With the World Cup 2026 being in full swing, the start of the new domestic season is also inching ever closer and the draw for the first round of the Carabao Cup will take place this week.
The first round will feature 70 clubs, 68 EFL sides plus two teams from a preliminary round, due to the participation of nine Premier League clubs in European competition next season.
The preliminary round will see Tranmere Rovers take on Rochdale on August 1 while Crawley Town face York City on August 3 to determine who will enter the first round.
The draw itself will be regionalised into Northern and Southern sections and the fixtures for the opening round will take place over the weekend of 7-9 August.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Carabao Cup first round draw:
When is the Carabao Cup first round draw?
The Carabao Cup first round draw will take place on Thursday 25 June at 4.30pm and will be broadcast live on Sky Sports News as part of the EFL’s fixture release day.
Sky Sports’ Dharmesh Sheth will present the draw with former Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United midfielder Kevin Nolan and former Ipswich Town and Nottingham Forest defender Luke Chambers picking out the balls.
Which teams are in the draw?
Northern section
- Accrington Stanley
- Barnsley
- Blackburn Rovers
- Blackpool
- Bolton Wanderers
- Bradford City
- Burnley
- Burton Albion
- Chesterfield
- Crewe Alexandra
- Derby County
- Doncaster Rovers
- Fleetwood Town
- Grimsby Town
- Huddersfield Town
- Lincoln City
- Mansfield Town
- Middlesbrough
- Notts County
- Oldham Athletic
- Port Vale
- Preston North End
- Rotherham United
- Salford City
- Sheffield United
- Sheffield Wednesday
- Shrewsbury Town
- Stockport County
- Stoke City
- West Bromwich Albion
- Wigan Athletic
- Wolverhampton Wanderers
- Wrexham
- Tranmere Rovers or Rochdale
Southern section
- AFC Wimbledon
- Barnet
- Birmingham City
- Bristol City
- Bristol Rovers
- Bromley
- Cambridge United
- Cardiff City
- Charlton Athletic
- Cheltenham Town
- Colchester United
- Exeter City
- Gillingham
- Leicester City
- Leyton Orient
- Luton Town
- Millwall
- Milton Keynes Dons
- Newport County
- Northampton Town
- Norwich City
- Oxford United
- Peterborough United
- Plymouth Argyle
- Portsmouth
- Queens Park Rangers
- Reading
- Southampton
- Stevenage
- Swansea City
- Swindon Town
- Walsall
- Watford
- West Ham United
- Wycombe Wanderers
- York City/Crawley Town
When are the Carabao Cup fixtures being played?
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
