After winning our fourth Premier League title in 2025/26, excitement is already building towards 2026/27.
With so much to look forward to in the new season, we’ve put together all the key dates you need to know for the upcoming campaign, including fixture announcements, transfer windows and much more.
WHEN IS THE WORLD CUP TAKING PLACE?
The 23rd FIFA World Cup will kick off on June 11 with co-hosts Mexico taking on South Africa. We have 16 stars heading to the USA, Canada and Mexico for the expanded finals, which sees 48 sides take part across 104 matches.
Gabriel and Gabriel Martinelli are the first Gunners to feature at the World Cup. The pair will take on Morocco on Saturday, June 13, at 11pm UK time.
The tournament concludes on Sunday, July 19, with the final kicking off at the MetLife Arena at 8pm UK time.
Read more
Every Arsenal player called up for 2026 World Cup
IS THERE A PRE-SEASON TOUR?
Our pre-season preparations will see a first visit to the Republic of Ireland since 2018!
Heading to the Aviva Stadium in, Dublin, we’ll take on Spanish side Real Betis on Wednesday, August 5, kicking off at 7.30pm.
Grab your chance to see our champions back in action by purchasing your tickets here!
Further details of our pre-season schedule for the 2026/27 campaign will be announced in due course.
WHEN DOES THE TRANSFER WINDOW OPEN?
The summer transfer window will officially open on Monday, June 15. Deals can be made prior to the window opening, but will become official on that date.
Deadline Day for Premier League clubs will be on Tuesday, September 1, at 7pm. However, clubs will also have a two-hour grace period after 11pm to complete paperwork.
As for the winter transfer window, this will open on Friday, January 1, 2027 and close on Monday, February 1, 2027, at 11pm UK time.
WHEN DOES THE 2026/27 SEASON START?
Our season will begin with the Community Shield, as we take on Manchester City at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, on Saturday, August 16. We defeated City in our latest Community Shield outing in 2023.
The fixtures for the 2026/27 Premier League season will be announced on Friday, June 19, at 10am BST. A selection of first-round games will be televised, with the opening match of the season taking place on Friday, August 21.
Our Premier League campaign will finish on Sunday, May 30, with all 10 fixtures kicking off at the same time.
The 2026/27 Carabao Cup first round will kick off the week commencing Friday, August 7. Due to our participation in the UEFA Champions League, we will enter the third round of the competition. The final will take place at Wembley Stadium with a date to be confirmed.
Our FA Cup journey will begin in the third round. The details for the competition will be confirmed in due course.
Read more
Watch every second of our Champions Parade
WHEN DOES THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE START?
We qualified for the UEFA Champions League for a fourth successive season in 2025/26, meaning we will automatically go into the league phase of the competition.
The draw will take place on Thursday, August 27, 2026, where we will find out the eight teams we will face in the opening stage.
The league phase matches will take place on September 8-10, October 13-14, October 20-21, November 3-4, November 24-25, December 8-9, January 19-20 and January 27.
The draw for the knockout play-offs rounds will be carried out on January 29, 2027, with the two legs taking place on February 16-17 and February 23-24.
Following that, the draw for the round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final will all be held on February 26, 2026.
The round of 16 matches will occur on March 9-10 and March 16-17. Quarter-final matches will be held on April 6-7 and April 13-14, before the semi-finals on April 27-28 and May 4-5. The final will take place on Saturday, June 5, 2027, at the Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid, Spain.
Read more
Trio named in UCL team of the season
WHEN ARE THE INTERNATIONAL BREAKS IN THE SEASON?
Following the World Cup, there will be changes made to the international breaks for the upcoming campaign.
In recent years, there has been a separate international break in September, October and November. In 2026/27, the first two break have combined, meaning a long break between our matches.
The first break will start on September 21 and finish on October 6, with four international matches taking place, instead of 2.
The second break will take place between November 9-17, 2026.
There will be a break for players participating in the AFC Asian Cup. The tournament will take place in Saudi Arabia between January 7 and February 5.
The final international break of the season will take place between March 23-30, 2027.
Copyright 2026 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
