The 2026 Carabao Cup finalists will soon be confirmed ahead of March's showpiece event.placeholder image
The 2026 Carabao Cup finalists will soon be confirmed ahead of March's showpiece event. | AFP via Getty Images
Arsenal and Chelsea will battle for a place at Wembley in the Carabao Cup final in Tuesday night’s semi-final second leg
The Carabao Cup is the first major trophy of every domestic season in England and allows some of the country’s best sides the opportunity to kick-start their season with silverware in front of a packed Wembley Stadium.
There will be London representation in this year’s final, as Arsenal and Chelsea face off in the semi-finals for a place in the showpiece event. The Gunners came out on top 3-2 at Stamford Bridge in the first leg a fortnight ago and host the Blues in north London on Tuesday night with a place in the final up for grabs.
Manchester City lead Newcastle United 2-0 in the other semi-final and will be firm favourites to see out victory in the second leg at the Etihad on Wednesday night, though holders the Toon will no doubt put up a fight. This year’s Carabao Cup final is not too far away and will be a memorable occasion for both sides involved, with an £100,000 cash prize awarded for victory in the final.
When is the 2026 Carabao Cup final?
The 2025/26 Carabao Cup final will take place on Sunday March 22, 2026, at Wembley Stadium. Kick-off is scheduled for 4:30pm GMT and the match will be televised live on Sky Sports, Now TV and the Sky Go app, as the entirety of the tournament up to now has been.
This year’s Carabao Cup final follows a similar pattern to that of last year, which took place on March 16, also on a Sunday. The final of the competition had often been held in February in previous years, but the change has taken place due to the ever-increasingly congested football calendar. The new eight-match league phase of the Champions League is cited to be the catalyst for moving back the dates for the Carabao Cup semi-finals and final.
If Arsenal reach the final it would be their first time competing at Wembley since their Community Shield win over Man City in 2023, while their last League Cup final came in 2017/18 when they were defeated 3-0 by the same opponents. Chelsea, meanwhile, lost 1-0 to Liverpool in extra time under Mauricio Pochettino in 2023/24 in their last appearance in the final of the competition.
How can you purchase tickets for the final?
Most of the tickets for the 2026 Carabao Cup final will be distributed between the two sides taking part, being one of Arsenal and Chelsea up against one of Newcastle and Man City.
Both sides taking part were allocated approximately 30,000 tickets each for last season’s final, and they will be in high demand once the two clubs facing off in the final are confirmed. Tickets will be distributed amongst fans of the competing clubs via their official club websites and ticketing platforms, in what is often the most reliable way to get good-value final tickets.
Tickets will go on sale once the finalists are confirmed and we recommend checking out ticket availability via official club platforms or the Carabao Cup website as a first port of call before using secondary partner sites.
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