league cup

The 3^rd competition in England, it involves the 92 clubs in the Football League. It is also known as the EFL Cup, and is currently called the Carabao Cup (the current sponsor). In the past it has been named the Milk Cup, Coca-Cola Cup, Carling Cup, Littlewoods Cup and Worthington Cup. This is all the clubs from the Premier League, Championship, League One and League Two. The competition begins in August, with the teams playing in European competition entering at the 3^rd round stage. The competition runs through till late February/early March. There is no VAR until the semi-finals, and there is still the quirk of two-legged semi-finals, with home and away ties. The winner qualifies for the next season’s Europa League.

If a knock-out tournament match is level after 90 minutes it will then move on to extra time and penalties if still no winner can be found. Each team has 5 chances to score from a penalty kick, taking it in turns, the team that scores the most goals wins. The pressure builds as you reach the end of the 5 kicks. If it is level after 5 kicks each, sudden death begins. A penalty shootout could go on forever in theory, with every player taking a kick, including goalkeepers, until one team scores and the other misses. In big games like the World Cup, there is nothing quite like the intensity of a penalty shootout!