World Cup? What World Cup? Most fans have moved quickly on from England’s tame capitulation against Argentina, and who really cares about the national team anyway? Well, we can all tell ourselves that for another two years while we focus on the real action: club football.
The build-up to the 2026/27 campaign is well underway, with many clubs having played two or more pre-season friendlies. The new football season always comes round quickly when there is a major tournament in the summer and that is the case this year, with clubs in Scotland (and around Europe) already having played competitively in European qualifiers.
In this article we look ahead to the real action starting, both in England and elsewhere. Here are the key dates to note at the start of another campaign.
English Football
The Premier League is the most-watched football competition in the world, and it starts, sort of, with the glorified friendly that is the Community Shield. This year the season curtain-raiser will be played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Rather oddly, Wembley is instead hosting singer-songwriter the Weeknd, so Wales’ national stadium does the honours for the first time since 2006 (when the new Wembley was being built).
League champions Arsenal will face FA Cup winners Manchester City on the 16th of August. Kick-off is at 3 pm, but the real action will start a week later. Or, more accurately, just five days later, on the 21st of August. The Community Shield is on the Sunday, with the first game of the 35th Premier League season taking place the following Friday.
Arsenal will host Coventry first up, with the other PL new boys playing on the 22nd (Hull v Manchester United and Ipswich v Sunderland). That trio replace West Ham, Wolves and Burnley, who will be in the Championship. The second tier gets underway on the 14th of August, with Wolves hosting Blackburn on Friday night.
League Two starts on Saturday the 15th of August, with League Two starting the same day. The first round of the EFL Cup is a week earlier, starting on the 6th of August, with games on the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th. The FA Cup preliminary rounds also get underway in August, but the first round proper is not until November.
The Champions League and Europa League also have qualifying rounds that have already begun. However, the league phase for each does not start until mid-September. The draws for the league phase, however, do take place relatively soon. The CL draw is on the 27th of August, with the Europa League equivalent on the following day.
Key Dates Around Europe
The top flights across Europe start on different dates, and closest to home, Scotland gets things started. The top flight north of the border begins in July! Dundee United host Rangers on Friday the 31st. That early start is in stark contrast to the 18-team Bundesliga, which does not kick off until almost a month later, on the 28th of August. Harry Kane’s champions, Bayern Munich, get the new campaign underway at home against Stuttgart.
La Liga’s big kick-off is more in line with England, in fact starting the day before the Community Shield, with two games on the 15th of August. Somewhat oddly, Real Madrid and Barca, plus respective opponents Real Sociedad and Athletic Club, will not play until the 26th and 27th of August. La Liga allowed their games to be delayed due to the number of players both had involved in the latter stages of the World Cup.
In France, Ligue 1 starts on the 21st of August, when Marseille host Strasbourg. Italian top-tier football also begins that weekend. The first games in Serie A are on Saturday the 22nd of August.
And Those Pesky International Breaks
Just as domestic action takes centre stage, we have an international break, or at least that’s how it seems. The first international break begins on the 21st of September and runs until the 6th of October. We then have another to follow that between the 9th and 17th of November. England face Spain, Croatia and Czechia (twice) in Nations League action during the first extended break. They then complete their Nations League group campaign with return fixtures against Croatia and Spain in the second, more traditional, break.
Key Early-Season Dates
Looking at the first month or so of the season only, in summary, the key dates are:
- 31 July – Scottish Premiership starts
- 6 August – EFL Cup first round
- 14 August – Championship begins
- 15 August – La Liga kicks off
- 15 August – League 1 and 2 commence
- 16 August – Community Shield
- 21 August – PL starts
- 21 August – Ligue 1 starts
- 22 August – Serie A begins
- 27 August – UCL league phase draw
- 28 August – Bundesliga begins
- 29 August – Europa League league phase draw