Ulster MFC draw pairings announced

By Michael McMullan

THE draw for the 2026 Electric Ireland Ulster Minor Championship was made earlier this week.

Tyrone and Monaghan are set to lock horns in the league final this weekend with Cavan taking on Derry in the shield decider.

Here the upcoming fixtures and the competition will be played with a backdoor format.

The Round One winners will play each other in Round 2A, with the two winners advancing to the semi-finals.

The losers of Round One will play each other in Round 2B to stay in the competition.

The losers of 2A and the winners of 2B will face off to see who takes the other two semi-final spots.

THE draw for the 2026 Electric Ireland Ulster Minor Championship was made earlier this week.

Tyrone and Monaghan are set to lock horns in the league final this weekend with Cavan taking on Derry in the shield decider.

Saturday 11th April – Preliminary Round
Down v Fermanagh
(First named team has the home advantage)

Saturday 18th April – Round 1
Monaghan v Antrim
Tyrone v Armagh
Cavan v Donegal
Derry v Preliminary Round Winner
(First named team has the home advantage)

Sat 25th April – Qualifiers Round 1
Losers of Prelim Round and the Round 1 games. (*Should the Preliminary Round winner lose in Round 1, they will be excluded from this Round).
R1 loser/Prelim loser* V R1 loser/Prelim loser*
(loser eliminated – Enters National Tier 3)
If a team drawn were at home in Prelim/Round 1 they will be away in Qualifier Round 1 and vice versa. If both teams drawn in this round were both at home or both away in previous games, the first team drawn out would have home advantage.

Sat 2nd May – Round 2
(Open Draw – 4 Winners of Round 1)
R1 Winner V R1 Winner
R1 Winner v R1 Winner

Qualifiers Round 2
(Remaining three losers not drawn in Qualifiers R1, plus Qualifier R1 winners)
QR1 loser v QR1 loser
QR1 loser v QR1 loser
(losers eliminated– Enter National Tier 2 or 3)
From the two teams that are eliminated at Qualifiers Rd 2 stage, if one team has won a game in the MFC they will go to National Tier 2.
Otherwise, the Tier 2 team will be determined in line with Ordering as per Code 13 & 11.1 T.O. 2023.

Saturday 9th May – Quarter Finals
R2 loser V QR2 winner
R2 loser V QR2 winner
(losers eliminated– Enter National Tier 2)

Sat 16th May – Semi Finals
R2 winner V QF winner
R2 winner V QF winner
(losers eliminated– Enter National Tier 2)

Sun 24th May – Final

All-Ireland Quarter Finals
5th/6th June