Cardiff City sit top of League One going into 2026

Image credit: Cardiff City FC

The Bluebirds ended the year strongly with a 2-1 home win against Stevenage. The Bluebirds took on Stevenage at the Cardiff City Stadium, with the away side inside of the play-offs, while the home team were top of the table.

The deadlock was broken in the second half, after a goalless first half. Phoenix Patterson opened the scoring after 57 minutes, giving Stevenage a 1-0 lead. Seven minutes later, Callum Robinson brought the hosts back level, with over 30 minutes left for either side to find a winner.

Danish forward Yousef Salech scored his 11th league goal of the season with less than 10 minutes to play, giving Cardiff a 2-1 lead with not long left to go.

The full-time whistle was blown, and Cardiff City secured three crucial points in their aim to return to the Championship. Stevenage fell out of the play-offs at full-time, due to other results in the league.

The Bluebirds find themselves top of the League One form table for home results, picking up 30 points from 12 matches.

The home result was a strong win, as Stevenage have the second-best away record in the division, but with a win, they would have had the best away form in the league.

Cardiff are ending the year strongly, picking up seven wins from their last eight matches. The side are four points clear of Bradford City who are third, outside of the automatic play-offs.

In their next three matches, Cardiff City take on three teams who are in the bottom half of the table for form based on their last five games. The teams who play the league leaders next are Wycombe Wanderers, Wigan Athletic and Leyton Orient.

So far, the league season has been a success for the Welsh team, who enter 2026 top of League One. They have picked up 15 wins from their 22 League One games to date, two more wins than Lincoln City who have 13 wins, the second-most in the division.

Do you think Cardiff City will get promoted to the Championship this season?