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64th season of the EFL Cup
Football tournament season
2024–25 EFL Cup Carabao Cup Country England Dates 13 August 2024 – 16 March 2025[1] Teams 92 Defending champions Liverpool
The 2024–25 EFL Cup will be the 65th season of the EFL Cup (known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons). The competition is open to all clubs participating in the Premier League and the English Football League .
The winner of the competition qualifies for the play-off round of the 2025–26 UEFA Conference League .
Liverpool are the defending champions.
All 92 clubs in the Premier League and English Football League entered the season's EFL Cup. Access was distributed across the top 4 leagues of the English football league system
In the first round, 22 of 24 Championship clubs, and all League One and League Two clubs entered.
The following round, the two remaining Championship clubs, who finished 18th and 19th in the 2023–24 Premier League season (Luton Town and Burnley), and the Premier League clubs not involved in either the Champions League , Europa League or Conference League entered.
Clubs entering in this round
Clubs advancing from previous round
Number of games
Main date
First round
24 clubs from EFL League Two
24 clubs from EFL League One
22 clubs from EFL Championship
35
w/c 12th August 2024
Second round
2 clubs from EFL Championship
13 Premier League clubs (not involved in European competition)
35 winners from first round
25
w/c 26th August 2024
Third round
7 Premier League clubs (involved in European competition)
25 winners from second round
16
w/c 16th September 2024
w/c 23rd September 2024
Fourth round
No clubs enter the fourth round
16 winners from third round
8
w/c 28th October 2024
Quarter-finals
No clubs enter the quarter-finals
8 winners from fourth round
4
w/c 16th December 2024
Semi-finals
No clubs enter the semi-finals
4 winners from quarter-finals
4 (two-legged )
w/c 6th January 2025
w/c 3rd February 2025
Final
2 winners from semi-finals
1
16th March 2025
First round [ edit ] A total of 70 clubs played in the first round: 24 from League Two (tier 4), 24 from League One (tier 3), and 22 from the Championship (tier 2). The draw for this round was split on a geographical basis into "northern" and "southern" sections. Teams were drawn against a team from the same section.
Northern section [ edit ] Southern section [ edit ] References [ edit ]
National teams
League
Level 1 Levels 2–4 Levels 5–6 Levels 7–8 Levels 9–10
Combined Counties League (Premier North , Premier South , One ) Eastern Counties League (Premier , One North , One South ) Essex Senior League (level 9 only)Hellenic League (Premier , One ) Midland League (Premier , One ) Northern Counties East League (Premier , One ) Northern League (One , Two ) North West Counties League (Premier , One North , One South ) Southern Combination League (Premier , One ) Southern Counties East League (Premier , One ) South West Peninsula League (Premier East , Premier West - level 10 only )Spartan South Midlands League (Premier , One ) United Counties League (Premier North , Premier South , One ) Wessex League (Premier , One ) Western League (Premier , One )
Cup
Youth
Domestic leagues Domestic cups League cups Supercups UEFA competitions International competitions
