2026 FA COMMUNITY SHIELD: ARSENAL WELCOME MANCHESTER CITY TO CARDIFF PRINCIPALITY STADIUM

By: Isaac Amponsah (Dr Ike)

Predictions: Home win/draw 

• Arsenal take on Manchester City on Sunday, August 16, 2026 at the Cardiff Principality Stadium also known as the Millennium Stadium. This will be the third time FA Community Shield to be held at the Cardiff Principality Stadium also known as the Millennium Stadium (2001, 2006, 2026).

• All the previous FA Community Shield games played at the Cardiff Principality Stadium also known as the Millennium Stadium has ended with 2-1 scoreline in favour of the home team (Liverpool 2-1 Manchester United in 2001, Liverpool 2-1 Chelsea in 2006).

• Seven grounds have hosted the fixture once: St James' Park in 1932, Roker Park in 1936, Burnden Park in 1958, Turf Moor in 1960, Portman Road in 1962, Anfield in 1964 and Elland Road in 1969. Leicester City have hosted the fixture twice, at Filbert Street in 1971 and the King Power Stadium in 2022. 

• A further nine grounds have hosted the fixture on multiple occasions: Stamford Bridge, London (10 times), Highbury, London (7 times), White Hart Lane, London (6 times), Old Trafford, Manchester (6 times), Maine Road, Manchester (5 times), Villa Park, Birmingham (3 times), Goodison Park, Liverpool (3 times), The Den, London (2 times), Molineux, Wolverhampton (2 times), and Filbert Street/King Power Stadium, Leicester (2 times).

• The 2026 FA Community Shield is the 104th FA Community Shield since the competition inception in 1908.

• The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is an annual match in English football contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the same team wins both the league and the FA Cup, the match is played against the Premier League runners-up. This competition is the equivalent of Super cup in other countries.

• In 2026, the FA Community Shield will once again be played outside of Wembley - at Cardiff's Principality Stadium, due to Wembley Stadium being unavailable to host the traditional match.

• This fixture promises to be curtain-raiser to the new domestic football season, with both teams looking to make a strong statement ahead of their respective campaigns.

• Cardiff Principality Stadium also known as Millennium Stadium is expected to be packed to capacity as fans from across the world flock in to witness the highly anticipated showdown between Arsenal and Manchester City. With both teams boasting quality squads and passionate followings, the atmosphere is set to be electric.

• The current holders: Crystal Palace won their first and only title in the 2025 edition of competition when they defeated the 2024-25 Premier League winners, Liverpool in the 2025 fixture, winning 3-2 on penalties following a 2-2 draw.

• Previous winners:

• The FA Community Shield trophy has been won by 26 clubs with Manchester United been the most successful club with 21 titles, followed by Arsenal with 17 titles, Liverpool with 16 titles, Everton with 9 titles, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur with 7 titles each, Chelsea and Wolverhampton Wanderers with 4 titles each, Leeds United, Leicester City, West Bromwich Albion, and Burnley with 2 titles each, Newcastle United, Brighton & Hove Albion, Blackburn Rovers, Huddersfield Town, Cardiff City, Sheffield Wednesday, Sunderland, Bolton Wanderers, Derby County, Nottingham Forest, Crystal Palace, Portsmouth, West Ham United and Aston Villa has won 1 title each.

• Background:

• Arsenal and Manchester City qualified for the 2026 FA Community Shield as the winners of the 2025-26 Premier League and the 2025-26 FA Cup, respectively. 

• Arsenal have previously appeared in 24 Community Shield matches, winning 17 titles (one of which was shared), and appearing most recently in the 2023 edition, where they beat Manchester City on penalties after the match ended in a 1-1 draw. 

• Manchester City have previously appeared in 16 Community Shield matches, winning 7 titles, and appearing most recently in the 2024 edition, where they beat Manchester United on penalties after the match ended in a 1-1 draw.

• All-time matches since November 11, 1893.

• This fixture will be the 217th meeting between the two sides. Manchester City won the most recent match between the two teams 2-1 on April 19, 2026.

