England - EFL Trophy

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The EFL Trophy (English Football League Trophy) is an annual association football knockout competition in England. It was founded in 1983 and is organized by the English Football League (EFL) for clubs in League One, League Two, the third and fourth tier of the English football league system. Under-21 sides of the Premier League and EFL Championship clubs have also been participating in the competition since 2016.

Sixty-four (64) clubs enter Round One of the competition, 48 of which are from League One and League Two and 16 under-21 sides from Premier League and EFL Championship clubs. Sixteen (16) regional groups of four teams (eight groups in each of Northern and Southern sections) are created, and all the clubs play each other once, either home or away. The under-21 sides play all their group games away from home.

Three points are awarded for a win. A draw attracts one point. In the event of a draw in a group stage game, penalties are taken quickly without recourse to extra time. The team that wins the shootout earns two points, and the losing team receives one point.

The two top-ranked teams from each group qualify for the knockout stages. The first two rounds of the EFL Trophy remain regionalized (top clubs in the Northern section play against each other while the same is done in the Southern section). A draw is subsequently made to determine the brackets for the quarter-final, semi-final, and final respectively.