When is Carabao Cup draw today? Start time, ball numbers and how to watch as first-round ties picked | OneFootball

Only 70 EFL clubs will feature in the first round of the competition due to additional preliminary round

The road to Wembley begins today for the clubs in the English Football League as the Carabao Cup first-round draw is held.

As Premier League clubs in Europe do not feature in the Carabao Cup until round three, and there are more top-flight teams competing in UEFA competitions than usual next season, a change has been made to this competition.

A preliminary round will take place in early August, featuring the clubs that finished 21st and 22nd in League Two last season and the two that were promoted from the National League.

It means Accrington Stanley will face Oldham and Barnet take on Newport County for a place in the first round of the Carabao Cup.

Once again, clubs will be split into North and South sections for this draw.

When is the Carabao Cup draw?

The draw will take place today, Thursday, June 26, 2025, with a start time of 4.30pm BST.

How to watch the Carabao Cup draw

TV channel: In the UK, the Carabao Cup draw will be broadcast live on Sky Sports News.

Live stream: Subscribers can tune online in via the Sky Go app or on NOW.

Carabao Cup draw ball numbers

Northern Section

1 Barnsley

2 Barrow

3 Birmingham City

4 Blackburn Rovers

5 Blackpool

6 Bolton Wanderers

7 Bradford City

8 Burton Albion

9 Chesterfield

10 Crewe Alexandra

11 Derby County

12 Doncaster Rovers

13 Fleetwood Town

14 Grimsby Town

15 Harrogate Town

16 Huddersfield Town

17 Hull City

18 Leicester City

19 Lincoln City

20 Mansfield Town

21 Middlesbrough

22 Notts County

23 Peterborough United

24 Port Vale

25 Preston North End

26 Rotherham United

27 Salford City

28 Sheffield United

29 Sheffield Wednesday

30 Shrewsbury Town

31 Stockport County

32 Stoke City

33 Tranmere Rovers

34 Walsall

35 West Bromwich Albion

36 Wigan Athletic

37 Wrexham

38 Accrington Stanley or Oldham Athletic

Southern Section

1 AFC Wimbledon

2 Bristol City

3 Bristol Rovers

4 Bromley

5 Cambridge United

6 Cardiff City

7 Charlton Athletic

8 Cheltenham Town

9 Colchester United

10 Coventry City

11 Crawley Town

12 Exeter City

13 Gillingham

14 Ipswich Town

15 Leyton Orient

16 Luton Town

17 Millwall

18 Milton Keynes Dons

19 Northampton Town

20 Norwich City

21 Oxford United

22 Plymouth Argyle

23 Portsmouth

24 Queens Park Rangers

25 Reading

26 Southampton

27 Stevenage

28 Swansea City

29 Swindon Town

30 Watford

31 Wycombe Wanderers

32 Barnet or Newport County

When will the first-round ties be played?

The first round of fixtures in next season’s Carabao Cup will be played on the week commencing August 11, with the two play-off ties taking place the week before.