The 2026 EFL Trophy final, known as the Vertu Trophy final for sponsorship reasons, was an association football match that was played on 12 April 2026 at Wembley Stadium, London, England. It was played between League One teams Luton Town and Stockport County. The match decided the winners of the 2025–26 EFL Trophy, a knock-out tournament comprising clubs from League One and League Two of the English Football League (EFL), as well as 16 Category One academy sides representing Premier League and Championship clubs. Luton won their second title, having first won the competition in 2009. Stockport finished as runners-up for the third time, having done so in 1992 and 1993. Both clubs are nicknamed "The Hatters".
The match was televised live on Sky Sports Football and was available for streaming via Sky Go. Highlights were shown on free-to-air channel ITV4 later that evening. A national radio broadcast was provided by Talksport 2, with local stations BBC Three Counties Radio and BBC Radio Manchester also having their own match commentaries.
Route to the final
Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away). Luton TownRoundStockport CountyOpponentResultGroup stageOpponentResultBarnet4–1 (H)Matchday 1Wolverhampton Wanderers U215–3 (H)Cambridge United1–3 (A)Matchday 2Salford City1–3 (A)Brighton & Hove Albion U213–1 (H)Matchday 3Wigan Athletic1–1 (6–5 p) (H)Southern section Group HFinal standingsNorthern section Group AOpponentResultKnockout stageOpponentResultExeter City4–0 (H)Round of 32Crewe Alexandra1–1 (4–1 p) (A)Swindon Town1–2 (H)Round of 16Harrogate Town2–1 (H)Plymouth Argyle2–1 (H)Quarter-finalPort Vale4–0 (A)Northampton Town2–1 (H)Semi-finalDoncaster Rovers1–0 (A)
Match Details
GK 1 James SheaRB 25 Isaiah Jones CB 16 Hakeem OdoffinCB 5 Mads AndersenLB 3 Kal Naismith (c)DM 8 Liam WalshRM 27 Jake Richards CM 18 Jordan ClarkCM 54 Kasey Palmer LM 32 Emilio Lawrence CF 21 Nahki Wells Substitutes:GK 24 Josh KeeleyDF 17 Nigel Lonwijk MF 23 George Saville FW 12 Ali Al-HamadiFW 14 Shayden Morris FW 22 Devante Cole FW 30 Gideon Kodua Manager: Jack Wilshere GK 34 Corey AddaiRB 14 Tayo EdunCB 5 Joseph Olowu CB 15 Ethan Pye LB 23 Ben OsbornDM 27 Odin Bailey DM 26 Oliver Norwood (c)AM 7 Jack Diamond AM 28 Josh Stokes CF 19 Kyle WoottonCF 29 Adama Sidibeh Substitutes:GK 1 Ben HinchliffeDF 3 Owen Dodgson MF 4 Lewis Bate MF 48 Che GardnerFW 9 Tanto Olaofe FW 11 Malik Mothersille FW 20 Louie Barry Manager: Dave Challinor
References