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Man City have qualified for the 2026 FA Community Shield after winning FA Cup final vs Chelsea
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City will face Arsenal at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Sunday 16 August
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Arsenal will play in the fixture regardless of Premier League title race outcome
Manchester City have booked their place in the 2026 FA Community Shield against Chelsea after beating Chelsea in Saturday’s FA Cup final.
The Blues face Arsenal at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Sunday 16 August 2026 – a rematch of one of the most compelling rivalries in the Premier League this season, which has gone to the final week of the campaign, with the title still to be decided.
Notably, the fixture will pit Manchester City against Arsenal regardless of the outcome of the final two matchdays of the league campaign as Pep Guardiola and co retain slim hopes of building on their cup double and usurping the Gunners to yet another Premier League crown.
Five Things Learned: Chelsea 0-1 Manchester City (FA Cup Final)
City to face Arsenal in Cardiff in August
Manchester City’s FA Cup final victory over Chelsea means they will enter the Community Shield as the cup holders, with Arsenal confirmed as their opponents by virtue of their status as Premier League champions or runners-up.
The Millennium Stadium in Cardiff serves as the venue for the 2026 edition of the fixture – a change from the traditional Wembley setting that adds a further novelty to what promises to be an eagerly anticipated curtain-raiser to the 2026-27 campaign.
What is the wider context for the City vs Arsenal rivalry?
The Community Shield fixture will arrive just weeks after the conclusion of a Premier League season that has been defined by the two clubs’ pursuit of each other.
City have pushed Arsenal to the final lap of a monumental title race following a remarkable second half of the season that yielded the Carabao Cup and FA Cup crowns – as well as a title race that has gone to the wire and could yet see the Blues earn a ninth Premier League trophy.
Guardiola has praised Arsenal’s consistency throughout the campaign on multiple occasions, while the two sides have met in the Carabao Cup final, a Premier League showdown at the Etihad Stadium and traded blows across one of the most compelling top-flight title races in recent memory. In August, in Cardiff, they will do it all over again.
