2026 Challenge Cup final date confirmed with earlier Wembley date set

There is a slightly earlier date for the Finals Day, which, having been held on the first weekend of June in the past two years, will take place on Saturday, May 30, 2026.

Tickets for next year’s showpiece event, which will also include the Women’s Challenge Cup final, went on sale at half-time during Saturday’s opening Ashes Test between England and Australia under the famous Wembley arch.

Wigan Warriors will attempt to return to the Challenge Cup final next year, having been knocked out by Hull FC in the fourth round back in March. Matt Peet has won the Cup in two of his four seasons in charge of his hometown club so far.

Meanwhile, the Warriors will be looking to retain the Women’s Challenge Cup in 2026, having lifted the trophy for the first time earlier this year, with Denis Betts’ side going on to win all four trophies on offer to them in a truly historic 2025 season.

In the men’s format, Wigan will once again start with a meeting with lower-league opposition in the 2026 Challenge Cup. The 2026 road to Wembley will start early in the New Year, with the opening rounds contested by clubs from the community game.

The RFL have confirmed that they will continue with this year’s format of having Super League clubs enter the competition in the third round and be guaranteed to face a lower-ranked club away from home as part of a seeded draw.

As for the Women’s Challenge Cup format, the RFL say that it will be confirmed in the coming weeks.

No date has been confirmed for the third round, but it is expected that it will take place in early February. With the Super League season understood to be starting over the weekend of February 12-15, the weekend before that – February 6-8 – would appear the likely option.

Wembley has been the home of the men’s Challenge Cup final since 1929, with the Women’s Challenge Cup final added in 2023.

READ NEXT: England boss Shaun Wane laments 'torture' of opening Ashes defeat to Australia