The 2026-27 English League (Carabao) Cup Schedule

Here is the schedule for the 2026-27 English Football League Cup, also known as the EFL Cup or the Carabao Cup.

Manchester City go into the 2026-27 competition as defending champions, having beaten Arsenal 2-0 in the March 2026 Final. That victory gave City their ninth League Cup title, more than any other club. The tournament runs from early August through the Final at Wembley the following March, and every round is set by random draw.

2026-27 Carabao Cup round-by-round schedule

• Preliminary Round: August 1 and 2
• Round One: Weekend of August 7-9
• Round Two: Week of August 24
• Round Three: Weeks of September 7 and 14
• Round Four: Week of October 26
• Round Five (quarterfinals): Week of December 14
• Semi-Final First Leg: Week of January 11, 2027
• Semi-Final Second Leg: Week of February 1, 2027
• Final: Sunday March 21, 2027, at Wembley Stadium in London. Kickoff time is TBD.

About the EFL Cup

The League Cup, also known as the EFL Cup or the Carabao Cup (for sponsorship reasons), is England’s second most important knockout competition after the FA Cup. The current champions, or “holders,” are Manchester City (above). They have won it nine times.

The League Cup is a knockout competition for all 92 clubs in the Premier League and Football League — the top four levels of the pyramid of English leagues. A random draw sets each round, so a fourth-tier club can land a Premier League giant with no seeding to protect the big names.

EFL stands for English Football League, and the Cup is sponsored by Carabao, a Thai energy drink company. In the past, it has been known as the Carling Cup, the Milk Cup and many other names.

The 2026-27 EFL Cup will be the 67th edition.

The winner of the competition qualifies for the play-off round of the next season’s Europa Conference League (if they fail to have already qualified for the Champions League or the Europa League). For the 2026-27 season, since Man City also qualified for the Champions League, their spot in the Conference League went to Brighton and Hove Albion, who finished 8th in the Premier League.

You can read more about how the tournament works in our guide to the English League Cup.

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2026-27 Carabao Cup Schedule in Detail

The Carabao Cup works through seven knockout rounds before the Final, and clubs enter at different stages depending on where they finished last season and whether they qualified for Europe. Each round below lists the dates the EFL has confirmed for 2026-27, along with which teams join the draw. Every tie runs as a single game at one club’s ground until the semifinals, which switch to two legs.

Preliminary Round: August 1 and 2

This was new for the 25-26 EFL Cup, and exists because so many Premier League clubs qualified for European competition. It involves the two newest Football League teams, Rochdale and York City, against the lowest-finishers from last season, Tranmere Rovers and Crawley Town.

Round One: August 7-9, 2026.

The two Preliminary Round winners and the rest of the 48 clubs from EFL League One and League Two will be joined by 22 clubs from the EFL Championship, for a total of 72 clubs and 36 games. The two clubs who finished 18th and 19th in last season’s Premier League will sit this one out.

Round Two: Week of August 24, 2026.

The 35 winners from the First Round are joined by the last two clubs from the Championship and the 11 Premier League clubs not involved in European competition. That’s 48 clubs and 24 games.

Round Three: Weeks of September 7 and 14, 2026.

All 25 winners advance from the Second Round and are joined by the nine Premier League clubs that are also playing in Europe. So this is where the Carabao Cup can start to affect the Premier League schedule.

Round Four (of 16): Week of October 26, 2026.

This includes the 16 winners from the Third Round. This is still one game at each club.

Round Five (Quarterfinals): Week of December 14, 2026.

Eight winners advance from the Fourth Round. These games are still single legs at club grounds.

Semifinals: Weeks of January 11 and February 1, 2027

The semifinals stretch across two matchdays and switch to a two-legged format. The four quarterfinal winners play one leg at each ground, with the first legs in the week of January 11 and the return legs in the week of February 1, 2027. The club with the higher aggregate score across both games reaches Wembley.

2027 League Cup Final

The 2027 Carabao Cup Final will be on March 21, 2027 at Wembley Stadium. Kickoff time is TBD.