Carabao Cup attract full as West Ham and Leicester City study first spherical opponents

The Carabao Cup will kick off the 2026/27 campaign with the first round ties drawn that includes West Ham United and Leicester City

View 3 Images

The first round of the Carabao Cup has been drawn with West Ham United set to face Portsmouth at London Stadium. The Championship club are competing in this stage of the competition for the first time in 15 years following their relegation from the Premier League.

Burnley and Wolves, who also dropped down to the second-tier with the Hammers, will also be on home soil as they face Notts County and Port Vale, respectively. Elsewhere, League One Leicester City will play host to Northampton.

Other marquee ties include two local derbies with QPR taking on Milwall and Plymouth Argyle facing Exeter City. Elsewhere, Championship promotion hopefuls Middlesbrough and Wrexham will go head-to-head while Sheffield Wednesday face Bolton Wanderers.

The first few rounds of the Carabao Cup are split into a Northern and Southern section with a total of 35 ties drawn. Tranmere, Rochdale, York and Crawley Town are the four lowest-ranked teams in the competition and thus must win a preliminary round tie to reach the first round proper.

That section of the Carabao Cup will be in late August with the final to be known by Christmas. Premier League teams not in Europe will enter the competition at the second round.

Meanwhile, Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, Aston Villa, Liverpool, Bournemouth, Brighton, Sunderland and Crystal Palace will join the tournament at the third round stage. Here is the draw in full from the first round:

Round One Southern drawn in full:

QPR vs Millwall

Cheltenham Town vs Charlton

Gillingham vs Luton Town

Cardiff City vs Swindon Town

Bristol City vs Walsall

Plymouth Argyle vs Exeter City

Bristol Rovers vs Peterborough United

Watford vs York or Crawley Town

Cambridge United vs Barnet

Norwich City vs MK Dons

Colchester vs Southampton

Leyton Orient vs Oxford United

Wycombe vs Stevenage

Bromley vs Reading

Swansea City vs Birmingham City

West Ham United vs Portsmouth

AFC Wimbledon vs Newport County

Leicester City vs Northampton Town

Round One Northern draw in full:

Middlesbrough vs Wrexham

Rotherham United vs West Brom

Barnsley vs Wigan

Mansfield Town vs Sheffield United

Stockport County vs Doncaster Rovers

Sheffield Wednesday vs Bolton

Fleetwood Town vs Chesterfield

Crewe Alexandra vs Accrington Stanley

Stoke City vs Oldham Athletic

Wolves vs Port Vale

Burnley vs Notts County

Derby County vs Lincoln City

Bradford City vs Tranmere Rovers or Rochdale

Burton Albion vs Blackburn Rovers

Salford City vs Shrewsbury Town

Grimsby Town vs Blackpool

Preston North End vs Huddersfield Town