Confused by the new format for the All-Ireland football championship? Here’s how it works

Who is in the All-Ireland series?

Sixteen counties qualified for the All-Ireland series, having earned a spot as follows:

The eight counties who made provincial finals – Kerry, Cork, Westmeath, Dublin, Armagh, Monaghan, Roscommon and Galway.
The seven top-ranked counties following this season’s National Football League – Donegal (first), Mayo (third), Meath (seventh), Louth (11th), Derry (12th), Tyrone (13th) and Cavan (14th).
Last year’s Tailteann Cup winners, Kildare.

Kildare celebrate with the Tailteann Cup front and centre after victory over Limerick in 2025. Photograph: Inpho

How will the All-Ireland series work?

This can feel a little convoluted at first glance but it’s actually fairly straightforward.

Essentially, all that has changed is the method of reducing the 16 teams on the start line to the last eight for the All-Ireland quarter-finals.

Round 1 drew the eight provincial finalists against the eight other teams qualified for the All-Ireland series.

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The eight winners from Round 1 go to Round 2A. There, an open draw will create four matches, the first team out getting home advantage. The four winners in Round 2A advance straight to the All-Ireland quarter-finals while the four losers go into Round 3.

Round 2B features the eight losers from Round 1. Similar to Round 2A, there’s an open draw to create four fixtures, first team out also getting home advantage, but the difference is these games are knockout. The winners move on to Round 3, the losers are out.

Round 3 is also knockout. The Round 2A losers and the Round 2B winners will be drawn into four fixtures. Win and you’re into an All-Ireland quarter-final, lose and it’s lights out.

In all instances, the draws will first attempt to avoid repeating pairings from the provincial finals where possible, and also any repeats of pairings from earlier rounds of the All-Ireland series.

How did Round 1 go?

The Round 1 games were played over the last two weekends of May.

Those eight games ended in wins for Donegal, Cork, Galway, Tyrone, Westmeath, Armagh, Louth, and Mayo.

The defeated counties were Kerry, Meath, Kildare, Roscommon, Cavan, Derry, Dublin, and Monaghan.

Who will play in Round 2A & 2B?

The second-round draws took place on June 2nd, with the first team out of the pot being given home advantage.

ROUND 2A

Donegal v Cork

Galway v Westmeath

Tyrone v Mayo

Louth v Armagh

ROUND 2B

Derry v Meath

Kildare v Kerry

Cavan v Dublin

Monaghan v Roscommon

When will each round be played?

Round 2A & 2B: June 13th/14th
Round 3: June 20th/21st
Quarter-finals: June 27th/28th
Semi-finals: July 11th/12th
All-Ireland Final: Sunday, July 26th

What about the Tailteann Cup?

Sixteen counties, with New York being added to a preliminary quarter-finals, are competing in the Tailteann Cup, which is largely following the same format as the Sam Maguire competition.

The 16 teams are: Antrim, Carlow, Clare, Down, Fermanagh, Laois, Leitrim, Limerick, London, Longford, Offaly, Sligo, Tipperary, Waterford, Wexford and Wicklow.

GAA president Jarlath Burns holding the Tailteann Cup, alongside representatives from each of this year's competing counties. Photograph: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

How will that competition run?

Round 1 had eight fixtures and saw wins for Offaly, Wexford, Tipperary, Antrim, Laois, London, Fermanagh and Down.

As with the Sam Maguire format, the Round 1 winners went to Round 2A, while the losers went to Round 2B. In 2A, there were wins for Laois, Offaly, Fermanagh, and Antrim, sending them through to the Tailteann Cup quarter-finals (slight caveat on that below), while the 2A losers – London, Down, Wexford, and Tipperary – go to Round 3, where they’ll face the winners from Round 2B.

The 2B winners were Longford, Wicklow, Leitrim and Sligo, while it was the end of the road for the counties they respectively defeated – Clare, Limerick, Carlow, and Waterford.

As for that aforementioned caveat, there was a preliminary quarter-final in order to bring New York into the competition. That game saw one of the four Round 2A winners drawn to play Ronan McGinley’s side, the winner of which qualified for the quarter-finals. Fermanagh were the county drawn, and Declan Bonner’s men defeated New York 3-27 to 1-13 at Brewster Park on June 6th to reach the last eight.

What’s on offer to the winner?

In addition to a nice piece of silverware, the Tailteann Cup winners are also guaranteed a spot in next year’s All-Ireland series, come what may in next season’s league and provincial championship.

Had it not been for their Tailteann Cup victory last year, Kildare wouldn’t be in reckoning for Sam Maguire this summer, so it’s certainly worth something.