AFL 2026 Wildcard Round results
29 August 2026
The AFL's new ten-team finals format played its first Wildcard Round this weekend, and both games went down to the wire. The Western Bulldogs held off a fast-finishing Collingwood by 3 points on Friday night; Carlton ran out 19-point winners over Melbourne on Saturday. Two results, two survivors through to next week's Elimination Finals.
Wildcard Round scores
| Home | Away | Venue | Day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Western Bulldogs 96 | def | Collingwood 93 | Melbourne Cricket Ground | Fri 28 Aug |
| Melbourne 55 | lost to | Carlton 74 | Melbourne Cricket Ground | Sat 29 Aug |
The round in two lines
Closest finish: Western Bulldogs by 3 — 96 to Collingwood's 93 at the MCG on Friday night, the tighter of the two Wildcard games.
Biggest margin: Carlton by 19 — the Blues ran out 74-55 winners over Melbourne on Saturday, both teams' seasons on the line.
That's the Wildcard Round done — both survivors move into next week's Elimination Finals. If you're new to the ten-team format, we've broken down how it actually works. Running a comp with your mates through the rest of the finals series? A TippingMates ladder updates itself off results like these automatically, every round.