2026 Donegal county football team season

Donegal county football team

2026 season
Manager	Jim McGuinness
←  2025 2027  →

The following is a summary of Donegal county football team's 2026 season.

Personnel changes

On 3 December 2025, Caolan Ward announced his retirement from inter-county football. ^{[1] [2]}

Patrick McBrearty, the captain, was then forced to retire because of injury, with that announcement coming on 15 December 2025. ^{[3] [4]}

MacCumhaill Park in Ballybofey is unavailable due to its facilities being upgraded. ^{[5] [6] [7] [8] [9]}

Kit

In December 2025, a new retro style jersey for the team to wear in 2026 was launched. ^{[10] [11] [12]}

Competitions

Dr McKenna Cup

The Dr McKenna Cup is to return on 2 January after an absence of one year. ^[13] The draw was held on 2 December 2025, with Donegal placed in Section C, to compete in Rounds 1 and 3. ^[14] The team's opening game, a home fixture against Derry, is scheduled for 4 January. ^[15]

Donegal v Derry

4 January 2026 (2026-01-04)Round 1	Donegal	v	Derry	Letterkenny
13:30 IST				Stadium: O'Donnell Park

Antrim v Donegal

11 January 2026 (2026-01-11)Round 3	Antrim	v	Donegal	Cargin
13:30 IST

National Football League

Main article: 2026 National Football League (Ireland)

Donegal's fixtures for the 2026 NFL were announced in early December 2025. ^{[15] [16]}

Dublin v Donegal

24 January 2026 (2026-01-24)Round 1	Dublin	v	Donegal	Dublin
17:00 IST				Stadium: Croke Park

Donegal v Kerry

1 February 2026 (2026-02-01)Round 2	Donegal	v	Kerry	Ballyshannon
13:30 IST				Stadium: Fr Tierney Park

Donegal v Mayo

15 February 2026 (2026-02-15)Round 3	Donegal	v	Mayo	Letterkenny
13:45 IST				Stadium: O'Donnell Park

Armagh v Donegal

22 February 2026 (2026-02-22)Round 4	Armagh	v	Donegal	Armagh
15:45 IST				Stadium: Athletic Grounds

Donegal v Galway

1 March 2026 (2026-03-01)Round 5	Donegal	v	Galway	Ballyshannon
13:15 IST				Stadium: Fr Tierney Park

Roscommon v Donegal

15 March 2026 (2026-03-15)Round 6	Roscommon	v	Donegal	Roscommon
13:30 IST				Stadium: Dr Hyde Park

Monaghan v Donegal

22 March 2026 (2026-03-22)Round 7	Monaghan	v	Donegal	Clones
15:30 IST				Stadium: St Tiernach's Park

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Armagh	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Advance to NFL Final
2	Monaghan	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Donegal	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Dublin	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	Galway	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
6	Kerry	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
7	Mayo	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Relegation to 2027 NFL Division 2
8	Roscommon	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

First match(es) will be played: January 2026. Source: GAA.ie
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Ulster Senior Football Championship

The draw for the 2026 Ulster SFC took place on 27 November 2025. ^[17] Ciarán Thompson, out injured after tearing his ACL while playing for Donegal in the 2025 All-Ireland SFC final, drew the names. ^{[18] [19]} Donegal and Down were paired together in a quarter-final, with the winner of that game set to meet one of Armagh, Fermanagh or Tyrone in a semi-final. ^[20]

April 2026

Quarter-final

Donegal	v	Down

Preliminary round v t e

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

Derry

Antrim

Quarter-final winner

Quarter-final winner

Monaghan

Cavan

Semi-final winner

Semi-final winner

Donegal

Down

Quarter-final winner

Armagh

Quarter-final winner

Tyrone

Fermanagh

Preliminary winner

References

1. "Caolan Ward steps away from county duty". Donegal News . 3 December 2025. Retrieved 3 December 2025.
2. "Caolan Ward steps away from county duty". Donegal GAA. 3 December 2025. Retrieved 3 December 2025.
3. Manning, Gordon (15 December 2025). "Donegal's Patrick McBrearty announces retirement from intercounty football: Forward steps away after 'sustained recurrence of a knee injury'". The Irish Times. Retrieved 15 December 2025.
4. "McBrearty calls time on his inter-county career". BBC. 15 December 2025. Retrieved 15 December 2025.
5. "Resurfacing of new MacCumhaill Park pitch completed". Donegal Daily. 18 October 2025. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
6. "Sanding and seeding of MacCumhaill Park's new playing surface complete". Donegal Live. 18 October 2025. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
7. "Sanding and seeding of MacCumhaill Park is complete". Ocean FM. 20 October 2025. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
8. "Progress continuing on new MacCumhaill Park pitch". Donegal Daily. 15 November 2025. Retrieved 15 November 2025.
9. "MacCumhaill Park development progressing well as work continues". Donegal Live. 15 November 2025. Retrieved 15 November 2025.
10. "Donegal GAA launch new jersey". Highland Radio. 4 December 2025. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
11. "New Donegal jersey set to be unveiled". Donegal News . 4 December 2025. p. 77.
12. "Donegal launch new jersey". Hogan Stand . 5 December 2025. Retrieved 5 December 2025.
13. Crumley, Odhran (2 December 2025). "Armagh v Tyrone to open returning McKenna Cup". BBC News . Retrieved 2 December 2025.
14. "2026 Bank of Ireland Dr McKenna Cup fixtures confirmed". Ulster GAA. 2 December 2025. Retrieved 2 December 2025.
15. "National League fixtures confirmed for Donegal sides". Donegal News . 4 December 2025. p. 77. Prior to the start of the National Football League, Donegal will take part in the Dr McKenna Cup which is back on the calendar for 2026. The reigning Ulster champions will play Derry on home soil at O'Donnell Park on Sunday 4 January before travelling to Cargin to take on Antrim seven days later.
16. "Dates and venues for Donegal's Allianz National League Fixtures confirmed". Highland Radio. 3 December 2025. Retrieved 3 December 2025.
17. "2026 Provincial Football Championships draws". GAA.ie. 27 November 2025. Retrieved 27 November 2025.
18. McIntyre, Niall (27 November 2025). "GAA Senior Football Championship draws: Provincial ties revealed as race for Sam Maguire begins". Independent.ie . Retrieved 27 November 2025. A few oohs and aahs around the studio as Donegal player Ciaran Thompson draws Tyrone against Armagh in the preliminary round. He can only smile.
19. Craig, Frank (23 August 2025). "Mixed news as Ciaran Thompson scan reveals a partial ACL tear". Donegal Live . Retrieved 23 August 2025.
20. "2026 SFC provincial draws: Armagh and Tyrone in early season Ulster showdown". RTÉ News. 28 November 2025. Retrieved 28 November 2025.