The 2024–25 EFL Cup was the 65th season of the English Football League Cup. It was sponsored by Carabao Energy Drink and known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons. The EFL Cup was open to all clubs participating in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

and the

English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

. The winner of the competition qualified for the play-off round of the 2025–26 UEFA Conference League.

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

were the defending champions, having beaten Chelsea in the previous season's final but were beaten in this season's final by

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

, who won their first EFL Cup and a first domestic trophy since the 1954–55 FA Cup.

Teams

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 The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in England, with five teams from Wales, one from Guernsey, one from Jersey and one from the ...

. In the first round, 22 of 24

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

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 The 2023–24 Premier League was the 32nd season of the Premier League and the 125th season of English football overall. The season began on 11 August 2023, and concluded on 19 May 2024. Manchester City, the defending champions, won their f ...

season (

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

and

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

), and the

clubs not involved in either the Champions League,

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

or Conference League entered.

First round

A total of 70 teams played in the first round: 24 from League Two (tier 4), 24 from League One (tier 3), and 22 from the

(tier 2). The draw for this round was split on a geographical basis into "northern" and "southern" sections, where teams were drawn against a team from the same section. The draw was made on 27 June 2024 by

Frank Sinclair Frank Mohammed Sinclair (born 3 December 1971) is a former professional football player and manager who is a coach . He made 756 league and cup appearances in a 25-year playing career, scoring 27 goals. A defender, he began his career at Che ...

and

Gary McAllister Gary McAllister MBE (born 25 December 1964) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player. McAllister played primarily as a midfielder in a career spanning over nineteen years. He started his career at local side Motherwell bef ...

Northern section

Southern section

Second round

A total of 50 teams played in the second round: the 13

clubs not involved in European competitions and the two best-ranked

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...

clubs (

and

) entered at this stage along with the 35 winners from the first round. The draw for this round was split on a geographical basis into "northern" and "southern" sections, where teams were drawn against a team from the same section. The draw was made on 14 August 2024 by Jermaine Beckford and

Curtis Davies Curtis Eugene Davies (born 15 March 1985) is a former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. Born in England, he represented the Sierra Leone national team. Davies began his career at Luton Town, for whom he made his professiona ...

Northern section

Southern section

Third round

A total of 32 teams played in the third round: the seven

clubs involved in European competitions (

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

, Chelsea,

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

and

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

) entered at this stage along with the 25 winners from the second round. The draw was made on 28 August 2024 by Michael Dawson and

Les Ferdinand Leslie Ferdinand (born 8 December 1966) is an English football coach, former professional footballer and television pundit. A striker, his playing career included notable spells in the Premier League with Queens Park Rangers, Newcastle United, ...

, where conditions were implemented to ensure clubs participating in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

did not draw clubs participating in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

due to fixture clashes.

Fourth round

The 16 winners from the third round played in the fourth round. Championship sides

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

and

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

were the lowest-ranked teams in the draw, which was made on 25 September 2024 by

Jamie Redknapp Jamie Frank Redknapp (born 25 June 1973) is an English former professional footballer who was active from 1989 until 2005. He is a pundit at Sky Sports and an editorial sports columnist at the ''Daily Mail''. A technically skillful and creativ ...

and

Kevin Nolan Kevin Anthony Jance Nolan (born 24 June 1982) is an English former professional footballer and coach, who manages Northampton Town. He has represented England at under-21 level. After growing up in Toxteth, Liverpool, Nolan signed for Bolton ...

Quarter-finals

The eight winners from the fourth round played in the quarter-finals. For the first time since the 2009–10 season, all eight remaining teams were Premier League sides. The draw was made on 30 October 2024 by

and

Izzy Christiansen Isobel Mary Christiansen (born 20 September 1991) is an English football pundit and former footballer who played as a midfielder or forward. She is known for her time with Manchester City Women between 2014 and 2018, and Everton (2019–2023). ...

Semi-finals

The four winners from the quarter-finals played in the semi-finals. The draw was made on 19 December 2024 by Jamie Carragher and

. ''Newcastle United won 4–0 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Liverpool won 4–1 on aggregate.''

Final

Top goalscorers

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2024-25 EFL Cup EFL Cup seasons League Cup

Cup A cup is an open-top vessel (container) used to hold liquids for drinking, typically with a flattened hemispherical shape, and often with a capacity of about . Cups may be made of pottery (including porcelain), glass, metal, wood, stone, pol ...