Carabao Cup draw LIVE: First round fixtures including Wrexham, Coventry and all 72 EFL clubs
Premier League clubs start to enter the competition in the second round
Your support helps us to tell the story
My recent work focusing on Latino voters in Arizona has shown me how crucial independent journalism is in giving voice to underrepresented communities.
Your support is what allows us to tell these stories, bringing attention to the issues that are often overlooked. Without your contributions, these voices might not be heard.
Every dollar you give helps us continue to shine a light on these critical issues in the run up to the election and beyond
Eric Garcia
Washington Bureau Chief
The first major cup draw for the 2023/24 season took place ahead of the new campaign starting, with English Football League clubs finding out how they will start life in this year’s Carabao Cup adventure.
All 72 EFL sides feature in the first round, which is split into north and south sections for purposes of the draw. The victors will be joined by 12 Premier League teams in the second round, before the remaining eight join in at the third-round stage. For now though it’s all about the lower league sides and the start of their journey, on the day they also discovered their league fates with the 23/24 fixture lists revealed.
Manchester United won the competition last term but now another opportunity for silverware arises, with League Cup round one matches starting from week commencing 7 August and the final set for Wembley on 25 February 2024. Follow the Carabao Cup first round draw live below:
Carabao Cup first round draw
Earlier today we had more EFL news as the Championship, League One and League Two fixtures came out for the 2023/24 season.
The opening day has thrown up a few interesting clashes - Southampton heading to Sheffield Wednesday is one in the second tier.
Here are the opening rounds of games in each:
Carabao Cup first round draw
Southern section teams and ball number for the draw:
1- AFC Wimbledon
2- Birmingham City
3- Bristol City
4- Bristol Rovers
5- Cambridge United
6- Cardiff City
7- Charlton Athletic
8- Cheltenham Town
9- Colchester United
10- Coventry City
11- Crawley Town
12- Exeter City
13- Forest Green Rovers
14- Gillingham
15- Ipswich Town
16- Leyton Orient
17- Millwall
18- Milton Keynes Dons
19- Newport County
20- Northampton Town
21- Norwich City
22- Oxford United
23- Peterborough United
24- Plymouth Argyle
25- Portsmouth
26- Queens Park Rangers
27- Reading
28- Southampton
29- Stevenage
30- Sutton United
31- Swansea City
32- Swindon Town
33- Watford
34- Wycombe Wanderers
Carabao Cup first round draw
Northern section teams and ball number for the draw:
1- Accrington Stanley
2- Barnsley
3- Barrow
4- Blackburn Rovers
5- Blackpool
6- Bolton Wanderers
7- Bradford City
8- Burton Albion
9- Carlisle United
10- Crewe Alexandra
11- Derby County
12- Doncaster Rovers
13- Fleetwood Town
14- Grimsby Town
15- Harrogate Town
16- Huddersfield Town
17- Hull City
18- Leeds United
19- Leicester City
20- Lincoln City
21- Mansfield Town
22- Middlesbrough
23- Morecambe
24- Notts County
25- Port Vale
26- Preston North End
27- Rotherham United
28- Salford City
29- Sheffield Wednesday
30- Shrewsbury Town
31- Stockport County
32- Stoke City
33- Sunderland
34- Tranmere Rovers
35- Walsall
36- West Bromwich Albion
37- Wigan Athletic
38- Wrexham
Carabao Cup first round draw teams
As a reminder, we’ve got this first round split in two: a northern and a southern section.
That’s just to save on travel for the clubs and fans of the lower leagues of course and it’s a totally open draw later down the line as usual.
The format for the season sees 72 teams in action now, then the 36 winners are joined in the second round by 12 Premier League sides, for 48 in total. Then it’s 24 winners from those games into the third round, where they are joined by the remaining eight from the top flight to mak up the required 32, and onto the last 16 and so on.
What time is Carabao Cup 2023/24 first round draw and what teams are in the hat?
The Carabao Cup 2023/24 will begin quickly after the EFL season begins in August.
After the first round of fixtures in the Championship, League One and League Two, clubs will quickly switch focus to the first domestic piece of silverware available.
Manchester United won the trophy last year, beating Newcastle in the final at Wembley.
Now, all 72 EFL clubs learn their first cup fixtures of the 2023/24 campaign.
Here is everything you need to know about the first-round draw and the key dates for this year’s competition:
What time is Carabao Cup first round draw?
After Manchester United won the cup last year, EFL clubs learn their first-round opponents for the 2023/24 season
Carabao Cup first round draw
Good afternoon and welcome to the first cup draw of the 23/24 season...and yes, it hurts saying we’re there already.
In any case, it’s time to find out who plays each other in the first round of the Carabao Cup, or the League Cup if you prefer, or the EFL Cup indeed. All the same thing.
We’ve got 72 sides keen to see who they will be facing and the draw will be coming up in around an hour.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments