Carabao Cup draw IN FULL with first round ties revealed as West Ham discover their fate
The Carabao Cup first round draw will decide where Championship, League One and League Two club will start their seasons, one week before their leagues kick off
West Ham United will face Portsmouth in round one of the Carabao Cup. The Hammers will be hoping to avoid the ignominy of their last time at this stage of the competition, when Aldershot beat them 2-1 at Upton Park in what was then called the Carling Cup.
All 72 English Football League clubs have now learnt where their seasons will start, with the cup beginning before their league campaigns. Crawley Town, Rochdale, Tranmere Rovers and York City are already involved ahead of this draw, as they are playing in a preliminary round beforehand, with only two of them making it to this stage.
The other 68 now know where they will be playing over the weekend of 7-9 August. They are split into northern and southern sections during the first two rounds, before clubs competing in UEFA competition enter for the third round.
EXPRESS SPORT ON FB! Get all the best sports news and much more on our Facebook page
Carabao Cup first round draw in full
Here is the Carabao Cup first round ties.
Northern section:
Middlesbrough vs Wrexham Rotherham United vs West Brom Barnsley vs Wigan Mansfield Town vs Sheffield United Stockport County vs Doncaster Rovers Sheffield Wednesday vs Bolton Fleetwood Town vs Chesterfield Crewe Alexandra vs Accrington Stanley Stoke City vs Oldham Athletic Wolves vs Port Vale Burnley vs Notts County Derby County vs Lincoln City Bradford City vs Tranmere Rovers or Rochdale Burton Albion vs Blackburn Rovers Salford City vs Shrewsbury Town Grimsby Town vs Blackpool Preston North End vs Huddersfield TownSouthern section:
QPR vs Millwall Cheltenham Town vs Charlton Gillingham vs Luton Town Cardiff City vs Swindon Town Bristol City vs Walsall Plymouth Argyle vs Exeter City Bristol Rovers vs Peterborough United Watford vs York or Crawley Town Cambridge United vs Barnet Norwich City vs MK Dons Colchester vs Southampton Leyton Orient vs Oxford United Wycombe vs Stevenage Bromley vs Reading Swansea City vs Birmingham City West Ham United vs Portsmouth AFC Wimbledon vs Newport County Leicester City vs Northampton TownThe final games as West Ham discover fate
Bromley vs Reading
Swansea vs Birmingham
West Ham vs Portsmouth
AFC Wimbledon vs Newport
Leicester vs Northampton
The next batch as West Ham still not out
Cambridge vs Barnet
Norwich vs MK Dons
Colchester vs Southampton
Leyton Orient vs Oxford
Wycombe vs Stevenage
Four more including a huge local derby
Bristol City vs Walsall
Plymouth vs Exeter (Devon derby, hello)
Bristol Rovers vs Peterboro
Watford vs York or Crawley
First few south round one ties
QPR vs Millwall
Cheltenham vs Charlton
Gillingham vs Luton
Cardiff vs Swindon
Northern draw complete with south section next
The southern draw is up next with West Ham United set to discover their fate...
The last five fixtures
Bradford vs Tranmere/Rochdale
Burton Albion vs Blackburn
Salford vs Shrewsbury
Grimsby vs Blackpool
Preston vs Huddersfield
Past the halfway point...
Stoke vs Oldham
Wolves vs Port Vale
Burnley vs Notts County
Derby vs Lincoln
The next four ties
Stockport vs Doncaster
Sheffield Wednesday vs Bolton
Fleetwood vs Chesterfield
Crewe vs Accrington
More north round one ties
Rotherham vs West Brom
Barnsley vs Wigan
Mansfield vs Sheffield United
First round draw for the Carabao Cup underway
Here we go then!
Former West Ham United midfielder Kevin Nolan and ex-Ipswich Town defender Luke Chambers will be drawing the balls.
Carabao Cup draw on the way shortly
Sky Sports have now switched away from their World Cup coverage with the Carabao Cup to take centre stage after their commercial break...
Carabao Cup ball numbers - South
And here are all the ball numbers for the south side of the Carabao Cup first round draw:
Round One Ball Numbers South
AFC Wimbledon
Barnet
Birmingham City
Bristol City
Bristol Rovers
Bromley
Cambridge United
Cardiff City
Charlton Athletic
Cheltenham Town
Colchester United
Exeter City
Gillingham
Leicester City
Leyton Orient
Luton Town
Millwall
Milton Keynes Dons
Newport County
Northampton Town
Norwich City
Oxford United
Peterborough United
Plymouth Argyle
Portsmouth
Queens Park Rangers
Reading
Southampton
Stevenage
Swansea City
Swindon Town
Walsall
Watford
West Ham United
Wycombe Wanderers
York City/Crawley Town
Carabao Cup ball numbers - North
The Carabao Cup is split into two sections and below you can find all the ball numbers for the teams on the north side of the draw:
Round One Ball Numbers North
Accrington Stanley
Barnsley
Blackburn Rovers
Blackpool
Bolton Wanderers
Bradford City
Burnley
Burton Albion
Chesterfield
Crewe Alexandra
Derby County
Doncaster Rovers
Fleetwood Town
Grimsby Town
Huddersfield Town
Lincoln City
Mansfield Town
Middlesbrough
Notts County
Oldham Athletic
Port Vale
Preston North End
Rotherham United
Salford City
Sheffield United
Sheffield Wednesday
Shrewsbury Town
Stockport County
Stoke City
West Bromwich Albion
Wigan Athletic
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wrexham
Tranmere Rovers/Rochdale
The dates you need to know
In just over one month, the 2026/27 Carabao Cup will be underway!
Before the main draw starts, there will be a preliminary round contested between the four lowest-ranked teams which are Tranmere Rovers, Rochdale, Crawley Town and York City.
Following that, the first round proper will officially commence and below you can see all the important dates:
Round One: Weekend of 7-9 August 2026Round Two: w/c 24 August 2026Round Three: w/c 7 September and w/c 14 September 2026Round Four: w/c 26 October 2026Round Five: w/c 14 December 2026Semi-Final First Leg: w/c 11 January 2027Semi-Final Second Leg: w/c 1 February 2027Final: Sunday 21 March 2027Good afternoon
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the Carabao Cup first round draw.
We are just under 30 minutes away from the ties being decided with West Ham United arguably the biggest club in the draw!
