EFL have announced details of the first-round draw in the 2026-27 Carabao Cup.
The first-round draw will take place on Thursday 25 June at 4:30pm BST, live on Sky Sports News in the UK presented by Dharmesh Sheth, with Kevin Nolan and Luke Chambers conducting the draw.
As is traditional to minimise travel for clubs and fans in the first round, the clubs have been split into Northern and Southern Sections which will consist of 17 and 18 ties respectively, including the two winners of the preliminary round.
In the Southern Section draw, Bromley are ball number six as Andy Woodman’s Ravens look to claim another first-round cupset after they eliminated Ipswich at this stage last season.
West Ham have been handed ball number 34 as they enter at this stage for the first time since the 2011-12 season.
Within the Northern Section, Grimsby Town are ball number 14 as they look to cause another shock after they eliminated Manchester United in the second round last season.
Last season’s beaten Championship Play-Off Finalists, Middlesbrough are ball number 18 in the draw.
Burnley and Wolves are ball numbers seven and 32 respectively following their returns to the Championship.
The first round is scheduled to held across the weekend of 7-9 August in a change of scheduling format for the stage in order to alleviate fears of early-season fixture congestion.
Here are the Northern and Southern Section Ball Numbers in full.
Northern Section
| Ball Number | Club |
| 1 | Accrington Stanley |
| 2 | Barnsley |
| 3 | Blackburn Rovers |
| 4 | Blackpool |
| 5 | Bolton Wanderers |
| 6 | Bradford City |
| 7 | Burnley |
| 8 | Burton Albion |
| 9 | Chesterfield |
| 10 | Crewe Alexandra |
| 11 | Derby County |
| 12 | Doncaster Rovers |
| 13 | Fleetwood Town |
| 14 | Grimsby Town |
| 15 | Huddersfield Town |
| 16 | Lincoln City |
| 17 | Mansfield Town |
| 18 | Middlesbrough |
| 19 | Notts County |
| 20 | Oldham |
| 21 | Port Vale |
| 22 | Preston North End |
| 23 | Rotherham United |
| 24 | Salford City |
| 25 | Sheffield United |
| 26 | Sheffield Wednesday |
| 27 | Shrewsbury Town |
| 28 | Stockport County |
| 29 | Stoke City |
| 30 | West Brom |
| 31 | Wigan |
| 32 | Wolves |
| 33 | Wrexham |
| 34 | Tranmere/Rochdale |
Southern Section
| Ball Number | Club |
| 1 | AFC Wimbledon |
| 2 | Barnet |
| 3 | Birmingham City |
| 4 | Bristol City |
| 5 | Bristol Rovers |
| 6 | Bromley |
| 7 | Cambridge United |
| 8 | Cardiff City |
| 9 | Charlton Athletic |
| 10 | Cheltenham Town |
| 11 | Colchester |
| 12 | Exeter City |
| 13 | Gillingham |
| 14 | Leicester |
| 15 | Leyton Orient |
| 16 | Luton Town |
| 17 | Millwall |
| 18 | MK Dons |
| 19 | Newport County |
| 20 | Northampton Town |
| 21 | Norwich |
| 22 | Oxford United |
| 23 | Peterborough |
| 24 | Plymouth |
| 25 | Portsmouth |
| 26 | QPR |
| 27 | Reading |
| 28 | Southampton |
| 29 | Stevenage |
| 30 | Swansea |
| 31 | Swindon |
| 32 | Walsall |
| 33 | Watford |
| 34 | West Ham |
| 35 | Wycombe Wanderers |
| 36 | York City/Crawley |
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