Hatters will be ball number 13 in Carabao Cup first round draw
Town to find out their opponents on Thursday
Luton Town are ball number 13 for tomorrow’s Carabao Cup round one draw.
Round One will kick off the new season, with ties set to be played over the weekend of August 7-9, featuring 70 clubs, with the two winners from the preliminary round alongside the other 68 EFL teams, with the draw regionalised into Northern and Southern sections. As confirmed, Tranmere Rovers will host Rochdale on August 1, before Crawley Town travel to York City on August 3 in the preliminary round, which was required due to the participation of nine Premier League clubs in European competition in the 2026-27 campaign.
Last season, the Hatters, who famously won the competition in 1988 when beating Arsenal 3-2 at Wembley, were knocked out at this stage last term, beaten 1-0 by eventual Championship champions Coventry City. The draw will take place live on Sky Sports News at 4.30pm on Thursday, as part of the EFL’s Fixture Release Day, with former Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United midfielder Kevin Nolan joining ex-Ipswich Town and Nottingham Forest defender, Luke Chambers, in picking out the balls.
Ball numbers – 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 United; 12, Exeter City; 13, Gillingham; 14, Leicester City; 15, Leyton Orient; 16, Luton Town; 17, Millwall; 18, MK Dons; 19, Newport County; 20, Northampton Town; 21, Norwich City; 22, Oxford United; 23, Peterborough United; 24, Plymouth Argyle; 25, Portsmouth; 26, QPR; 27, Reading; 28, Southampton; 29, Stevenage; 30, Swansea City; 31, Swindon Town; 32, Walsall; 33, Watford; 34, West Ham United; 35, Wycombe Wanderers; 36, York City/Crawley Town.
The round dates for the Carabao Cup have been confirmed as the following. Round One: Weekend of 7-9 August 2026. Round Two: w/c 24 August 2026. Round Three: w/c 7 September and w/c 14 September 2026. Round Four: w/c 26 October 2026. Round Five: w/c 14 December 2026. Semi-Final First Leg: w/c 11 January 2027. Semi-Final Second Leg: w/c 1 February 2027. Final: Sunday 21 March 2027.