When did Arsenal last win a trophy? Mikel Arteta out to end long wait for Gunners Premier League, Cup silverware

London — As the 2025-26 campaign enters its decisive phase, Arsenal supporters are permitting themselves to dream of a haul that would have seemed fantastical only a few seasons ago. Mikel Arteta’s side, long starved of major honours, are still alive on four fronts and could bring the club its first silverware since the pandemic-emptied 2020 FA Cup final.

That Wembley triumph over Chelsea, sealed by a 2-1 scoreline in front of deserted stands, remains Arsenal’s most recent piece of silverware. It extended the club’s record to 14 FA Cup wins — the most by any team — yet it also underscored a concerning drought elsewhere. The Gunners have not lifted the League Cup since 1993, have never been crowned European champions and, most glaringly, have not finished top of English football since the fabled Invincibles season of 2003-04.

This year the narrative feels different. Arsenal enter this weekend’s Carabao Cup final against Manchester City as slight favourites after a league season in which they have opened a healthy gap at the Premier League summit. A victory at Wembley would deliver only the third League Cup in the club’s history and the first in more than three decades. It would also serve as a springboard: the club remain in the Champions League and FA Cup quarter-finals, meaning a quadruple — unprecedented in the English game — is mathematically on the table.

Arteta, a former Arsenal captain who memorably lifted the FA Cup twice as a player, has rebuilt the squad with a blend of youthful exuberance and hardened winners. The Spaniard has spoken repeatedly of instilling a “culture of excellence,” and the table suggests the message has taken root. Domestically, Arsenal have dropped points only three times since the turn of the year; in Europe, they have dispatched heavyweight opposition with a balance of defensive rigour and ruthless attacking transitions.

Still, history counsels caution. Arsenal’s last five major trophies have all arrived via the world’s oldest cup competition, and the club’s failure to translate domestic consistency into league championships has become a perennial talking point. The Emirates faithful still sing about 2004 because nothing has come close since; neighbours and rivals have lapped the Gunners in the intervening years.

Yet the current squad appears equipped to shoulder the weight of expectation. They have already defeated City twice this term, overturning a psychological block that had loomed large, and their goal-difference advantage in the league reflects a new-found killer instinct. Should they overcome Pep Guardiola’s side again on Sunday, the belief inside the red half of north London will surge to levels not felt since Arsène Wenger’s pomp.

What happens next could define an era. Win the first trophy of the Arteta age and Arsenal would enter the season’s final months with momentum, confidence and, crucially, proof that they can handle the pressure of delivering when it matters most. Fail, and familiar questions about mentality and big-game nerves will resurface with a vengeance.

For now, the club and its fans are embracing the possibility of history. A single cup on Sunday may be only the beginning — but it would also be the end of a six-year wait that has felt far longer.