From 12-goal thrillers to record shootouts - EFL Cup's wildest scorelines
As the Carabao Cup returns, a look back shows the competition has produced some remarkably high-scoring and unusual results over the decades, from double-digit thrashings to marathon penalty shootouts.
With the Carabao Cup underway again, the tournament's history shows that early rounds - often used by clubs to test young players - have occasionally produced extraordinary scorelines.
Twelve-goal drama and shootouts
In 2014, League Two side Dagenham & Redbridge drew 6-6 with newly promoted Championship club Brentford after extra time, with the decisive goal arriving in the 117th minute before Brentford won on penalties. This tie shares the record for the highest-scoring match in the competition's history with a 2012 fourth-round game in which Arsenal, having trailed Reading 4-0, fought back to win 7-5 after extra time.
Heavy defeats
Several matches have finished 10-0. West Ham United beat Bury by that scoreline in 1983, while Liverpool did the same to Fulham in 1986, winning the tie 13-2 on aggregate. In 2019, Manchester City beat Burton Albion 9-0 in the first leg of a semi-final, completing a 10-0 aggregate win over the two legs. In 2005, Aston Villa overturned a 1-3 half-time deficit against Wycombe Wanderers, scoring seven second-half goals to win 8-3.
A record-breaking shootout
In 2024, Preston North End and Fulham drew 1-1, but the match entered the record books for a different reason - a penalty shootout involving 34 spot-kicks, the longest in the competition's history, which Preston eventually won. It surpassed the previous record from 2016, when Derby County beat Carlisle United 14-13 on penalties.
