The first round of the 2026 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship will see a repeat of last year’s Sam Maguire decider as Kerry host Donegal.
The draw for the opening round was held on Monday afternoon, with the eight provincial finalists drawn against the top-ranked counties based on their standings at the end of this season’s National League.
As winners of last year’s Tailteann Cup, Kildare automatically qualified for the All-Ireland stages despite being relegated from Division Two in the league and failing to reach the Leinster decider following a 2-21 to 0-23 defeat against Westmeath on Sunday.
The eight counties who have reached their provincial finals and earned home advantage for the first round were Kerry and Cork (Munster), Dublin and Westmeath (Leinster), Roscommon and Galway (Connacht), and Monaghan and Armagh (Ulster).
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They were drawn against the seven counties who qualified for the All-Ireland series by virtue of their league ranking: Donegal (ranked first after the league), Mayo (third), Meath (seventh), Louth (11th), Derry (12th), Tyrone (13th) and Cavan (14th) – along with Kildare.
All-Ireland champions Kerry will host runners-up Donegal on the weekend of May 23rd/24th, two weeks on from their Munster final clash against Cork.
Donegal, who beat Jack O’Connor’s side 3-20 to 2-10 in the NFL Division One final in March, were knocked out of the Ulster championship after their quarter-final defeat to Down last month.
Dublin and Louth will meet again in the first round of the All-Ireland series. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho
Cork, meanwhile, were drawn against Meath, who fell to Westmeath in the Leinster quarter-final.
Mark McHugh’s side, who earned a spot in the Leinster final with a four-point win over Kildare after extra-time on Sunday, will face Cavan in the first round of the All-Ireland series, while their provincial final opponents Dublin were drawn against Louth, who they defeated on Saturday to reach the decider.
Galway and Roscommon, who will meet in the Connacht final at Dr Hyde Park on Sunday, will play Kildare and Tyrone respectively, while Derry and Mayo await the respective challenge of Armagh and Monaghan, who meet in the Ulster final.
The games involving the four counties in the Munster and Connacht finals (both of which are being played this Sunday) will be held on the weekend of May 23rd/24th.
As the Leinster and Ulster finals are to be played on Sunday, May 17th, the first-round fixtures involving those four provincial finalists will be played on the weekend of May 30th/31st.
The first-round winners in the All-Ireland series will go on to play each other in Round 2A, with the eight losing counties to be drawn against each other in Round 2B. The 2A winner will qualify for the All-Ireland quarter-finals, where they will be joined by the four winners from Round 3, which will involve the four losing teams from Round 2A and the four winning teams from Round 2B.
The draws will, where possible, seek to avoid repeat pairings from the provincial finals, and secondarily, repeat pairings from earlier rounds of the All-Ireland series.
All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Round One fixtures
May 23rd/24th:
Kerry v Donegal
Cork v Meath
Roscommon v Tyrone
Galway v Kildare
May 30th/31st:
Dublin v Louth
Westmeath v Cavan
Monaghan v Mayo
Armagh v Derry