The Carabao Cup, otherwise known as the EFL Cup, has been around for decades now and never failed to deliver its fair share of drama on the pitch.
While not quite as treasured as the FA Cup, the competition still provides clubs with a great chance of silverware each season.
The Carabao Cup is no stranger to upsets either with the likes of Swansea City and Birmingham City lifting the title over the past 13 years.
The England Football League hasn’t been afraid to make changes to the competition format over the years with its stance on what do in the case of a draw after 90 minutes recently changing.
Carabao Cup extra time rules
As a knockout competition, a winner is required after every Carabao Cup tie.
The tournament, however, doesn’t use extra time until the semifinals to decide who progresses should the score be level after 90 minutes.
Extra time was used in each round of the Carabao Cup until the 2018/19 campaign when EFL clubs voted in favour of cutting back on having to play an extra 30 minutes.
“The rationale put forward by the EFL is that withdrawing the additional 30 minutes of play would directly address any additional fatigue issues that are occasionally caused when the midweek ties go beyond the traditional 90-minute period,” an EFL statement at the time read.
Extra time will therefore only be used in the second leg of a semifinal or the final itself.
“85% of the games finish within 90 minutes – we’re only talking about a small number that will be affected.”
Shaun Harvey on the removal of extra time in the #CarabaoCup >> https://t.co/tOyHLjWxrP pic.twitter.com/DjaLx9jTdy
— Carabao Cup (@Carabao_Cup) June 15, 2018
Do Carabao Cup matches go to penalties?
With no extra time until the semifinal stage, Carabao Cup games that are drawn after 90 minutes go directly to a penalty shootout.
These spot kicks currently follow the traditional format, but the competition did trial the ABBA concept in 2017/18.
As the name suggests, this approach involved teams taking consecutive penalties at every point after the first attempt. For example, if Arsenal took the first penalty, Chelsea would then take the second and third, with Arsenal stepping up for the fourth and fifth attempt.
This penalty shootout format was short-lived, however, with the Carabao Cup reverting to the original system in 2018/19.
Four Carabao Cup finals between 2012 and 2022 alone were decided on penalties. In 2023/24, Chelsea and Fulham each won their quarterfinals via penalty shootouts, defeating Newcastle United and Everton, respectively.
Virgil van Dijk’s extra-time winner for Liverpool against Chelsea in the final in 2023 avoided a repeat of those sides going to spot kicks as they did in 2022.
MORE: How Man United ‘killed the FA Cup’ 23 years ago
Are there replays in Carabao Cup?
The Carabao Cup doesn’t employ replays of matches at any stage of the tournament.
Replays, in fact, haven’t been used in the competition since the 1990s with either extra time or penalties deciding a winner if required.
Semifinals in the Carabao Cup are played over two legs, though, and this is the only time where the same fixture will be played more than once in the same season. There is no away goals rule.
Who remembers this crazy penalty shootout between @LFC and @Boro in 2014?! 🤯
⏪ @OfficialBWFC’s MJ Williams looks back on his senior debut for #LFC in Round Three of the #CarabaoCup.#EFL | #IWasThere pic.twitter.com/eu8FPtPS4i
— Carabao Cup (@Carabao_Cup) November 8, 2022
What happens if Carabao Cup matches end in draw?
With all that in mind, let’s break down how a game will be decided in the Carabao Cup if both teams are level after 90 minutes:
- For any match from the First Round to the quarterfinals, a penalty shootout will be used to determine a winner.
- For the second leg of a semifinal or the final, the match will go to extra time with a penalty shootout then applied if scores are still level after those additional 30 minutes.
