How to watch 2025/26 EFL Play-off finals

Jonathan Victoria • 18 May 2026 Guides

Wembley awaits…

A board for the Sky Bet EFL Play-Offs sits off to the side of the Wembley pitch, with the stands behind beginning to fill with fans.

The regular season is complete for the three leagues of the EFL, and the four teams from each league who entered the play-offs have now been whittled down to two. All that’s left is one last battle at the home of English football for glory..

Find out how you can watch the 2025/25 EFL play-off finals right here, with the information for each league including who is involved, when the games are and when the finals will be played.

How to watch 2025/26 EFL

The 2025/26 EFL season was the sophomore year for expanded coverage of the three leagues on Sky Sports. Prior to the 2024/25 season, only certain games were shown on Sky. But a landmark deal prior to that year saw more sports, mostly including the EFL, brought to Sky Sports.

EFL on Sky Sports

The EFL Playoffs on Sky Sports, with a Sky remote on the left then the Sky Bet Playoffs and Sky Sports logos underneath the title.

Sky Sports+ was added to the Sky Sports roster shortly before the start of the 2024/25 EFL campaign and promised to bring more football than ever, with over 1000 matches shown live during the season.

The EFL on Sky Sports+ has been brilliant for fans of clubs in the lower divisions, giving them the opportunity to watch their beloved side when they can’t make it to the games.

But best of all, Sky Sports+ is available at no extra cost - it was added as part of the Sky Sports range and not as an optional add-on, meaning anyone with a Sky Sports package has immediate access to Sky Sports+.

That access gains you the channel on Sky TV plus streams on the Sky Sports app. The app underwent a redesign last summer to accommodate the Sky Sports+ streams, essentially becoming the EFL hub by hosting all games within the streaming service.

2025/26 EFL Play-offs: Championship

The fight for the second automatic promotion spot came down to the final day but in the end, Ipswich managed to clinch their return to the top flight.

Missing out was Millwall, Southampton and Middlesbrough, with the former still holding a slim chance at the auto spot while the other two were only eliminated the week before.

Joining them in the playoffs was Hull City, who fought off Derby County and Wrexham for their spot.

The semi-finals came with major controversy on the eve of the first leg tie between Middlesbrough and Southampton, with the hosts claiming they had caught a Saints spy filming their training.

While Southampton would go on to topple Boro during an epic second leg classic, the investigation found further wrongdoings by Southampton and ultimately expelled them from the final, putting Middlesbrough in their place.

In the other semi-final, it was more plain sailing, although a surprise result came as Hull brought down Millwall in the late stages of the second leg to book their place at Wembley.

Championship play-off final

As it stands before the ruling, the richest prize in football will be contested between Middlesbrough and Hull City.

As always, the EFL play-off finals will take place at Wembley Stadium at the end of May. The Championship play-off final will come first, coming on Saturday 23rd May. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:30pm.

2025/26 EFL Play-offs: League One

The automatic promotion spots were never really in contention in League One, with Lincoln City and Cardiff City both running away from the competition.

Behind them was a great charge from six teams for the four play-off spots, with Plymouth and Luton Town unfortunately missing out.

In the end, it was Stockport County, Bradford City, Bolton Wanderers and Stevenage who claimed the places.

Only two points separated Stevenage in sixth and Stockport in third so there were no underdogs or surprise results.

With that said, Stockport did make light work of Stevenage, beating them in both legs to claim their place.

Bolton replicated the feat by beating Bradford both games and will be competing for the chance to return to the Championship for the first time since they almost went into liquidation and faced expulsion from the EFL back in 2019.

League One play-off final

The League One play-off final between Stockport and Bolton will come the day after the Championship play-off final, being contested on Sunday 24th May. Kickoff is scheduled for 1pm.