Referees confirmed for 2026 Carabao Cup Final between Arsenal and Manchester City | OneFootball

The PGMOL have confirmed the team of match officials to oversee proceedings in the 2026 Carabao Cup Final.

Arsenal’s journey to Wembley saw them navigate early rounds against Port Vale and Brighton, before surviving a tense penalty shootout against Crystal Palace in the quarter-final stage of the competition.

Their semi-final was a London derby against Chelsea. After a 2-3 first-leg win at Stamford Bridge, Kai Havertz haunted his former club by scoring a 96th-minute winner in the second leg at the Emirates to seal a 4-2 aggregate victory and Arsenal’s first League Cup final since 2018.

As for Manchester City, Pep Guardiola’s side handled away trips to Huddersfield Town and Swansea City with ease before defeating fellow Premier League side Brentford in the quarter-finals.

Their semi-final saw them ruthlessly dethrone the defending champions, as Newcastle United were put to a 5-1 aggregate thrashing, with Omar Marmoush and Tijjani Reijnders the stars of the second leg by scoring goals to book City’s 10th final appearance in the competition.

Now, ahead of the meeting between Arsenal and Manchester City, the FA PGMOL have now announced the list of match officials to oversee proceedings at the Wembley Stadium!

Match Referee

The PGMOL have confirmed that Peter Bankes will lead a team of match officials for the prestigious 2026 Carabao Cup Final, in what will no doubt be viewed as a reward for his performance levels throughout the course of the season.

In his top-level officiating career, the Merseyside official has taken charge of 14 matches involving Arsenal, with the Gunners emerging victorious in 10 of those outings, drawing one, and losing three, with 13 yellow cards issued in the process.

As for Manchester City, Bankes and Guardiola have come across one another 12 times, winning just six, drawing one clash, and losing the other five, with 18 yellow cards issued and one straight red card.

This season, City have won two of the three matches involving Peter Bankes as the match referee, defeating Leeds United at home and away, whilst losing at home to Tottenham Hotspur back in August.

Prior to the Final stage of the League Cup, Bankes only officiated one tie in the tournament, as he oversaw Arsenal’s narrow 1-0 semi-final second-leg win over Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium in early February.

Assistant Referees

Accompanying Peter Bankes under the Wembley Stadium arch on 22 March will be a pairing of Neil Davies and Steve Meredith, who have been handed assistant referee duties for the contest.

Video Assistant Referees

Watching the 2026 Carabao Cup Final from the VAR booth will be referee John Brooks as the game’s Video Assistant Referee, supported by Assistant Video Assistant Referee Dan Robathan.

Fourth Official

Standing between the two dugouts and managing the actions of Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta and Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola will be referee Tom Bramall as fourth official, with Marc Perry the allocated reserve assistant referee.

Guardiola will be present on the touchline for City’s Cup Final despite an ongoing two-match suspension in domestic football for an accumulation of yellow cards.

Having picked up the ban during City’s 1-3 away win against Newcastle in the FA Cup fifth round, Guardiola will miss the trip to West Ham on Saturday as well as the quarter-final of the FA Cup at home to Liverpool – where duties will be handed to Pep Lijnders on both occasions.