Cardiff vs. Chelsea: Head-to-head record and past meetings

The biggest mismatch on paper in this year's EFL Cup quarter-finals proved to be far from easy sailing for Chelsea, as the Blues narrowly scraped past League One leaders Cardiff City.

Enzo Maresca's side were widely expected to brush aside their lower-league opposition, but a heavily rotated Chelsea were put to the test against the hosts before eventually securing a 3-1 victory.

Substitute Alejandro Garnacho opened the scoring before David Turnbull equalised, only for Pedro Neto and Garnacho's brace to seal the late win for the Blues and secure their place in the semi-finals.

Here, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at the head-to-head record and previous meetings between the two sides.

Head-to-head record

Previous meetings: 46

Cardiff City wins: 15

Draws: 10

Chelsea wins: 21

One year to the day since Neil Warnock's stare down of the officials ? pic.twitter.com/GTk7YrI1nt
— Soccer AM (@SoccerAM) March 31, 2020

A more even head-to-head than some may expect, Chelsea only boast six more victories than Cardiff City from their previous 46 competitive matches in all tournaments, claiming 21 wins to the Bluebirds' 15.

Chelsea's most recent victory came in the 2025-26 EFL Cup quarter-final, with the Blues emerging 3-1 winners despite a challenging matchup with the League One Bluebirds.

The Blues' most recent Premier League triumph in March 2019 was clouded in controversy, though, as Neil Warnock's Cardiff took the lead early in the second half, before Cesar Azpilicueta and Ruben Loftus-Cheek turned the tide in the final 10 minutes.

Warnock was left dumbfounded at the decision to allow Azpilicueta's goal to stand - the Spaniard was offside when he headed the ball home - and also took issue with Antonio Rudiger not being sent off, leading to one of the most iconic shots in Premier League history.

Rather than remonstrate with the officials in the manner that many of his counterparts would, Warnock simply stared at Craig Pawson and his linesmen with his hands on his head, an image which went and continues to go viral online.

That agonising 2-1 loss represented Cardiff's fifth straight defeat to Chelsea, and that run has now been extended after the Bluebirds' 3-1 EFL Cup quarter-final defeat in December 2025.

The Welsh side have to travel all the way back to 1986 for their most recent success in this fixture, conquering the Blues 2-1 in the second round of that year's EFL Cup, but that marks their only win from their last 11 games with the London club.

Cardiff have not triumphed over Chelsea in league action since a 1-0 Second Division success at Stamford Bridge in April 1981, while their last home league win was over six decades ago, in 1963.

The Blues also boast the biggest margin of victory in this battle, crushing Cardiff 6-0 in the Second Division in October 1962, thanks partly to one goal from the legendary Terry Venables.