Details for the 2026 Rugby League Challenge Cup have been confirmed including key dates, the format and when the draw will happen.
Hull KR claimed the crown in 2025 as they broke their 40-year drought for silverware, earning the first of their three trophies in a historic season for the Robins.
However, the road to Wembley had started far before Tom Davies’ game-winning try was scored with the first round kicking off in January and that’s the case again in 2026.
After the success of 2025 regarding the format, the same system is being utilised with 34 community clubs playing in round one, before being joined by the 21 Championship clubs in round two. That is of course subject to both Salford Red Devils and Featherstone Rovers surviving their upcoming HMRC cases.
As last year, the third round will see Super League clubs seeded away from home against lower league opposition in what will be a round of 32, before progressing to a round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals, and ultimately the final at Wembley.
When is the Challenge Cup draw?
The draw for the first and second round will be held next Monday on November 24th and what’s interesting is that teams will be regionalised as much as is possible.
This is to cut down on travel costs but also to try and ensure that local rivalry games are played where possible, whilst also avoiding situations such as in 2025 when amateur side York Acorn had to travel to Cornwall.
For the first round, 17 ties will be drawn with six coming from the North West, six from Yorkshire and five national ties. Clubs in the national pot include representatives from Northern Ireland, Wales, London, and even the Midlands.
The second row draw will also take place that day with the 17 round one winners joining the 21 Championship teams, with fixtures regionalised as best as possible against.
There will be eight North West teams joining, ten Yorkshire/North East, and three National. A full list of what group each club sits in can be found here.
When will each Challenge Cup round be played?
Following next Monday’s draw, it’s a wait of almost two months before we see the first round games played as the 34 community clubs take to the pitch on the weekend of January 10th and 11th.
Round two, where those 17 winners will be joined by the Championship clubs, is played two weeks later on January 24th and 25th, with Super League clubs joining in round three another two weeks later on February 6th through 8th.
The fourth round is played on March 14th and 15th, quarter-finals on April 11th and 12th, semi-finals a month later on May 10th and 11th, with the final held at Wembley on Saturday May 30th.
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⏰ The countdown to the 2026 Rugby League season will begin next Monday with the draws for the first two Rounds of the @Betfred #ChallengeCup!
👉https://t.co/XBXM8xNW17 pic.twitter.com/5LykEA97Vg
— Betfred Challenge Cup (@TheChallengeCup) November 18, 2025
