Armagh will face Tyrone in a blockbuster preliminary round fixture in the 2026 Ulster senior football championship.
There were audible gasps in the room when two of the game’s heavyweights were pitted against each other in what is the standout fixture to emerge from Thursday night’s provincial championship draws at Croke Park.
Donegal’s Ciarán Thompson pulled Tyrone out of the bowl, with Armagh to have home advantage for the showdown between two sides harbouring genuine Sam Maguire aspirations.
There are also two very distinct pathways towards next year’s Ulster final with one side of the draw loaded with three of the strongest teams in the province – reigning champions Donegal are on the same route to the decider as Armagh and Tyrone.
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The winners of the preliminary fixture between Kieran McGeeney’s Armagh and Malachy O’Rourke’s Tyrone will meet Fermanagh in a quarter-final. The other quarter-final on that side of the draw will see Donegal face Down.
Derry, Antrim, Monaghan and Cavan are on the opposite side of the draw in Ulster and so will fancy their chances of navigating a way to the provincial decider.
Donegal won the Anglo Celt from the preliminary round in 2025.
Elsewhere, new Dublin manager Ger Brennan is on course for a possible Leinster semi-final meeting with his former charges Louth after both counties were picked on the same side of the draw for next season.
Louth will begin their Delaney Cup defence against Wexford at the quarter-final stages, with the winners of that match meeting one of Dublin, Carlow or Wicklow.
Meath and Kildare are on the opposite side of the draw to Dublin and Louth, so a repeat of this year’s semi-finals – when the Royals beat the Dubs and Louth overcame Kildare – will not happen in 2026.
The opening round of the Leinster draw has thrown up three local derbies with Westmeath facing neighbours Longford, Offaly playing Laois, and Carlow meeting Wicklow.
Galway and Mayo have been kept apart out west, with Connacht’s big two on opposite sides.
New Mayo manager Andy Moran will begin the provincial campaign with a trip to Ruislip to face London. Should they emerge victorious from the English capital, Mayo will play the winners of New York-Roscommon in a Connacht semi-final.
Galway will have to beat either Sligo or Leitrim in a Connacht semi-final if they are to advance to an 11th consecutive provincial decider.
Pádraic Joyce’s Tribesmen have won the last four Nestor Cups and are aiming to achieve five in-a-row in Connacht for the first time since 1956-60.
After all the controversy around the planned seeding system in Munster, the province’s big two of Kerry and Cork have still managed to avoid each other until at least the final.
Munster GAA officials had proposed to introduce a seeding format based on the two highest ranked teams in the previous year’s National League standings (Kerry and Cork) receiving a bye to opposite sides of the semi-finals.
However, after the other counties in the province rebelled against the move, Munster eventually agreed to postpone that system for a year.
But it still came to pass in Thursday night’s draw that Kerry and Cork were to be picked on opposite sides of the draw anyhow.
The winners of quarter-finals between Tipperary and Waterford will play the winners of Limerick and Cork in a Munster semi-final next summer. The second semi-final will be a repeat of this year’s decider, with six in-a-row chasing Kerry meeting Clare.
Kerry have won 12 of the last 13 Munster titles – with Tipperary’s 2020 triumph briefly breaking their dominance of the Munster championship.
2026 PROVINCIAL SENIOR FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP DRAWS
LEINSTER
First Round: Carlow v Wicklow; Westmeath v Longford; Offaly v Laois
Quarter-finals: Kildare v Offaly/Laois; Meath v Westmeath/Longford; Louth v Wexford; Dublin v Carlow/Wicklow
Semi-finals: Kildare/Offaly/Laois v Meath/Westmeath/Longford; Louth/Wexford v Dublin/Carlow/Wicklow
ULSTER
Preliminary round: Armagh v Tyrone
Quarter-final: Fermanagh v Armagh/Tyrone; Donegal v Down; Derry v Antrim; Monaghan v Cavan
Semi-final: Donegal/Down v Armagh/Tyrone/Fermanagh; Derry/Antrim v Monaghan/Cavan
MUNSTER
Quarter-finals: Tipperary v Waterford; Limerick v Cork
Semi-finals: Tipperary/Waterford v Limerick/Cork; Clare v Kerry
CONNACHT
Quarter-finals: London/Mayo; New York v Roscommon; Sligo v Leitrim
Semi-finals: London/Mayo v New York/Roscommon; Sligo/Leitrim v Galway