Total matches played - 116

Arsenal wins - 100

Manchester City wins - 67

Drawn games - 49

• Head-to-Head in FA Community Shield 

Total matches played - 3

Arsenal wins - 3 

Manchester City wins - 0

• November 28, 1934 (FA Charity Shield)

Venue: Highbury Stadium, London 

Arsenal 4-0 Manchester City 

Ralph Birkett, Jimmy Marshall, Ted Drake, Cliff Bastin

• August 10, 2014 (FA Community Shield)

Venue: Wembley Stadium, London 

Arsenal 3-0 Manchester City

Santi Cazorla 22', Aaron Ramsey 42', Olivier Giroud 60' 

• August 6, 2023 (FA Community Shield)

Venue: Wembley Stadium, London 

Arsenal 1-1 Manchester City (4-1p)

Leandro Trossard 90+11//Cole Palmer 77'

• Records :

• The most successful teams in the competition are Manchester United (17 outright wins, 4 shared), Arsenal (16 outright wins, 1 shared), Liverpool (11 outright wins, 5 shared) and Everton (8 outright wins, 1 shared).

• Chelsea (2010, 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2018) and Newcastle United (1932, 1951, 1952, 1955 and 1996) share the joint-longest run of appearances without winning or sharing the trophy.

• The highest scoring game was Manchester United's 8-4 win against Swindon Town in 1911.

• Everton hold the record for most consecutive wins (4) from 1984 to 1987; however, the 1986 'win' was shared with Liverpool. Manchester United hold the record for most consecutive losses (4) from 1998 to 2001. During this period Manchester United also held the record for most consecutive games played (6) from 1996 to 2001 in which they won 2.

• Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Pat Jennings scored against Manchester United from his own penalty area in the 1967 Charity Shield, which was shared at 3-3.

• Brighton & Hove Albion are the only club to win just the Shield (in 1910), never the FA Cup or the League. In the five years that the Charity Shield was contested by the winners of the Football League and Southern League between 1908 and 1912, this was the only occasion on which the Southern League champions prevailed. The victory remains Brighton's only national honour to date and they were crowned the 'Champions of all England'.

• Rules:

• The rules of the Community Shield are generally the same as those of the Premier League, with a team of 11 starting players and 9 substitutes. However, unlike in most other competitions where only five substitutions are permitted, teams in the Community Shield are permitted up to six substitutions. If the scores are level after 90 minutes, the teams play a penalty shootout. If a team wins both the Premier League and the FA Cup, the runners-up from the Premier League will be the opposition.

• Trophy:

• In 2016, the FA's official silverware supplier, Thomas Lyte, restored and rebuilt the original 1908 Shield to mark the 50th anniversary of England's 1966 FIFA World Cup triumph. The trophy was then auctioned for £40,000 to support the Bobby Moore Fund for Cancer Research UK, which became the FA's official charity partner that year. The auction was held at The Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington, the same venue where England had celebrated their 1966 victory.

• In 2002, Thomas Lyte made the present day Community Shield, and restores it annually. They also designed and make the medals for both the winners and runners-up.

• Match Officials:

• Center Referee: Samuel Barrott (West Riding)

• Barrott started refereeing at the age of 15 after an injury playing for Halifax Town Youth team. 

• Barrott was promoted from the National list of officials to the EFL at the end of the 2019-2020 season.

• He was promoted Select Group 2 at the start of the 2023-2024 season. He refereed 15 Premier League matches during the season, with his debut coming on October 7, 2023 at Craven Cottage between Fulham and Sheffield United.

• He has primarily officiated in the Premier League since 2024 and was promoted to the FIFA list of international referees in December 2024 replacing Craig Pawson.

• Sam Barrott refereed the 2024 EFL League One play-off final between Bolton Wanderers and Oxford United.

• Assistant referees:

• Craig Taylor (Staffordshire)

• lake Antrobus (Manchester)

• Fourth official:

Farai Hallam (Surrey)

• Reserve assistant referee: Alistair Nelson (Nottinghamshire)

• Video assistant referee: James Bell (Sheffield & Hallamshire)

• Assistant video assistant referee: Tim Wood (Gloucestershire)