Copa del Rey

Lore & Background

In 1902, a competition under the name Copa de la Coronación was played after Juan de Astorquia and Carlos Padrós suggested a football tournament to celebrate the coronation of King Alfonso XIII. Club Bizcaya defeated Barcelona in the final. That cup is on display in the Athletic Bilbao museum and the club includes the victory as the first of its Copa del Rey wins, but the RFEF officially does not recognise it as such. The Copa del Rey was effectively Spain's national football championship from 1903 until the foundation of La Liga in 1929.

During the Second Spanish Republic, it was known as the Copa del Presidente de la República, and during the Franco years, as the Copa del Generalísimo. In 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, the Copa de la España Libre was held; Levante FC beat Valencia 1–0 in the final. On 25 March 2023, that tournament was officially recognized by the RFEF, but not as a Copa del Rey. Because of the dispute regarding the 1902 competition, the statistics regarding the leading winners are also disputed: Barcelona have won the Copa 31 times; Athletic Bilbao are in second place, with either 24 or 25 titles, depending on the source.

Reader's Guide

The final is a one-off game played at a neutral venue, with Seville becoming the regular home. Beginning with the 2019–20 edition, the Estadio de La Cartuja in Seville was chosen to host the final for a four-year period. All rounds are single-leg ties with lower division teams hosting the match and the majority of the top-level clubs entering at the first Round (four teams taking part in the Supercopa de España entering in the third round – last 32), other than the semi-final stage which is played over two legs. Winners qualify for the following season's UEFA Europa League and the Supercopa de España. From the 2019–20 Supercopa edition onwards, the previous Copa del Rey runners-up automatically qualify in addition to the winners with four teams taking part in the event.