Premier League rivals Arsenal and Manchester City will contest the 2025/26 EFL Cup final in the first major showpiece of the season in the top four divisions of English football.
Last season’s final at Wembley Stadium was the highest-attended match of the weekend in Europe, attracting almost 89,000 fans.
Millions more will again watch on TV around the world this time as the competition that began in August 2025 and has featured 92 teams comes to a close.
101GreatGoals.com has the key details on the EFL Cup final 2026, including date, kick-off time and ticket information.
🏆 Every League Cup trophy lift since 2000!
Will it be @LFC or @NUFC lifting the #CarabaoCup trophy in 2025? 👀#EFL pic.twitter.com/gzeWhzdjyq
— Carabao Cup (@Carabao_Cup) February 19, 2025
EFL Cup final 2026 date: When is the Carabao Cup final?
The match will take place at the national stadium on March 22, 2026.
When does the EFL Cup final start? League Cup final kick off time
As was the case in 2025, the EFL Cup final will start this year at 16:30 GMT (11:30 ET / 08:30 PT).
EFL Cup final 2026 tickets for Carabao Cup decider
Tickets are being sold directly by the clubs.
Last season, standard tickets cost between £20.50 and £75 for concessions, £30.75 and £112.50 for young adults and £41 to £150 for adults.
How to watch the EFL Cup final: TV channel, live online stream
Live coverage in the UK will be on ITV1 and Sky Sports.
Fans can stream the action via ITV’s website, the ITVX app and the Sky GO app, which are available on a vast variety of devices for viewing on the go.
Does the EFL Cup final go to extra time, replays and penalties?
Should they finish level after 90 minutes, EFL Cup ties go straight to penalties until the semi-finals, which take place over two legs.
If the scoreline is level after the second leg from then on, extra time and – if necessary – penalties will be used to separate teams.
The final is a one-off match, with extra time and penalties used if required.
Liverpool beat Chelsea 11-10 on penalties in the 2021/22 final and edged the same fixture after extra time in 2023/24 through Virgil van Dijk’s 118th-minute winner.
Do the EFL Cup winners qualify for Europe?
The EFL Cup winners receive a place in the play-off stage of the UEFA Conference League unless they qualify through another route for European competition, which looks likely in Arsenal and City’s cases.
Newcastle were an example of the rule in action in 2024/25, instead qualifying for the Champions League through their league position.
That meant their Conference League play-off place went to the next-highest ranked team who had not qualified for European competition via their league position.
