Arsenal pre-season fixtures: Schedule, how to watch and kickoff times

For the first time since 2004, Arsenal went into a new pre-season as Premier League champions, having snapped a torturous 22-year wait for another top-flight title in the 2025-26 campaign under Mikel Arteta's tutelage.

The Gunners finished further ahead of Manchester City than several expected - opening up a seven-point gap on the final day of the Premier League season - and sporting director Andrea Berta is not resting on his laurels this summer.

With Manchester City snapping up Elliot Anderson, Liverpool hiring Andoni Iraola and Tottenham Hotspur splashing the cash like never before, Arsenal have quite the fight on their hands to win back-to-back Premier League crowns for the first time ever, although the World Cup will impact most teams' preparations.

Unlike in 2025, no summer tour of the Far East was in the Arsenal diary, but Arteta's men still tested their mettle against an array of opponents before facing Manchester City in the Community Shield on August 16.

Here, Sports Mole runs through everything you need to know about Arsenal's 2026-27 pre-season.

Who did Arsenal play in pre-season?

Following a 3-0 behind-closed-doors win over MK Dons, Arsenal took part in four official pre-season fixtures, the first of which saw the Gunners travel to Spain to take on La Liga side Girona on August 1.

Arteta's men memorably met Girona during the league phase of the 2024-25 Champions League, in which Ethan Nwaneri scored a stunning left-footed winner in a 2-1 victory after Jorginho's penalty and Arnaut Danjuma's opener.

The Gunners bettered that scoreline in emphatic fashion during pre-season, easing to a 4-1 friendly triumph on a day where Max Dowman shone with a goal and assist.

Four days later, Arsenal made the trek to Dublin for a battle with Real Betis, but the luck of the Irish was not on their side as they slumped to a surprise 3-1 defeat to Manuel Pellegrini's men.

The Gunners then took on Borussia Dortmund in the annual Emirates Cup; the Premier League champions were bidding to win the friendly competition for the fifth year running, after defeating Athletic Bilbao in 2025 following previous triumphs over Lyon (2024), Monaco (2023) and Sevilla (2022).

However, Niko Kovac's men had other ideas, prevailing 3-2 in North London as Arsenal's William Saliba and Jurrien Timber-less defence was exposed once again.

Arsenal's fourth and final official pre-season fixture was also held in North London, and involved Champions League debutants Como, who clung on for a 1-1 draw before the Gunners beat Cesc Fabregas's side on penalties.

Who played for Arsenal in pre-season?

© Iconsport / Adam Gee/News Images/Sipa USA

Arsenal's clash with Girona on August 1 came a little under two weeks after the World Cup final on July 19, so any Gunners competing in the global showpiece were not available until the latter stages of pre-season.

However, a handful of Arteta's men bowed out early, including Germany's Kai Havertz, Sweden's Viktor Gyokeres and Ecuador's Piero Hincapie, all of whom linked up with the squad in Spain and started the win over Girona.

Each member of the trio lasted just 33 minutes before making way for Marli Salmon, Fabio Vieira and Gabriel Jesus respectively, and Arteta subsequently sent on the fledgling cavalry as the game progressed.

Andre Harriman-Annous, Ife Ibrahim and Louie Copley were among those to gain valuable first-team minutes in Girona, where new signing Christos Tzolis also scored his first unofficial Arsenal goal.

The majority of the Girona group also took part against Betis, with the additions of Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Magalhaes, who came off the bench following their runs to the World Cup last 16 with Brazil.

The Emirates Cup also saw the return of captain Martin Odegaard, while Bukayo Saka and David Raya were present with the squad but did not take part in the five-goal thriller.

The same is true of new £75m signing Bruno Guimaraes, who was presented to the Emirates crowd on Sunday and made his unofficial debut against Como, scoring a penalty in the process.

Raya, Mikel Merino, Noni Madueke and Eberechi Eze were also involved in Arsenal's final pre-season friendly after the World Cup, but Declan Rice, Saka and Martin Zubimendi were given well-earned, extended breaks.