Carabao Cup 2026/27 first-round draw: Championship, League One and League Two teams discover opponents

25.06.2026, 19:30 skysports.com

League One Leicester will play Northampton at home in the first round of the Carabao Cup while relegated West Ham welcome Portsmouth to the London Stadium.

The two sides discovered their opponents in Thursday's round one draw, with all the fixtures played across August 9, 10 and 11 set to be shown live on Sky Sports.

There were other mouth-watering ties in the Southern section too as Millwall were drawn away to QPR, Plymouth at home to Exeter in a Devon derby while Championship sides Swansea and Birmingham face off.

In the Northern section, Middlesbrough were drawn at home to Wrexham while Wolves and Burnley were also handed home draws against Port Vale and Notts County respectively.

The Carabao Cup remains regionalised until the third round, with the 11 Premier League sides not in Europe entering at the second-round stage.

The nine Premier League sides in Europe - Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, Aston Villa, Liverpool, Bournemouth, Brighton, Sunderland and Crystal Palace - come in for the third round.

This season's Carabao Cup includes a preliminary round, with 21st and 22nd from last season's League Two campaign facing against the two promoted clubs from the National League in York City and Rochdale.

Get Sky Sports

Download the Sky Sports app

The preliminary ties will be: York City vs Crawley Town & Tranmere Rovers vs Rochdale. The winners will face Watford and Bradford in the first round respectively.

QPR vs Millwall

Cheltenham vs Charlton

Gillingham vs Luton

Cardiff vs Swindon

Bristol City vs Walsall

Plymouth vs Exeter

Bristol Rovers vs Peterborough

Watford vs York or Crawley

Cambridge vs Barnet

Norwich vs MK Dons

Colchester vs Southampton

Leyton Orient vs Oxford