The draw for the Preliminary Round of the 2026/27 Carabao Cup will be held later today.
Why is a Preliminary Round required?
The Preliminary Round draw for next season’s Carabao Cup will include four Clubs – Tranmere Rovers, Crawley Town, York City and Rochdale – and is required due to the participation of nine Premier League Clubs in European competition next season. This was confirmed following Crystal Palace’s victory in the UEFA Europa Conference League Final last week.
With the Premier League teams competing in Europe entering the Carabao Cup at Round Three, a Preliminary Round is required to ensure that a total of 32 teams are in the pot at that stage – the nine Clubs in European competition, and 23 winners from Round Two.
Last season’s Carabao Cup also required a preliminary round, however due to the more obvious north-south split of the four Clubs, no draw was required. For this season’s preliminary round, the four teams will be randomly drawn. Draw numbers are as follows:
- Crawley Town
- Rochdale
- Tranmere Rovers
- York City
The winner of the Preliminary Round tie involving the team based furthest south club will proceed to the Southern section of the Round One draw, with the winner of the other tie involving two northern based clubs proceeding into the Northern section.
The regionalised sections of the draw will be re-adjusted ahead of Round Two of the competition.This is because the Northern and Southern sections of the Round One draw need to be confirmed ahead of that draw taking place on Thursday 25 June, which is also fixture release day.
Carabao Cup format explained
The preliminary round is required to ensure that the correct number of Clubs proceed in the draw at each stage.
- Preliminary Round: Clubs finishing in 21st and 22nd positions in last season’s Sky Bet League Two, alongside the two newly-promoted sides from the National League. This round is drawn randomly, with the two winning Clubs progressing to Round One.
- Round One: This round features the two winners from the Preliminary Round alongside the other 68 EFL This draw is regionalised into Northern and Southern sections.
- Round Two: This round features the 35 winners from Round One, alongside the 11 Premier League teams not in European competition. This draw is regionalised into Northern and Southern sections.
- Round Three: This round features the 23 winners from Round Two, plus the nine Premier League teams competing in European competition. This round is not
When does the Carabao Cup start?
Dates for the two Preliminary Round ties will be announced in due course following discussions with the respective Clubs. The draw for Round One of next season’s Carabao Cup will take place on fixture release day – Thursday 25 June – and will be live on Sky Sports News. Round One ties will take place over the weekend of 7-9 August.