Time to check out the 2025/26 Carabao Cup Third Round draw live and in full as 9 more Premier League clubs enter at this stage.
Due to UEFA’s expanded schedule, fixtures span two weeks (starting Sept. 15 and 22) to avoid clashes with Champions League (Sept. 15) and Europa League (Sept. 22). UCL/UEL teams cannot draw each other, ensuring playable ties.
The EFL criticises UEFA for lack of consultation; this setup isn’t needed for Round Four. The league said: “It would always be the EFL’s preference to conduct the draw in the traditional manner, but these changes have been forced upon us for the second season in succession as a result of UEFA’s failure to consult with the Leagues of Europe prior to finalising its competition schedule.”
The Third Round involves 32 clubs: 23 Round Two winners + 9 Premier League UEFA participants (Conference League unaffected as it starts October).
The draw uses two bowls:
Bowl 1: 8 UCL/UEL teams
Bowl 2: 24 others. A pre-draw sets home/away for UCL/UEL teams.
Main draw: First 8 ties alternate bowls with preset orientations; remaining 8 from Bowl 2 only. No regionalisation.
The ball numbers for the draw are as follows:
1 – Arsenal
2 – Aston Villa
3 – Barnsley
4 – Bradford City
5 – Brentford
6 – Burnley
7 – Cambridge United
8 – Cardiff City
9 – Chelsea
10 – Crystal Palace
11 – Doncaster Rovers
12 – Huddersfield Town
13 – Lincoln City
14 – Liverpool
15 – Manchester City
16 – Millwall
17 – Newcastle United
18 – Nottingham Forest
19 – Port Vale
20 – Reading
21 – Sheffield Wednesday
22 – Southampton
23 – Swansea City
24 – Tottenham Hotspur
25 – Wigan Athletic
26 – Wolverhampton Wanderers
27 – Wrexham
28 – Wycombe Wanderers
29 – Everton
30 – Fulham
31 – Grimsby Town
32 – Brighton & Hove Albion
👇 Carabao Cup Third Round draw in full 👇
Port Vale v Arsenal
Swansea v Nottingham Forest
Lincoln v Chelsea
Tottenham v Doncaster
Brentford v Aston Villa
Huddersfield v Manchester City
Liverpool v Southampton
Newcastle v Bradford
Sheffield Wednesday v Grimsby
Wolves v Everton
Crystal Palace v Millwall
Burnley v Cardiff
Wrexham v Reading
Wigan v Wycombe
Barnsley v Brighton
Fulham v Cambridge
Second round – Northern section
Accrington Stanley (4) 0–2 Doncaster Rovers (3)
Barnsley (3) 2–1 Rotherham United (3)
Birmingham City (2) 0–1 Port Vale (3)
Burnley (1) 2–1 Derby County (2)
Burton Albion (3) 0–1 Lincoln City (3)
Preston North End (2) 2–3 Wrexham (2)
Stoke City (2) 0–3 Bradford City (3)
Sunderland (1) 1–1 (5–6 p) Huddersfield Town (3)
Wigan Athletic (3) 1–0 Stockport County (3)
Sheffield Wednesday (2) 1–1 (3–0 p) Leeds United (1)
Everton (1) 2–0 Mansfield Town (3)
Grimsby Town (4) 2-2 (12-11p) Manchester United (1)
Second round – Southern section
Reading (3) 2–1 AFC Wimbledon (3)
Cambridge United (4) 3–1 Charlton Athletic (2)
Wolverhampton Wanderers (1) 3–2 West Ham United (1)
Bournemouth (1) 0–2 Brentford (1)
Bromley (4) 1–1 (4–5 p) Wycombe Wanderers (3)
Cardiff City (3) 3–0 Cheltenham Town (4)
Millwall (2) 2–1 Coventry City (2)
Norwich City (2) 0–3 Southampton (2)
Swansea City (2) 1–1 (5–3 p) Plymouth Argyle (3)
Fulham (1) 2–0 Bristol City (2)
Oxford United (2) 0–6 Brighton & Hove Albion (1)
First round – Northern section
Barrow (4) 0–1 Preston North End (2)
Middlesbrough (2) 0–4 Doncaster Rovers (3)
Stockport County (3) 3–1 Crewe Alexandra (4)
Accrington Stanley (4) 2–1 Peterborough United (3)
Blackburn Rovers (2) 1–2 Bradford City (3)
Blackpool (3) 0–1 Port Vale (3)
Chesterfield (4) 0–2 Mansfield Town (3)
Grimsby Town (4) 3–1 Shrewsbury Town (4)
Harrogate Town (4) 1–3 Lincoln City (3)
Salford City (4) 0–0 (2–3 p) Rotherham United (3)
Stoke City (2) 0–0 (4–3 p) Walsall (4)
West Bromwich Albion (2) 1–1 (2–3 p) Derby County (2)
Wigan Athletic (3) 1–0 Notts County (4)
Wrexham (2) 3–3 (5–3 p) Hull City (2)
Barnsley (3) 2-2 (5-4p) Fleetwood Town (4)
Bolton Wanderers (3) 3-3 (2-4p) Sheffield Wednesday (2)
Huddersfield Town (3) 2-2 (3-2p) Leicester City (2)
Birmingham City (2) 2-1 Sheffield United (2)
Tranmere Rovers (4) v Burton Albion (3)
First round – Southern section
Swansea City (2) 3–1 Crawley Town (4)
Newport County (4) 0–1 Millwall (2)
Bristol City (2) 2–0 Milton Keynes Dons (4)
Bristol Rovers (4) 0–2 Cambridge United (4)
Cardiff City (3) 2–1 Swindon Town (4)
Charlton Athletic (2) 3–1 Stevenage (3)
Coventry City (2) 1–0 Luton Town (3)
Gillingham (4) 1–1 (2–4 p) AFC Wimbledon (3)
Leyton Orient (3) 0–1 Wycombe Wanderers (3)
Northampton Town (3) 0–1 Southampton (2)
Oxford United (2) 1–0 Colchester United (4)
Plymouth Argyle (3) 3–2 Queens Park Rangers (2)
Portsmouth (2) 1–2 Reading (3)
Watford (2) 1–2 Norwich City (2)
Bromley (4) 1–1 (5–4 p) Ipswich Town (2)
Cheltenham Town (4) 2-0 Exeter City (3)
Preliminary Round – Northern section
Accrington Stanley (4) 3–1 Oldham Athletic (4)
Preliminary Round – Southern section
Barnet (4) 2–2 (2–4 p) Newport County (4)
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.
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
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
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
