FA Cup

Lore & Background

The competition is open to all eligible clubs down to level 9 of the English football league system, with level 10 clubs acting as stand-ins in the event of non-entries from above. A record 763 clubs competed in 2011–12. The tournament consists of 12 randomly drawn rounds followed by the semi-finals and the final. Entrants are not seeded, although a system of byes based on league level ensures higher ranked teams enter in later rounds – the minimum number of games needed to win, depending on which round a team enters the competition, ranges from six to fourteen. The first six rounds are the Qualifying Competition, and are contested by clubs in the National League System, levels 5 to 10 of the English football system, more commonly called non-League. 32 of these teams progress to the first round of the Competition Proper, meeting the first of the 48 professional teams from Leagues One and Two. The last entrants are the 20 Premier League and 24 Championship clubs, into the draw for the third round proper. In the modern era, only one non-League team has ever reached the quarter-finals, and teams below Level 2 have never reached the final. Winners receive the FA Cup trophy, of which there have been two designs and five actual cups; the latest is a 2014 replica of the second design, introduced in 1911. Winners also qualify for the UEFA Europa League (formerly for the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup until 1998–99 season) and a place in the upcoming FA Community Shield. Arsenal are the most successful club with fourteen titles, most recently in 2020. Additionally, their former manager Arsène Wenger holds the record for most tournament wins, having secured seven titles. Manchester City are the current holders, having defeated Chelsea 1–0 in the 2026 final.

In Their Own Story

The floodlights at Wembley hum to life as the away end erupts. You're managing a Championship side, and the opponent on the other side of the halfway line is a Premier League giant with a squad worth more than your entire city's annual budget. The FA Cup badge glows on the broadcast graphic in the corner of the screen. The referee's whistle cuts through the noise. One touch, one pass, one moment of inspiration from your number ten, and suddenly the scoreline reads 1–0. The stadium shakes. In the FIFA world, just like the real one, tonight the size of the squad doesn't matter. Only the ninety minutes do.

Reader's Guide

The FA Cup is a single-elimination knockout competition. The first six rounds are the Qualifying Competition for non-League clubs (levels 5–10). 32 qualifiers join the 48 professional teams from Leagues One and Two in the first round proper. The 20 Premier League and 24 Championship clubs enter in the third round proper. The tournament runs from early autumn to the spring final. Replays were used for drawn matches historically, but multiple replays were scrapped for the competition proper in 1991–92, and qualifying rounds in 1997–98. Replays were removed altogether from the semi-final and final matches in 2000, from the quarter-finals in 2016–17, the fifth round in 2019–20 and the first round onwards from 2024–2025.

Did You Know?

• The FA Cup is the oldest national football competition in the world, first played in the 1871–72 season.
• A record 763 clubs competed in the 2011–12 FA Cup.
• Only one non-League team has ever reached the quarter-finals in the modern era.
• Arsenal have won the FA Cup 14 times, the most of any club.
• The FA Cup final was played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff from 2001 to 2006 due to Wembley redevelopment.