West Ham United women's team will soon learn their group stage opponents for the Subway® Women’s League Cup.
After cruising past Portsmouth, London City Lionesses and Southampton in the group phase last term, Rehanne Skinner's side went on to reach the semi-finals of the competition following a momentous 2-1 success at Tottenham Hotspur in the last eight.
Eventual winners Chelsea, who defeated Manchester City in the final, proved too strong for the Hammers in the last four in February.
But, all attentions are on the 2025/26 and the 15th edition of the competition - so here's everything you need to know about the draw!
When will the group stage draw take place?
The draw for the Subway® Women’s League Cup group stages will take place at approximately 8.30am BST on Thursday 31 July, and will be conducted live on BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast by former England international Toni Duggan.
What ball number will we be?
West Ham United will be ball number 10 in the southern section draw.
So, who could we play against?
There are 21 teams who will be in the hat in Thursday's draw, but West Ham are on the southern side of it, which contains 13 sides.
That means Skinner's side will face three (or four, if placed in Group C) of Leicester City, Portsmouth, Tottenham Hotspur, London City Lionesses, Aston Villa, Charlton Athletic, Brighton & Hove Albion, Ipswich Town, Birmingham City, Southampton, Bristol City and Crystal Palace.
The first five numbers out of the bag will be placed in Group C, then the next four numbers drawn out of the bag will be placed in Group D. The remaining and final four numbers drawn out of the bag will be placed in Group E.
Following the completion of the group stages, the first-placed team from each group will progress to the quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, Arsenal and Chelsea will enter the competition at the quarter-final stage due to their involvement in the UEFA Women’s Champions League (UWCL).
Additionally, should Manchester United exit the UWCL and fail to qualify for the UEFA Women’s Europa League, they will enter the Subway® Women’s League Cup at the group stage with an additional draw required to determine if they will join Group A or Group B.
When will the group stages take place?
The group stage matches will take place across 24/25 September, 8/9 October (Group C matches only), 18/19 October, 12/13 November (Group C matches only) and 22/23 November.
Without getting ahead of ourselves, when will the later rounds be played?
Quarter-finals: 20/21 December 2025
Semi-finals: 21/22 January 2026
Final: 15/16 March 2026
