Who will win the Community Shield? 

You may still hear it called the Charity Shield, its former name. The competition was renamed the Community Shield in 2002 following a Charity Commission ruling that required the Football Association to be clearer about how much money from the game went to charity. The event continues to support community and charitable causes today.

So, while “Charity Shield” still appears in conversation and searches, Community Shield is the current name of the soccer competition. It also avoids confusion with rugby’s Charity Shield, a separate Australian rugby league fixture between South Sydney and St George Illawarra.

What is the FA Community Shield and how do teams qualify?

The FA Community Shield is English soccer’s unofficial curtain-raiser game. The game is almost always contested by the current holders of the FA Cup and the current Premier League champions, unless a team has done the “domestic double” and won both competitions, in which case the double-winner will play the Premier League runners up.

The current Community Shield holders are Crystal Palace, who beat Premier League champions Liverpool and who qualified by winning the FA Cup in the 2024-2025 season, beating Manchester City. 

Unlike other competitions in English soccer, the winner of the Community Shield doesn’t qualify for European competitions such as the Champions League or Europa League by virtue of winning the one-off game. 

It’s unusual in that it’s a standalone final with two distinct and unrelated paths to qualification. The Community Shield is not counted as a major honor in English soccer. In this regard, most commentators view the game as being less prestigious than the FA Cup final.

Over the past decade, the team that qualified by winning the FA Cup has won more FA Community Shields than the team that qualified by winning the Premier League. It’s becoming harder to predict who will win the Community Shield in soccer based on who won the league or cup.

FA Community Shield winners who were FA Cup winners

• 2025 Crystal Palace
• 2022 Liverpool
• 2021 Leicester City
• 2020 Arsenal
• 2019 Manchester City*
• 2017 Arsenal
• 2016 Manchester United

FA Community Shield winners who were Premier League champions

• 2024 Manchester City
• 2019 Manchester City*
• 2018 Manchester City

FA Community Shield winners who were Premier League runners-up

• 2023 Arsenal

FA Community Shield results 2016 - 2025

2025 FA Community Shield: Crystal Palace (FA Cup Winner) 2 - 2 Liverpool (Premier League Winner) [Crystal Palace won 3-2 on penalties]

2024 FA Community Shield: Manchester City (Premier League Winner) 1 - 1 Manchester United (FA Cup Winner) [Man Utd won 7-6 on penalties]

2023 FA Community Shield: Arsenal (Premier League Runner-Up) 1 - 1 Manchester City (Premier League & FA Cup Winner) [Arsenal won 4-1 on penalties]

2022 FA Community Shield: Liverpool (FA Cup Winner) 3 - 1 Manchester City (Premier League Winner)

2021 FA Community Shield: Leicester City (FA Cup Winner) 1 - 0 Manchester City (Premier League Winner)

2020 FA Community Shield: Arsenal (FA Cup Winner) 1 - 1 Liverpool (Premier League Winner) [Arsenal won 5-4 on penalties]

2019 FA Community Shield: Manchester City (Premier League & FA Cup Winner) 1 - 1 Liverpool (Premier League Runner-Up) [Man City won 5-4 on penalties]

2018 FA Community Shield: Manchester City (Premier League Winner) 2 - 0 Chelsea (FA Cup Winner)

2017 FA Community Shield: Arsenal (FA Cup Winner) 1 - 1 Chelsea (Premier League Winner) [Arsenal won 4-1 on penalties]

2016 FA Community Shield: Manchester United (FA Cup Winner) 2 - 1 Leicester City (Premier League Winner)

Arsenal vs Manchester City: 2026 FA Community Shield preview

Based on recent form, with the caveat that all competitive form is taken from last season, Arsenal are on a better run, having won their last five games of the 2025-2026 season on their way to securing the title.

Manchester City finished with a whimper, winning two of their last five as they eventually finished second, seven points behind Arsenal. Had Manchester City won two more games in that run, they’d have won the title.

With all that said, the Community Shield rarely constitutes a continuation of league form. Many things can happen in the off-season; managers leave, as is the case with Manchester City, players leave and new players arrive.

Arsenal will be entering this fixture with the most consistency, having retained the vast majority of the squad core that took them to glory last season. However, without their centre-back William Salliba who is absent due to injury, they are looking shaky pre-season. Meanwhile Manchester City are in the middle of a transition, having lost iconic head coach Pep Guardiola, central defender John Stones and midfield maestro Bernado Silva.

Arsenal's Community Shield record and history

Arsenal go into the FA Community Shield 2026 as reigning Premier League champions, something they haven’t done for 21 years. Arsenal’s last appearance in the FA Community Shield was in 2023, when they beat Manchester City 4 - 1 on penalties.

Historically Arsenal has the far superior record in this game, having won 17, second only to Manchester United. Manchester City have won the shield seven times.

Manchester City's Community Shield pedigree

Recently, Manchester City is far more familiar with the FA Community Shield, having contested six of the last 10. That said, their record in this game is patchy to say the least. Of those six appearances, they’ve lost three and won three Their last Community Shield win came in 2024 via penalty shootout.

Conversely, Arsenal have made it to the Community Shield far fewer times in recent years, but have won more of the games they have played.

