Carabao Cup draw LIVE: First round fixtures including Wrexham, Coventry and all 72 EFL clubs
The first major cup draw for the 2023/24 season takes place on Thursday ahead of the new campaign starting, with English Football League clubs set to find 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 LIVE
QPR vs Norwich headlines first round draw in Southern Section
Wrexham host Wigan in Northern Section draw
Full schedule and dates for 2023/24 Carabao Cup
Carabao Cup first round draw live updates
14:54 , Karl Matchett
As a reminder, these games will be played week commencing 7 August 2023 and the final itself is 25 February 2024.
The full schedule for the Carabao Cup this season is as follows:
Round One - w/c 7 August 2023
Round Two - w/c 28 August 2023
Round Three - w/c 25 September 2023
Round Four - w/c 30 October 2023
Quarter-Final - w/c 18 December 2023
Semi-Final (first leg) - w/c 8 January 2024
Semi-Final (second leg) - w/c 21 January 2024
Final - Sunday 25 February 2024
Carabao Cup first round draw live updates
14:49 , Karl Matchett
Full Carabao Cup Northern section first round draw:
Notts County vs Lincoln City
Bolton Wanderers vs Barrow
Hull City vs Doncaster Rovers
Mansfield vs Grimsby
Stoke City vs West Brom
Sheffield Wednesday vs Stockport County
Leeds United vs Shrewsbury
Preston North End vs Salford City
Rotherham United vs Morecambe
Harrogate vs Carlisle United
Burton Albion vs Leicester City
Accrington Stanley vs Bradford City
Derby County vs Blackpool
Port Vale vs Fleetwood Town
Barnsley vs Tranmere Rovers
Blackburn Rovers vs Walsall
Huddersfield Town vs Middlesbrough
Wrexham vs Wigan Athletic
Sunderland vs Crewe
Carabao Cup first round draw live updates
14:47 , Karl Matchett
And the final fixture...
Sunderland vs Crewe
Carabao Cup first round draw live updates
14:46 , Karl Matchett
Blackburn Rovers vs Walsall
Huddersfield Town vs Middlesbrough
Wrexham vs Wigan Athletic
Carabao Cup first round draw live updates
14:45 , Karl Matchett
Accrington Stanley vs Bradford City
Derby County vs Blackpool
Port Vale vs Fleetwood Town
Barnsley vs Tranmere Rovers
Carabao Cup first round draw live updates
14:44 , Karl Matchett
Preston North End vs Salford City
Rotherham United vs Morecambe
Harrogate vs Carlisle United
Burton Albion vs Leicester City
Carabao Cup first round draw live updates
14:43 , Karl Matchett
Mansfield vs Grimsby
Stoke City vs West Brom
Sheffield Wednesday vs Stockport County
Leeds United vs Shrewsbury
Carabao Cup first round draw live updates
14:41 , Karl Matchett
Into the Northern Section we go!
Notts County vs Lincoln City
Bolton Wanderers vs Barrow
Hull City vs Doncaster Rovers
Carabao Cup first round draw live updates
14:40 , Karl Matchett
Full Carabao Cup Southern section first round draw:
Plymouth Argyle vs Leyton Orient
Forest Green Rovers vs Portsmouth
Swansea City vs Northampton
Exeter City vs Crawley
Ipswich Town vs Bristol Rovers
Newport County vs Charlton Athletic
Stevenage vs Watford
Cheltenham vs Birmingham City
Sutton United vs Cambridge United
MK Dons vs Wycombe Wanderers
Millwall vs Reading
AFC Wimbledon vs Coventry City
Bristol City vs Oxford United
Gillingham vs Southampton
QPR vs Norwich City
Peterborough United vs Swindon Town
Cardiff City vs Colchester
Carabao Cup first round draw live updates
14:39 , Karl Matchett
Gillingham vs Southampton
QPR vs Norwich City
Peterborough United vs Swindon Town
Cardiff City vs Colchester
Carabao Cup first round draw live updates
14:38 , Karl Matchett
Millwall vs Reading
AFC Wimbledon vs Coventry City
Bristol City vs Oxford United
Carabao Cup first round draw live updates
14:37 , Karl Matchett
Cheltenham vs Birmingham City
Sutton United vs Cambridge United
MK Dons vs Wycombe Wanderers
Carabao Cup first round draw live updates
14:36 , Karl Matchett
Ipswich Town vs Bristol Rovers
Newport County vs Charlton Athletic
Stevenage vs Watford
Carabao Cup first round draw live updates
14:35 , Karl Matchett
This is the Southern section first, by the way!
Forest Green Rovers vs Portsmouth
Swansea City vs Northampton
Exeter City vs Crawley
Carabao Cup first round draw live updates
14:34 , Karl Matchett
Carabao Cup first round draw underway:
Plymouth Argyle vs Leyton Orient
Carabao Cup first round draw live updates
14:33 , Karl Matchett
Michael Dawson is the man in the prestigious spot of discussing getting to the final and making the draw.
“Great memories,” he says about his win with Spurs.
Danny Cowley, formerly Lincoln and Huddersfield boss, is also here with them.
Nothing like a self-important Uefa ceremony, this: a couple of questions each and we’re getting straight into it. No collages, montages or re-reading of rules everybody has known for a decade already. Here we go!
Carabao Cup first round draw live updates
14:28 , Karl Matchett
The last team to win the League Cup who are not now in the Premier League were Swansea City - they triumphed in 2013.
For a team to win the competition while not in the top flight, we go all the way back to 1991 and Sheffield Wednesday, while only a further half a dozen clubs from outside the Premier League have made the final since then.
Time for the main event, just about: the draw for the Carabao Cup first round is coming up!
Carabao Cup first round draw live updates
14:22 , Karl Matchett
Here’s the full schedule for the League Cup in 2023/24 - so the games drawn out today will be played only six weeks or so from now.
Carabao Cup Round One - w/c 7 August 2023
Carabao Cup Round Two - w/c 28 August 2023
Carabao Cup Round Three - w/c 25 September 2023
Carabao Cup Round Four - w/c 30 October 2023
Carabao Cup Quarter-Final - w/c 18 December 2023
Carabao Cup Semi-Final (first leg) - w/c 8 January 2024
Carabao Cup Semi-Final (second leg) - w/c 21 January 2024
Carabao Cup Final - Sunday 25 February 2024
Carabao Cup first round draw live updates
14:17 , Karl Matchett
Looking back to last season, the EFL club which went furthest in the competition was League One outfit Charlton Athletic.
They reached the quarter-final stage, before losing to eventual winners Man United. Prior to that they knocked out Brighton on penalties though, while MK Dons, Gillingham, Lincoln, Burnley and Blackburn all reached the last-16.
Who will manage to go furthest this term, and who will produce the biggest giant-killing?
That award for 22/23 probably went to the Gills, who beat Brentford on penalties in the third round.
Carabao Cup first round draw
14:10 , Karl Matchett
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:
Championship opening day fixtures
League One opening day fixtures
League Two opening day fixtures
Carabao Cup first round draw
13:58 , Karl Matchett
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
13:52 , Karl Matchett
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
13:46 , Karl Matchett
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?
13:38 , Karl Matchett
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?
Carabao Cup first round draw
13:11 , Karl Matchett
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.
