When is the Carabao Cup first-round draw?

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

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 or Rochdale

Southern section

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

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

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