League Cup Team of the Tournament XI

The 2025/26 League Cup is over. Manchester City emerged victorious at Wembley Stadium in the final, defeating Arsenal by a score of 2-0 – but who were the best individual performers over the course of the competition?

We’ve assembled an XI, containing players from teams such as Crystal Palace, Cardiff City and Chelsea – let’s see who made the final cut.

GK: Walter Benitez

Crystal Palace’s League Cup performance flew under the radar somewhat this season. They made it to the quarter-finals, beating Liverpool at Anfield along the way – not only did they make it far into the tournament, they also ran a very tight ship at the back.

Walter Benitez played a key role in this, organising the backline and keeping them disciplined. Overall, he let in just two goals during the 2025/26 League Cup tournament.

RB: Matheus Nunes

Matheus Nunes has been one of Manchester City’s best players all season – in the League Cup, there was no exception to this rule.

He only started in the final three games of the competition, but was outstanding in all three. He was particularly impressive in the final, finding Nico O’Reilly for the Sky Blues’ second goal.

CB: Sepp van den Berg

Brentford’s route to the quarter-finals certainly wasn’t plain sailing. Not only did they have to overcome Bournemouth away from home, they also avoided a potential banana skin when they ripped Grimbsy apart at Blundell Park? If you don’t think that’s worthy of praise, just ask any Manchester United fan.

Sepp van den Berg was a constant presence at the back for the Bees, ensuring that they only conceded three goals throughout the tournament (two of which were against eventual winners Manchester City).

CB: Marc Guehi

Marc Guehi isn’t in this XI for his contributions towards Manchester City’s tournament – he was cup-tied and could not partake in the League Cup following his transfer.

Nevertheless, at Crystal Palace, Guehi was truly invaluable. As previously mentioned, Palace only let two goals in during the whole competition – not only this, he also scored a dramatic equaliser against Arsenal to force a penalty shoot-out. The Eagles would lose on spot-kicks, but this certainly wasn’t Guehi’s fault.

LB: Nico O’Reilly

Is Nico O’Reilly one of the best young players in the world right now? At the tender age of 20, he dominated Arsenal throughout the final at Wembley.

He had been a constant presence for them over the course of the tournament, but he truly shone in the final, scoring a brace to hand his team the trophy.

CM: Declan Rice

Declan Rice’s performance in the final may have been below his lofty standards, but he was still one of Arsenal’s better players on the day. Furthermore, he’d had an excellent tournament up until that point.

The driving force behind Arsenal’s brilliance this season, Rice played in all of their League Cup fixtures, notching up a pair of assists along the way.

CM: Joel Colwill

The only non-Premier League star to make our list, Joel Colwill was fantastic for League One Cardiff City during their unlikely run to the quarter-finals. Brian Barry-Murphy and his team are all worthy of credit, but none were quite as impressive as the 21-year-old.

Colwill scored two goals during the Bluebirds’ League Cup run, including one against Burnley in an upset win at Turf Moor during the third round.

RW: Diego Gomez

As this year’s top goalscorer in the EFL Cup, Brighton’s Diego Gomez made it into our team of the tournament practically by default.

In total, the Paraguayan scored five goals in the 2025/26 League Cup. Four of them came in one game, when the Seagulls gave Barnsley a 6-0 thrashing at Oakwell.

AM: Rayan Cherki

Rayan Cherki’s showboating antics in the final didn’t win him many admirers, but his contributions throughout the competition shouldn’t be ignored.

The French international scored three goals and notched up a single assist in the League Cup this year – only Iego Gomez, who we featured earlier in the XI, mustered more goal contributions than this.

LW: Alejandro Garnacho

Alejandro Garnacho’s start to life at Chelsea has been mixed, to say the least – but he can hang his hat on his performances in the League Cup this season, if little else.

In total, Garnacho scored four goals from the wing for Chelsea in the EFL Cup, making him the second-top scorer in the tournament this year. Furthermore, he also scored a brace against Arsenal in the semi-finals, even if Chelsea would ultimately be on the losing end of the tie.

ST: Omar Marmoush

Erling Haaland might have outperformed Omar Marmoush in the Premier League this season, but there can be no doubt as to who the better player was in the League Cup.

With three goals in just two League Cup appearances this season, Marmoush is more than good value for his place in this XI.