Carabao Cup prize money
Winning the Carabao Cup final is worth £100,000. Winning a tie in the first round, where it starts, is worth £5,000. The whole run from there to the trophy is worth £187,000.
The EFL sets the whole schedule before the competition starts, so every amount on this page is a fixed rate for 2025/26 rather than a share of what came in. There is no entry payment and no table to finish in: a club is paid for winning a tie and nothing else.
Winning it from the first round
seven ties, the longest road in the competition
| ROUND | PAYS | RUNNING TOTAL |
|---|---|---|
| Winning the first round | £5,000 | £5,000 |
| Winning the second round | £7,000 | £12,000 |
| Winning the third round | £10,000 | £22,000 |
| Winning the fourth round | £15,000 | £37,000 |
| Winning the quarter-final | £25,000 | £62,000 |
| Winning the semi-final | £25,000 | £87,000 |
| Winning the final | £100,000 | £187,000 |
The other roads through it
Every round
straight knockout from August, and nothing at all for losing
| ROUND | WINNERS |
|---|---|
| First round1st round League One, League Two and the Championship clubs not in Europe | £5,000 |
| Second round2nd round the Premier League clubs without European football enter | £7,000 |
| Third round3rd round the last entry point, for the clubs in Europe | £10,000 |
| Fourth round4th round | £15,000 |
| Quarter-finalQuarter-final | £25,000 |
| Semi-finalSemi-final the only two-legged tie in the competition, and it pays the same as the round before it | £25,000 |
| FinalFinal four times what the semi-final pays, and the largest single payment in the competition | £100,000 |
Who collected it
Which clubs were paid for winning each round
- Third round £10,000 each
Manchester City, Arsenal, Newcastle United, Chelsea, Cardiff City, Brentford, Fulham, Crystal Palace, Grimsby Town, Wycombe Wanderers, Wrexham, Brighton & Hove Albion, Liverpool, Swansea City, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Tottenham Hotspur
- Fourth round £15,000 each
Manchester City, Arsenal, Newcastle United, Chelsea, Cardiff City, Brentford, Fulham, Crystal Palace
- Quarter-final £25,000 each
Manchester City, Arsenal, Newcastle United, Chelsea
- Semi-final £25,000 each
Manchester City, Arsenal
- Final £100,000
Manchester City
A club is paid for every round it wins and the road adds up, so these five together are what winning the cup from the third round is worth. The first two rounds are played before the Premier League clubs enter and are not listed here.
Frequently asked questions
How much do the winners of the Carabao Cup get?
£100,000 for winning the final, and £187,000 across every round on the way there for a club entering at the first round.
Does the Carabao Cup pay anything for losing?
No. Every payment in the competition is for winning a tie, so a club knocked out in the first round takes nothing from it.
How does the Carabao Cup compare with league money?
It is a fraction of it. Southampton finished bottom of the Premier League in 2024/25 and still collected £109,200,000 in central payments, which is more than £187,000, the most any club can win in the Carabao Cup. A cup run is worth having, and it is not what pays for a squad.
Are these figures for 2025/26?
Yes. The EFL sets the schedule before the competition starts, so every amount here is the rate in force for 2025/26 rather than what any club happened to collect.
Where to next
The rest of the money a club plays for
The other cup we hold a schedule for: FA Cup prize money. In Europe, see Champions League prize money, Club World Cup prize money, Europa League prize money and Conference League prize money. For what a club is paid at home, see Premier League prize money, La Liga prize money and La Liga 2 prize money, or Bundesliga prize money for a league that publishes its formula rather than its payments . For what a relegated club is paid after it leaves, see Championship parachute payments. Where a league publishes the shares and not the payments, see Serie A prize money. Where a competition pays for where a team finished rather than for every round it won, see World Cup prize money. Or look at every league we track.