EFL Cup

EFL Cup

EFL Cup logo used since 2017–18 season
Organising body	English Football League
Founded	1960; 64 years ago (1960) (as Football League Cup) 2016; 8 years ago (2016) (as EFL Cup)
Region	England  Wales
Number of teams	92
Qualifier for	UEFA Conference League play-off round
Current champions	Liverpool (10th title)
Most successful club(s)	Liverpool (10 titles)
Television broadcasters	Sky Sports ITV Sport (highlights only)
Website	efl.com/competitions/carabao-cup
2024–25 EFL Cup

The EFL Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the English Football League (EFL), it is open to any club within the top four levels of the English football league system—96 clubs in total—comprising the top-level Premier League, and the three divisions of the English Football League's own league competition (Championship, League One and League Two).

First held in 1960–61 as the Football League Cup, it is one of the three top-tier domestic football competitions in England alongside the Premier League and FA Cup. It concludes in late-February, long before the other two major competitions, which end in May. It was introduced by the league as a response to the increasing popularity of European football, and to also exert power over the FA. It also took advantage of the roll-out of floodlights, allowing the fixtures to be played as midweek evening games. With the renaming of the Football League as the English Football League in 2016, the tournament was rebranded as the EFL Cup from the 2016–17 season onwards.

The tournament is played over seven rounds, with single-leg ties throughout, except for the semi-finals. The final is held at Wembley Stadium, which is the only leg in the competition played at a neutral venue and on a weekend (Sunday). The first two rounds are split into North and South sections, and a system of byes based on league level ensures higher ranked teams enter in later rounds and defers the entry of teams still involved in Europe. Winners not only receive the EFL Cup,^[1] of which there have been three designs, the current one also being the original, but also qualify for European football: from 1966–67 until 1971–72 the winners received a place in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, from 1972–1973 until the 2019–20 season in the UEFA Europa League (formerly the UEFA Cup) and starting with the 2020–21 season in the UEFA Conference League. Should the winner also qualify for Europe through other means at the end of the season, this place is transferred to the highest-placed Premier League team that has not already qualified for European competition. The most successful club in the competition are current holders Liverpool, who defeated Chelsea 1–0 in the 2024 final to win their tenth League Cup.