2025–26 Women's League Cup
Football tournament season
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2025–26 Women's League Cup was the 15th edition of the Women's Super League and Women's Championship's league cup competition. It was sponsored by Subway, which had been a partner of the competition since 2024, and was officially known as the Subway Women's League Cup for sponsorship reasons. All 24 teams from the WSL and Championship took part in the competition. Chelsea were the title holders.[1] They successfully defended their title after defeating first time finalists Manchester United 2–0 in the final.[2]
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Country | England |
| Dates | 24 September 2025 – 15 March 2026 |
| Teams | 24 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Chelsea (4th title) |
| Runners-up | Manchester United |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 41 |
| Goals scored | 127 (3.1 per match) |
| Attendance | 65,044 (1,586 per match) |
| Top goal scorer(s) | Shekiera Martinez (West Ham United) 4 goals |
This was the last season of the tournament in its group and knockout stages format, and the last involving teams competing in the UEFA Women's Champions League.
Format
The competition kept the same format as the previous season, starting with a group stage split regionally. Teams competing in the UEFA Women's Champions League group stage were exempt from the League Cup group stage, earning a provisional bye to the quarter-finals. As a result, the initial group stage draw made on 30 July 2025 featured 21 of the 24 teams.[3] The three teams excluded from the draw were Arsenal and Chelsea, who automatically entered the Champions League group stage, and Manchester United who advanced in the Champions League qualifying rounds, therefore joining the League Cup at the quarter-finals.
The first place team in each of the five groups qualified for the knockout stage.
Group stage
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | PW | PL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester City | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 4 | +4 | 8 | Advanced to knockout stage |
| 2 | Everton | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 5 | |
| 3 | Nottingham Forest | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 4 | |
| 4 | Newcastle United | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 8 | −3 | 1 |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Number of wins; 5) Head-to-head record
| Nottingham Forest | 2–1 | Newcastle United |
|---|---|---|
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Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | PW | PL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 2 | +9 | 9 | Advanced to knockout stage |
| 2 | Sheffield United | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 5 | |
| 3 | Durham | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 2 | |
| 4 | Sunderland | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 7 | −6 | 2 |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Number of wins; 5) Head-to-head record
| Sunderland | 0–1 | Sheffield United |
|---|---|---|
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| Sheffield United | 1–4 | Liverpool |
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Group C
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | PW | PL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Ham United | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 4 | +8 | 9 | Advanced to knockout stage |
| 2 | Charlton Athletic | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 9 | |
| 3 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 6 | |
| 4 | Portsmouth | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 6 | −4 | 3 | |
| 5 | Southampton | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 10 | −8 | 3 |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Number of wins; 5) Head-to-head record
| Charlton Athletic | 1–5 | West Ham United |
|---|---|---|
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| Southampton | 1–0 | Portsmouth |
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| Charlton Athletic | 3–0[a] Charlton awarded a 3–0 win | Portsmouth |
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| Portsmouth | 2–0 | West Ham United |
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| Southampton | 1–2 | Charlton Athletic |
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Group D
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | PW | PL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Crystal Palace | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 6 | Advanced to knockout stage |
| 2 | Leicester City | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 6 | |
| 3 | London City Lionesses | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 6 | |
| 4 | Ipswich Town | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 10 | −7 | 0 |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Number of wins; 5) Head-to-head record
| Ipswich Town | 1–5 | Leicester City |
|---|---|---|
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| Crystal Palace | 3–2 | Ipswich Town |
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| Leicester City | 0–3 | Crystal Palace |
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Group E
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | PW | PL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tottenham Hotspur | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | +4 | 8 | Advanced to knockout stage |
| 2 | Aston Villa | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 5 | |
| 3 | Birmingham City | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 8 | −3 | 4 | |
| 4 | Bristol City | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | −4 | 1 |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Number of wins; 5) Head-to-head record
| Birmingham City | 2–2 | Bristol City |
|---|---|---|
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| Penalties | ||
| 4–3 |
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Knockout stage
The draw for the quarter-finals and semi-finals took place on 25 November on the official WSL TikTok channel. It was conducted by GK Barry and Ella Rutherford.
The draw was highly criticised due to the conduct of Barry, who sang an anti-Tottenham call and response chant ("What do we think of Tottenham?", in which the respondent(s) reply "Shit!") and dropped a ball and reselected the ball. Tottenham raised concerns about the draw and received an apology from the WSL. Additionally a number of lewd jokes were made, deemed inappropriate for the audience demographic, along with a lack of knowledge of football displayed by Barry.[6][7]
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | |||||||||||
| 21 December | |||||||||||||
| West Ham United | 1 | ||||||||||||
| 21 January | |||||||||||||
| Manchester City | 5 | ||||||||||||
| Manchester City | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 21 December | |||||||||||||
| Chelsea | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Liverpool | 1 | ||||||||||||
| 15 March – Bristol | |||||||||||||
| Chelsea | 9 | ||||||||||||
| Chelsea | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 21 December | |||||||||||||
| Manchester United | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Crystal Palace | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 21 January | |||||||||||||
| Arsenal | 2 | ||||||||||||
| Arsenal | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 21 December | |||||||||||||
| Manchester United | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Manchester United | 2 | ||||||||||||
| Tottenham Hotspur | 1 | ||||||||||||
Quarter-finals
Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United entered the League Cup at the quarter-finals, having been exempt from the group stage due to their participation in the Champions League league phase. The draw for the quarter-final and semi-final took place on 25 November 2025.[8]
| Liverpool | 1–9 | Chelsea |
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| Crystal Palace | 0–2 | Arsenal |
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| Report |
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Semi-finals
| Arsenal | 0–1 | Manchester United |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Terland  45+2' |
| Manchester City | 0–1 | Chelsea |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
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Final
On 19 December 2025, it was announced that the 2026 final would be held at Ashton Gate, the home of Bristol City. It was also confirmed that VAR and goal-line technology would be used for the third successive final.[9]
| Chelsea | 2–0 | Manchester United |
|---|---|---|
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