CARABAO CUP FIRST ROUND MOVES TO WEEKEND FOR 2026/27 SEASON

The English Football League has scheduled the first round of the 2026/27 Carabao Cup for the weekend of 7-9 August, marking the first time in recent memory that opening-round matches will be played on a Saturday and Sunday rather than midweek. The fixture change has been made to accommodate scheduling pressures created by the expanded 48-team FIFA World Cup, which will be staged across the United States, Canada and Mexico and extends further into the summer than previous tournaments. The later World Cup finish has pushed back the start of the domestic season, compressing the football calendar and necessitating fixture adjustments.

The new schedule means the Carabao Cup will commence before league competition begins. The Championship, League One and League Two seasons will not start until the week following the cup's first round, making the Carabao Cup ties the first competitive matches of the 2026/27 campaign for most EFL clubs. Premier League sides will enter the competition in the second round, with clubs that have qualified for European competition joining in the third round. Only the first round has been moved to the weekend; subsequent rounds will maintain their traditional scheduling.

The change represents a departure from standard practice, where round one has historically been contested across Tuesday and Wednesday immediately after league fixtures begin. The EFL implemented the adjustment to manage fixture congestion created by the extended World Cup schedule and the resulting delay to the domestic season's start date.