Head-to-head: Arsenal vs Manchester City in the Community Shield

Arsenal and Manchester City have contested the FA Community Shield three times. Their first encounter in this game was way back in 1934, which Arsenal won convincingly 4-0. 

The two teams had to wait another 80 years for their second encounter, which Arsenal won 3-0. Nine years later they met again, with the game ending in a 1-1 draw in regulation time and Arsenal winning 4-1 in the penalty shootout.

Does winning the Community Shield predict the Premier League title?

Winning the Community Shield is not a good predictor of league success in the following season. More often than not, the winner of the Community Shield doesn’t go on to win the Premier League.

Of the 103 seasons the game has been played, the Community Shield or Community Shield winner has gone on to win the Premier League (or First Division before it was renamed as the Premier League) 2 times. The only team that’s done it in the last decade was Manchester City.

There are a few reasons for this. Firstly, winning the FA Cup isn’t necessarily a strong predictor of who will win the league the following season. In more recent years, domestic honors have been more concentrated among a smaller sample of clubs, but on the whole it’s an extremely difficult feat to win an FA Cup and a league title within two seasons.

Similarly it’s also statistically very difficult to win back-to-back Premier League titles. And since the participant in the Community Shield is either a league winner, FA Cup winner or league runner up, victory in the shield followed by winning the league is statistically unlikely.

FA Community Shield history and winners who went onto win the Premier League (of First Division)

Last year, Opta Analyst calculated that, in the Premier League era, only eight of the 33 Community Shield winners went on to win the Premier League in the same season – that’s 24%. 

The Premier League’s own site also confirms the eight-title figure and notes that Community Shield losers have actually gone on to win the league more often: 10 times.

Below is the list of the occasions when the Community Shield winner also went on to win the English top-flight league that same season.

• 2018 Manchester City (beat Chelsea 2-0)
• 2010 Manchester United (beat Chelsea 3-1)
• 2009 Chelsea (2-2 v Man United, won 4-1 on pens)
• 2008 Manchester United (0-0 v Portsmouth, won 3-1 on pens)
• 2007 Manchester United (1-1 v Chelsea, won 3-0 on pens)
• 2005 Chelsea (beat Arsenal 2-1)
• 1996 Manchester United (beat Newcastle 4-0)
• 1993 Manchester United (1-1 v Arsenal, won 5-4 on pens)
• 1989 Liverpool (beat Arsenal 1-0)
• 1986 Everton (drew 1-1 v Liverpool , shared)
• 1984 Everton (beat Liverpool 1-0)
• 1982 Liverpool (beat Tottenham 1-0)
• 1979 Liverpool (beat Arsenal 3-1)
• 1976 Liverpool (beat Southampton 1-0)
• 1965 Liverpool (drew 2-2 v Man United , shared)
• 1956 Manchester United (beat Manchester City 1-0)
• 1949 Portsmouth (drew 1-1 v Wolves , shared)
• 1934 Arsenal (beat Manchester City 4-0)
• 1933 Arsenal (beat Everton 3-0)
• 1930 Arsenal (beat Sheffield Wednesday 2-1)

How to watch the 2026 FA Community Shield in the US

The Arsenal vs Manchester City Community Shield will be broadcast on ESPN in the US.

• Date: Sunday, August 16
• Venue: Wembley Stadium, London, England
• Kick off: 10AM EDT

FAQs about the Community Shield

Who is playing in the 2026 FA Community Shield?

Arsenal is playing Manchester City. Arsenal qualify as winners of the Premier League and Manchester City qualify as winners of the FA Cup.

When and where is the 2026 FA Community Shield?

It’s at Wembley Stadium, London, England and is taking place at 10AM EDT on Sunday August 16.

What is the difference between the FA Community Shield and the NRL Community Shield?

The FA Community Shield is an English soccer game between the winners of the Premier League and the winners of the FA Cup, or if the same team won both, the winners of the Premier League and the runners up.

The NRL Community Shield is an annual ‘curtain raiser’ game in the Australian National Rugby League between South Sydney Rabbitohs vs St George Illawarra Dragons, Confusion sometimes arises because the FA Community Shield used to also be called the ‘Community Shield’.

Who has won the most Community Shields?

Manchester United has won the most Community Shields with 21 victories, followed by · Arsenal with 17 and Liverpool with 16.

Has a team ever refused to play in the Community Shield?

Yes, Arsenal declined to take part in 1971 due to a fixture clash. Arsenal had been asked to rearrange some pre-season international friendlies to allow the English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish players to represent their counties. In agreeing to do this, the rearranged fixture and the Community Shield clashed and Arsenal honored their original commitment.

This led to an anomaly for the history books. Arsenal had won the domestic double, but in declining to play, created a scenario where the game was contested by league runners up Liverpool and FA Cup runners up Leicester, who won the game. This made them the only team at the time to win a Community Shield despite never having won the league or the FA Cup.

Is it true that whoever wins the Community Shield rarely wins the Premier League?

Although the Community Shield necessarily selects for elite teams, it’s quite rare. Last year, Opta Analyst calculated that, in the Premier League era, only eight of the 33 Community Shield winners went on to win the Premier League in the same season – that’s 24%.