How many points will it take to finish in the Championship play-offs in 2025-26? | OneFootball

The race for the top six in the Championship is closer than ever, with only seven points separating Wrexham in sixth from Stoke City in 15th.

Given the nature of the Championship, there’s bound to be plenty of twists and turns between now and the end of the campaign and we’ve calculated how many points it’ll likely take to finish in the top six.

For the past few weeks, it’s seemed like only one more play-off spot is up for grabs for the chasing pack, with the top five boasting a healthy lead over the rest of the division.

However, following a weekend where all of Millwall, Ipswich and Hull City lost, there’s still a chance that any of those sides could drop out of the top six, with one bad run of form.

Of those sides, Hull look like the most likely to drop out of the play-offs, having not won any of their last three matches.

Indeed, following Wrexham’s 5-3 triumph over Ipswich, they are now only three points behind both Ipswich and Hull, albeit those sides do have games in hand.

Birmingham have made serious strides forward following a strong January transfer window and are now up to seventh, following their away win at Norwich.

They currently boast the longest unbeaten streak in the league, having not lost any of their last eight league matches.

In terms of points-per-game metrics, Wrexham (who currently occupy sixth) are on course to finish the season with 71 points.

If we take that number as the baseline figure for the play-offs, it does mean that there will be a higher points threshold to finish in the top six compared to last season.

Indeed, in 2024-25, both Bristol City and Coventry secured a spot in the play-offs despite both clubs finishing with less than 70 points.

By Championship standards, last season did look like an outlier in terms of the low threshold to finish in the top six.

Prior to 2024-25, the number of points that sixth place finished with is as follows: 73, 69, 75, 77, 70, 74, 75, 80.

This season looks like the Championship will revert to the mean and it will likely take somewhere in the region of 71-75 points to guarantee a spot in the top six.

Of course, this is all subject to change from next season, when the sides who finish seventh and eighth could also qualify for a place in the play-offs.

Wrexham’s current trajectory of 71 points might not even be enough to secure a spot in the top six if Birmingham maintain their current form.

Since the start of 2026, Blues have averaged an impressive 2.0 PPG in the league, which, if they manage to maintain, would see them finishing the season with 75 points.

In all likelihood, it will take a point tally of around the 75 mark to guarantee a spot in the top six, with several sides still in the mix with 13 games remaining.