EFL Cup third-round draw: Date, time and participating teams

By Jonty Colman, BBC Sport journalist

• Published 7 August 2026

Updated 25 August 2026

The third-round draw for the 2026-27 Carabao Cup will take place on Wednesday, 26 August following the conclusion of Preston North End vs Everton.

Nine Premier League clubs taking part in European football join the 23 first-round winners from across the English Football League.

Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, Aston Villa, Liverpool, Bournemouth, Sunderland, Brighton and Crystal Palace will enter the competition at this stage, as the top eight Premier League clubs from the 2025-26 season plus Crystal Palace as Conference League winners.

It will be broadcast live on Sky Sports following the conclusion of the third round tie between Preston North End and Everton, kicking off at 20:00 BST that evening.

Nottingham Forest are the only Premier League side guaranteed to not enter the third-round draw after losing their second-round meeting with Leeds United.

Unlike the opening two rounds of the competition, the third round draw is not regionalised.

However, before the match at Deepdale there will be a pre-draw determining which of the Champions League and Europa League clubs will play at home or away in round three.

In order to avoid potential scheduling issues, the eight Champions League and Europa League clubs cannot be drawn against each other in round three.

When the draw takes place, the first eight fixtures decided are the ones involving clubs in the Champions League and Europa League. The remainder of the draw will be an open draw as usual.

Due to clashes with opening weeks of the Champions League and Europa League seasons, the third round will be played across two different weeks. They are the weeks commencing Monday, 7 and Monday, 14 September, 2026.

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Which teams are in the EFL Cup third-round draw?

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Manchester City are the defending EFL Cup champions

• Arsenal

• Manchester City

• Manchester United

• Aston Villa

• Liverpool

• Bournemouth

• Sunderland

• Brighton

• Crystal Palace

• Middlesbrough

• Barnsley

• Sheffield United

• Lincoln City

• Fleetwood Town

• Wolverhampton Wanderers

• Hull City

• Leeds United

• Bradford City or Burnley

• Newcastle United or West Bromwich Albion

• Preston North End or Everton

• Norwich City

• Millwall

• Ipswich Town

• Coventry City

• West Ham United

• Reading

• Leyton Orient

• Peterborough United

• Brentford

• Tottenham or Charlton Athletic

• Chelsea or Luton Town

• Fulham or AFC Wimbledon

This article is the latest from BBC Sport’s Ask Me Anything team.

More questions answered…

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• EFL Cup