester
Wrexham v Hull
Birmingham v Sheffield United
Stoke v Walsall
Accrington or Oldham v Peterborough
Blackburn v Bradford
Middlesbrough v Doncaster
West Brom v Derby
Bolton v Sheffield Wednesday
Chesterfield v Mansfield
Barnsley v Fleetwood
Wigan v Notts County

Carabao Cup 2025/26 Round Dates

The round dates for the Carabao Cup have been confirmed as the following:

Preliminary Round: w/c 4 August 2025
Round One: w/c 11 August 2025
Round Two: w/c 25 August 2025
Round Three: w/c 15 September and w/c 22 September 2025*
Round Four: w/c 27 October 2025
Round Five: w/c 15 December 2025
Semi-Final First Leg: w/c 12 January 2026
Semi-Final Second Leg: w/c 2 February 2026
Final: Sunday 22 March 2026

*Round Three will take place on the same basis as 2024/25, with split weeks for those Clubs participating in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League.

SEE MORE: EFL fixtures for 2025/26 season and TV selections revealed

SEE MORE: First part of 25/26 EFL Trophy group stage draw complete with B Teams 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,

1962
Rochdale 0 NORWICH CITY 3
NORWICH CITY 1 Rochdale 0

1963
BIRMINGHAM CITY 3 Aston Villa 1
Aston Villa 0 BIRMINGHAM CITY 0

1964
Stoke City 1 LEICESTER CITY 1
LEICESTER CITY 3 Stoke City 2

1965 CHELSEA 3 Leicester City 2

Leicester City 0 Chelsea 0

1966
West Ham United 2 WEST BROMWICH ALBION 1
WEST BROMWICH ALBION 4 West Ham United 1

Final played as single game at Wembley 1967-2000 and since 2008; at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 2001-2007

1967 3 West Bromwich Albion 2

1968 1 Arsenal 0

1969 3 Arsenal 1 (aet)

1970 2 West Bromwich Albion 1 (aet)

1971 2 Aston Villa 0

1972 2 Chelsea 1

1973 1 Norwich City 0

1974 2 Manchester City 1

1975 1 Norwich City 0

1976 2 Newcastle United 1

1977 3 Everton 2 (aet, after 0-0, 1-1 draws)

1978 1 Liverpool 0 (after 0-0 draw)

1979 3 Southampton 2

1980 1 Nottingham Forest 0

1981 2 West Ham United 1 (after 1-1 draw)

1982 3 Tottenham Hotspur 1 (aet)

1983 2 Manchester United 1 (aet)

1984 1 Everton 0 (after 0-0 draw)

1985 1 Sunderland 0

1986 3 Queen’s Park Rangers 0

1987 2 Liverpool 1

1988 3 Arsenal 2

1989 3 Luton Town 1

1990 1 Oldham Athletic 0

1991 1 Manchester United 0

1992 1 Nottingham Forest 0

1993 2 Sheffield Wednesday 1

1994 3 Manchester United 1

1995 2 Bolton Wanderers 1

1996 3 Leeds United 0

1997 1 Middlesbrough 0 (aet, after 1-1 draw)

1998 2 Middlesbrough 0 (aet)

1999 1 Leicester City 0

2000 2 Tranmere Rovers 1

2001 1 Birmingham City 1 (aet, 5-4 pen)

2002 2 Tottenham Hotspur 1

2003 2 Manchester United 0

2004 2 Bolton Wanderers 1

2005 3 Liverpool 2 (aet)

2006 4 Wigan Athletic 0

2007 2 Arsenal 1

2008 2 Chelsea 1

2009 0 Tottenham Hotspur 0 (aet, 4-1 pen)

2010 2 Aston Villa 1

2011 2 Arsenal 1

2012 2 Cardiff City 2 (aet, 3-2 pen)

2013 5 Bradford City 0

2014 3 Sunderland 1

2015 2 Tottenham Hotspur 0

2016 Manchester City 1 Liverpool 1 (aet, 3-1 pen)

2017 Manchester United 3 Southampton 2

2018 3 Arsenal 0

2019 0 Chelsea 0 (aet, 4-3 pen)

2020 2 Aston Villa 1

2021 1 Tottenham Hotspur 0

2022 0 Chelsea 0 (aet, 11-10 pen)

2023 2 Newcastle United 0

2024 1 Chelsea 0 (aet)

2025 Newcastle United 2 Liverpool 1

Competition known as from 1982-83 to 1985-86
Competition known as from 1986-87 to 1989-90
Competition known as from 1990-91 to 1992-93
Competition known as from 1993-94 to 1997-98
Competition known as from 1998-99 to 2002-03
Competition known as from 2003-04 to 2011-12
Competition known as from 2012-13 to 2015-16
Competition known as in 2016-17
Competition known as from 2017-18

10 – Liverpool
8 – 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
9 – Aston Villa, Man City, Tottenham
8 – 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