AFL Fixture 2026: Every game from every round revealed
The AFL’s 2026 fixture will deliver an unprecedented month of Friday night double-headers, but one of 2025’s true battlers has somehow remained a prime time darling of the league.
Carlton has shrugged off a disastrous season to remain a prime time darling as the AFL expanded Friday night double-headers in its 2026 fixture.
Michael Voss’ hopes of keeping his job intact during the opening stages of next season were given a boost when the AFL released its draw on Thursday, with the Blues handed four consecutive games against teams that didn’t make the 2025 finals to start the year.
Carlton will kickstart the season against Sydney and ex-Blues superstar Charlie Curnow as the first game of Opening Round, with the Swans expected to be improvers after finishing 10th in 2025, before facing likely battlers Richmond, Melbourne and North Melbourne.
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Despite finishing 11th in a 2025 season in which the Blues played 11 night matches on Fridays or Thursdays, Voss’ men were shoved back in the spotlight.
Carlton will play on Thursday night in four of its first five matches and continue in the Good Friday afternoon clash with North Melbourne in round 4.
Coaching into the last year of his contract with a new-look team that will replace Curnow and new Saints Tom De Koning and Jack Silvagni with Will Hayward, Ben Ainsworth and Ollie Florent, Voss will be desperate for a winning start to the season.
As per custom, the AFL released the first 15 rounds of the fixture on Thursday, with times of games for rounds 16-24 to be confirmed during the season.
Ross Lyon’s remade St Kilda squad is expected to be one of the most intriguing sides coming into the 2026 campaign but after securing a Sunday night home game against Collingwood as the sole Victorian clash in Opening Round, the Saints do not feature on a Thursday or Friday until an away clash with Fremantle in round 11.
St Kilda only hosts one game on the marquee Friday and Thursday slots – against Hawthorn on Thursday to kickstart round 12.
A month-long block of Friday night doubles will carry the fixture to the byes, with dual games in the marquee slot from rounds 8-11.
A double-Friday will also occur in round 6, while round 4 will see the Good Friday afternoon game followed by a night game in Adelaide as the Crows host the Dockers.
With the final nine rounds still to be locked in, the AFL has scope to schedule even more Friday doubles, having only lent on that fixture mode four times in 2025, all of which came after round 16.
The extra Friday games come at the expense of Sunday, with just two matches scheduled to close the weekend, in rounds 8, 9 and 11.
AFL fixture boss Josh Bowler said the Friday boost “will maximise attendance and kickstart the weekend of footy”.
St Kilda’s opening round clash with Collingwood, an Easter Sunday meeting between the Western Bulldogs and Essendon and an Essendon-Carlton King’s Birthday Eve match are the only Victorian games scheduled on Sunday nights.
But Port Adelaide (St Kilda in Gather Round, round 5), Gold Coast (GWS in round 8) West Coast (Essendon in round 12) will each host Sunday night matches.
“This fixture aims to build momentum throughout the year and gives fans consistency to help strengthen rituals and traditions at games with family and friends, as well as building on the success of Sunday nights,” Bowler said.
The AFL retained its largely disliked rolling byes structure, with teams taking staggered breaks from rounds 12-15.
Originally published as AFL Fixture 2026: Every game from every round revealed
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