The Carabao Cup first round will be played before the opening games of the 2026/2027 EFL season, it has been announced.

From next season, round one of the Carabao Cup will take place over the weekend August 7-9, with the first matches of the new Championship, League One and League Two campaigns starting a week later on August 14-16.

Normally, the Carabao Cup first round takes place after the first or second league game of the season. It is thought that the decision has been moved to allow for a full month between the World Cup final and the start of the EFL season.

The move is similar to the one in Scotland where the Premier Sports Cup starts before the league season.

placeholder image — The Carabao Cup trophy.

It will be intriguing to see how teams now approach the Carabao Cup, such as whether they treat it as an extension of pre-season or if they view it as serious as the first league match.

Reacting to the news, one fan wrote: “Taking away the weekend most league clubs play a big club as the final game of pre season, silly. The Carabao Cup should be played either the first midweek or second.”

Another said: “Madness. Carabao Cup will now end pre-season. How to devalue your cup even further.”

Another added: “Ridiculous having the cup kick off before the league season.”

Chesterfield will be hoping that they will be playing in League One next season. They are currently seventh in League Two, just three points off the automatic promotion places.