Fleetwood Town stun Arsenal on penalties in the Carabao Cup — where the shock ranks
Fleetwood Town pulled off the biggest victory in the club’s history on Tuesday, beating Premier League champions Arsenal 5-3 on penalties to reach the EFL Cup quarter-finals for the first time. The League Two side, sitting 84 places below Mikel Arteta’s team in the English football pyramid, held Arsenal to a 1-1 draw at Highbury Stadium before triumphing from the spot.
Aaron Loupalo-Bi put Fleetwood, who had been 19th in the fourth tier before kick-off, in front after 21 minutes. Viktor Gyokeres’s equaliser after the break dragged Arsenal back into the tie, but the Champions League finalists could not push on, and the visitors were reduced to 10 men in the 86th minute when teenager Max Dowman kicked out following a challenge by Harrison Neal.
Fleetwood goalkeeper Jay Lynch then saved Bruno Guimaraes’s spot-kick in the shootout before Conor Haughey scored the winning penalty, sparking scenes of ecstasy on the pitch and in the stands.
Where the upset ranks
The win immediately entered the conversation with the FA Cup and League Cup’s most famous shocks. BBC Sport pointed to Bradford City beating Arsenal on penalties in the 2012 League Cup quarter-finals, having already beaten Wigan on penalties in the round before, and to Bradford rallying from 2-0 down to win 4-2 at Chelsea three years later, when the hosts were top of the Premier League.
Oldham’s 2013 win over a Liverpool side featuring Luis Suarez, Raheem Sterling and Daniel Sturridge also made the list, as did Plymouth beating a much-changed Liverpool team in the 2025 FA Cup through Ryan Hardie’s penalty.
Closest in spirit is Grimsby Town’s 2025 League Cup victory over Manchester United. The League Two club led 2-0 inside 30 minutes, then won an extraordinary shootout 12-11 when Bryan Mbeumo struck the crossbar after scoring in normal time.
For Fleetwood, though, Tuesday night at Highbury Stadium outranks them all: it is the first time the club has ever reached the last eight of the League Cup.