Lincoln City will be ball No.16 in the Northern Section when the League Cup, known as the Carabao Cup this season, draw is made live on Sky Sports News at 4.30 pm on Thursday, June 25.
The Imps will discover their first competitive opponents of the 2026/27 campaign when the draw is made, with the opening round of the competition scheduled to take place across the weekend of August 7-9.
Another cup competition we usually wait for, the EFL Trophy, is of no concern to Championship clubs with a Category 3 academy, which is a blessing.
In the League Cup, the Imps are once again part of the Northern Section, with the first round split regionally between 70 clubs from the EFL and invited sides. The northern section draw will also include a small complication, with Tranmere Rovers or Rochdale listed as ball No.34, while York City and Crawley will play a similar game in the southern section.
The Imps have only been eliminated at the First Round stage of the competition three times since re-entering the EFL in 2017/18. That includes 2017/18, against Rotherham United, 2021/22, against Shrewsbury Town on penalties, and 2024/25 when League Two side Harrogate Town ended our run before it began.
Carabao Cup Northern Section Ball Numbers
City’s potential opponents include a number of familiar League One rivals, as well as trips to teams two divisions below us in the EFL. The last time a competitive match took place between the Imps and an EFL team two divisions below was in 1960/61, also in the League Cup, when Bradford Park Avenue beat us 1-0 in a replay after a 2-2 draw at the Bank. It was also our first League Cup experience.
Interestingly, the Imps have never beaten an EFL side two divisions lower. Up until 1958/59, the bottom two divisions were regionalised, so only once have we, as a second-tier outfit, beaten lower league (EFL, not non-league) opposition, that being in 1953/54 when it took us three matches to get past Division Three (South) side Walsall in the FA Cup.
The full Northern Section draw numbers are:
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 Athletic
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 Bromwich Albion
31 Wigan Athletic
32 Wolverhampton Wanderers
33 Wrexham
34 Tranmere Rovers or Rochdale
The Southern Section includes AFC Wimbledon, Barnet, Birmingham City, Bristol City, Bristol Rovers, Bromley, Cambridge United, Cardiff City, Charlton Athletic, Cheltenham Town, Colchester United, Exeter City, Gillingham, Leicester City, Leyton Orient, Luton Town, Millwall, Milton Keynes Dons, Newport County, Northampton Town, Norwich City, Oxford United, Peterborough United, Plymouth Argyle, Portsmouth, Queens Park Rangers, Reading, Southampton, Stevenage, Swansea City, Swindon Town, Walsall, Watford, West Ham United, Wycombe Wanderers and York City or Crawley Town.
Carabao Cup 2026/27 Round Dates
The opening round will take place earlier than usual in calendar terms, falling across the weekend of August 7th-9th, before the second round is played in the week commencing August 24th.
Round three will again be spread across two midweeks, beginning September 7th and September 14th, before round four takes place in the week commencing October 26th.
The quarter-finals are scheduled for the week commencing December 14th, with the semi-final first legs set for the week commencing January 11th, 2027. The second legs will follow in the week commencing February 1st, before the final is played at Wembley on Sunday, March 21st, 2027.
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