The 2026 Tailteann Cup is the fifth edition of the Tailteann Cup, a Gaelic football competition contested by the seventeen county teams that did not qualify for the last 16 of the 2026 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship.
Kildare, the winners of the 2025 tournament, were not eligible to defend their title as winning the cup earnt them automatic entry into the 2026 All-Ireland Championship. Down, winners of the 2024 Tailteann Cup and 2026 NFL Division Three champions, return to the Tailteann Cup after one season as the only former champions in the competition.
were the winners, defeating in the final.
Format The draw for the 2026 Tailteann Cup was made on 27 April 2026.
Seventeen teams will compete in the competition (including New York who enter at the preliminary quarter final stage), namely those that did not reach the final of their provincial championship and were not among the seven highest-ranked teams at the end of the 2026 National Football League.
In round 1, the sixteen teams (not including New York) are drawn to play one opponent in an open draw. The 8 winners progress to Round 2A The 8 losers go to Round 2B In round 2B, the eight Round 1 losers play each other. The 4 winners progress to Round 3 The 4 losers are eliminated In round 2A, the eight Round 1 winners play each other. 3 of the winners progress to the quarter-finals 1 of the winners (chosen at random) progresses to the preliminary quarter-final The 4 losers go to Round 3 In round 3, the four Round 2A losers play the four Round 2B winners. The 4 winners progress to the quarter-finals The 4 losers are eliminated. In the preliminary quarter-final, one Round 2A winner plays at home (unless it is , in which case a neutral venue in Ireland will be used.) The winner progresses to the quarter-finals The loser is eliminated. In the quarter-finals, the four Round 3 winners play the three Round 2A winners and the preliminary quarter-final winner. The 4 winners progress to the semi-finals The 4 losers are eliminated. In the semi-finals, the four quarter-final winners are drawn against each other. The 2 winners progress to the Tailteann Cup final The 2 losers are eliminated. In the Tailteann Cup final, the two semi-final winners play each other at Croke Park. The winners receive the Tailteann Cup and automatically qualify for the 2027 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The finalists are eliminated.
Teams Seventeen teams compete in the 2026 Tailteann Cup. CountyPosition in 2025Appearance Antrim—1951—5th Carlow—1944—5th Clare—1992——1st Down202419941994—4th Fermanagh———5th Laois—2003—5th Leitrim—1994—5th Limerick—189618964th London———5th Longford—1968—5th New York———5th Offaly—199719825th Sligo—2007—4th Tipperary—202019205th Waterford—1898—5th Wexford—194519185th Wicklow2026——5th
Fixtures and results All throw-in times are UTC+1 (Irish Standard Time or British Summer Time). Round 1 The draw for round 1 was made on 27 April 2026.
Round 2
The draw was held on 11 May 2026.
Round 3 Round 2A losers played the Round 2B winners. A draw determined the home team in each fixture.
Final stages
In the preliminary quarter-final, one Round 2A winner was chosen at random to play at home.
The quarter-finals see the Round 2A and preliminary quarter-final winners drawn against the Round 3 winners; the draw took place on 8 June 2026. Fixtures cannot be repeated, so the pairings Fermanagh–Wexford, Laois–Wicklow and Offaly–Down could not occur.
The semi-final draw was held on 15 June; again, Offaly and Down could not be drawn together.
Preliminary quarter-final
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
Notable occurrences
played in the Tailteann Cup for the first time. reached the Tailteann Cup final for the first time and won the Cup for the first time.
References
External links GAA.ie Tailteann Cup fixtures at RTE.ie