First part of EFL Trophy 2026/27 group stage draw complete and list of B Teams announced

The first part of EFL Trophy 2026/27 group stage draw is complete and a list of all the B Teams taking place on Thursday.

The EFL have, in a statement on Tuesday afternoon, drew out the League One and League Two clubs into groups, with the 16 invited sides from Premier League Clubs’ Category One Academies to join them in a second draw on Thursday.

The under-21 sides participating include Arsenal, Aston Villa, Brentford, Brighton & Hove Albion, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Everton, Fulham, Ipswich Town, Leeds United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest, Sunderland and Tottenham Hotspur.

The draw details for the #EFLTrophy Group Stage have now been confirmed.

📘: https://t.co/dAG8BbUOgT#EFL pic.twitter.com/oEfoWKURTO

— EFL Trophy (@EFLTrophy) June 23, 2026

B Teams will be drawn out live on Sky Sports News on Thursday the 25th of June from 2.30pm.

Presented by Sky Sports’ Dharmesh Sheth, with Kevin Nolan joining Luke Chambers to pick the balls out.

The Group Stage will be split into 16 regional groups of four teams, eight in the Northern region and eight in the Southern region. The 16 invited under-21 teams will be placed into their respective Northern and Southern regional groups, with the 48 EFL Clubs placed into pre-determined Groups prior to the draw.

Consideration has been given to ensure travel time is minimised and recovery time is maximised for players.

The pre-determined groups and the ball numbers for the Group Stages Draw are as follows:

Northern Section

Group A
Sheffield Wednesday
Salford City
Accrington Stanley

Group B
Blackpool
Wigan Athletic
Crewe Alexandra

Group C
Bradford City
York City
Rotherham United

Group D
Mansfield Town
Chesterfield
Port Vale

Group E
Stockport County
Tranmere Rovers
Shrewsbury Town

Group F
Burton Albion
Notts County
Grimsby Town

Group G
Barnsley
Oldham Athletic
Fleetwood Town

Group H
Huddersfield Town
Doncaster Rovers
Rochdale

Ball Numbers
1 – Aston Villa U21
2 – Everton U21
3 – Leeds United U21
4 – Liverpool U21
5 – Manchester City U21
6 – Newcastle United U21
7 – Nottingham Forest U21
8 – Sunderland U21

Southern Section

Group A
Oxford United
Cheltenham Town
Exeter City

Group B
Leicester City
Walsall
Stevenage

Group C
Reading
Bristol Rovers
Wycombe Wanderers

Group D
Luton Town
Peterborough United
Colchester United

Group E
Plymouth Argyle
Swindon Town
Newport County

Group F
AFC Wimbledon
Leyton Orient
Barnet

Group G
Cambridge United
Gillingham
Northampton Town

Group H
Bromley
Crawley Town
Milton Keynes Dons

Ball Numbers
1 – Arsenal U21
2 – Brentford U21
3 – Brighton & Hove Albion U21
4 – Chelsea U21
5 – Crystal Palace U21
6 – Fulham U21
7 – Ipswich Town U21
8 – Tottenham Hotspur U21

EFL Trophy Group Stage matches will commence in early September, with dates to be confirmed following the EFL’s Fixture Release Day on Thursday, 25 June.

2026/27 Round Dates

The round dates for the EFL Trophy have been confirmed as the following:

Group Stage: From early September
Round of 32: w/c 7 December
Round of 16: w/c 11 January
Quarter Finals: w/c 15 February
Semi Finals: w/c 8 March
Final: Sunday 11 April

Competition Format

The top two from each group progress to the knockout stages, with EFL Trophy fixtures remaining regionalised until the Quarter-Final stage.

Matches level after 90 minutes will be determined by penalty kicks up to, and including, the Semi-Final stage.

A period of 30 minutes of extra time will be played in the Final should the match be level after 90 minutes. If still level at the end of extra time, the winners shall be determined by penalty kicks.

The EFL’s record domestic rights deal with broadcaster Sky Sports will see every EFL Trophy match broadcast live on Sky Sports for fans in the UK.

Here’s how fans reacted with the first part of EFL Trophy 2026/27 group stage draw complete and list of B Teams announced…

@MightyMillers20: Sound easy 3 points for Bradford & York

@AdamMeagher: Forget the fixtures, that’s the big reveal on Thursday. Can’t fucking wait. #bteamboycott

@gray_nige: #BTeamBoycott #BoycottTrophy

@l_wattz1: The only time anyone will give a toss about the EFL trophy before the semis 😂 #spireites

@PaulRAFC: Never in my life did I think I would be delighted to see us in the EFL Trophy 😂 #rafc

@Lozzy_H: pre determined? So there is no draw? Geographically this a poor group for Gillingham fans

@TYROTWENTYNINE: So we have already broken the record for the highest attendance in the vertu trophy this season outside of the final. Ben waine homecoming too. Dreamland group. #stags

@l_wattz1: I take it this will be the only EFL trophy game both teams go full strength for 😂 #stags

@ElliotLane11: Makes a change from Cheltenham/Exeter/Plymouth/Swindon every season #utg

@RG2Gas: Well that’s at least one local away game … that I won’t be attending #utg

@BRFCClive101: Offing myself when it is Wycombe away and Reading at home. #utg

@_junal: I forgot all about this bloody competition 😩 #oufc

@rowanpowell4: Forgot about this bollocks. #oufc

@fraserwebster12: Ooh yeah, this nonsense. #oufc

@Lukamat365: Play the u21s #oufc

@itfcrg: And to think a few years ago we were in that competition with the first team 😍😍 #itfc

@ollieitfc07: Wow long way since that loss to colchester in this #itfc

@TheStig1997825: That’s a fucking sick draw tbf #ycfc

@SHD_Backup: We cannot escape Rotherham #bcafc