2025–26 FA Cup

Football Association Challenge Cup
Wembley Stadium will host the final on 16 May 2026
Tournament details
Country	England Wales
Dates	31 October 2025 – 16 May 2026[2]
Teams	747[1] 655 (qualifying competition) 124 (main competition incl. 32 qualifiers)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	116
Goals scored	400 (3.45 per match)
Attendance	1,507,875 (12,999 per match)
Top goal scorer	Tyrese Shade (5 goals)
← 2024–25 2026–27 → (Note: All statistics do not include qualifying competition)

The 2025–26 FA Cup is the 145th season of the Football Association Challenge Cup, the oldest football tournament in the world. It is sponsored by Emirates and known as the Emirates FA Cup for sponsorship reasons. The FA Cup is the main domestic cup competition for men's football teams in England. The qualifying competition began on 1 August 2025, with the tournament proper starting on 31 October 2025. The final will be played at Wembley Stadium, London, on 16 May 2026. The winners of the tournament will earn a place in the 2026–27 UEFA Europa League.

Defending champions Crystal Palace, having beaten Manchester City in the 2025 final to win their first ever title, were eliminated in the third round after an upset victory by sixth-tier National League North side Macclesfield.^[3]

The FA Cup is a knockout competition with 124 teams taking part from the first round proper, and all trying to reach the final at Wembley Stadium on 16 May 2026.^[1] The competition consists of the 92 teams from the Football League system (20 teams from the Premier League and the 72 in total from the EFL Championship, EFL League One and EFL League Two) plus the 32 surviving teams out of 655 teams from the National League System that started the competition in the qualifying rounds. The total 747 entrants was an increase of 2 from the previous season,^[1] and the most since 758 entrants were accepted in 2012–13.

Round	Main date (Saturdays)[2]	Number of fixtures	Clubs remaining	New entries this round	Winner prize money	Loser prize money	Divisions entering this round
First round	1 November 2025	40	124 → 84	48	£47,750	£15,800	24 EFL League One teams 24 EFL League Two teams
Second round	6 December 2025	20	84 → 64	None	£79,500	£21,200	None
Third round	10 January 2026	32	64 → 32	44	£121,500	£26,500	20 Premier League teams 24 EFL Championship teams
Fourth round	14 February 2026	16	32 → 16	None	£127,000	None	None
Fifth round	7 March 2026	8	16 → 8	None	£238,500	None	None
Quarter-finals	4 April 2026	4	8 → 4	None	£477,000	None	None
Semi-finals	25 April 2026	2	4 → 2	None	£1,060,000	£530,000	None
Final	16 May 2026	1	2 → 1	None	£2,120,000	£1,060,000	None

This is the second consecutive (and third overall) edition of the tournament to be played without replays in the proper rounds since 2020–21, following a six-year agreement beginning in 2024–25 between the FA and the Premier League, and the second edition of the tournament to have the final played one week before the end of the Premier League season.^[4]

Teams that are not members of either the Premier League or English Football League compete in the qualifying rounds to secure one of 32 available places in the first round. The six-round qualifying competition began with the extra preliminary round on 2 August 2025, with the fourth and final qualifying round kicking off on 11 October.

The winners from the fourth qualifying round were AFC Telford United, AFC Totton, Aldershot Town, Altrincham, Boreham Wood, Brackley Town, Braintree Town, Buxton, Carlisle United, Chatham Town, Chelmsford City, Chester, Eastleigh, Ebbsfleet United, Forest Green Rovers, Gainsborough Trinity, Gateshead, Halifax Town, Hemel Hempstead Town, Macclesfield, Maldon & Tiptree, Scunthorpe United, Slough Town, South Shields, Southend United, Spennymoor Town, St Albans City, Sutton United, Tamworth, Wealdstone, Weston-super-Mare and York City.

Phoenix club Macclesfield were the only debutants in the first round, appearing in the competition proper for the first time in their own right only five years after the liquidation of predecessor outfit Macclesfield Town, with Town having last featured in the first round of the FA Cup in 2017–18.^[5] Hemel Hempstead Town, South Shields and Spennymoor Town all matched their best ever runs by reaching the competition proper, while Chatham Town featured in the FA Cup for the first time in 97 years.^[5]

A total of 80 teams played in the first round: 32 winners from the fourth qualifying round, 24 from League Two (tier 4), and 24 from League One (tier 3). Eighth tier side Maldon & Tiptree (Isthmian League North Division) were the lowest-ranked team in the draw.

The draw was made on 13 October 2025 by Joel Ward and Michail Antonio and took place at Woodside Road, Worthing, prior to the fourth qualifying round tie between Worthing and Forest Green Rovers.^[6]

Number of teams per tier still in competition

Premier League[a]	Championship[a]	League One	League Two	Non-League	Total
20 / 20	24 / 24	24 / 24	24 / 24	32 / 32	124 / 124

The 40 winners from the first round played in the second round. Sixth tier sides Buxton and Macclesfield from National League North, Chelmsford City, Slough Town and Weston-super-Mare from National League South were the lowest-ranked teams in the draw.

The draw was made on 3 November 2025 by Joleon Lescott and Steve Sidwell, and took place at The Lamb Ground, Tamworth, prior to the first round tie between Tamworth and Leyton Orient.^[7]

Number of teams per tier still in competition

Premier League[a]	Championship[a]	League One	League Two	Non-League	Total
20 / 20	24 / 24	14 / 24	15 / 24	11 / 32	84 / 124

A total of 64 clubs played in the third round: 20 winners from the second round, 20 from the Premier League (tier 1), and 24 from the Championship (tier 2). Sixth tier sides Macclesfield (National League North) and Weston-super-Mare (National League South) were the lowest-ranked teams in the draw.

The draw was made on 8 December 2025 by Joe Cole and Peter Crouch, and took place at St James Park, Brackley, prior to the second round tie between Brackley Town and Burton Albion.^[8]

Number of teams per tier still in competition

Premier League	Championship	League One	League Two	Non-League	Total
20 / 20	24 / 24	8 / 24	9 / 24	3 / 32	64 / 124

The 32 winners from the third round played in the fourth round. National League North (tier 6) side Macclesfield was again the lowest-ranked team in the draw. In reaching this stage, Macclesfield equalled the best-ever Cup performance of Macclesfield Town, who had competed in the fourth round of the 2012–13 tournament. Elsewhere, Mansfield Town's surprise victory over Premier League outfit Burnley was the Stags' first Cup win over top-tier opponents since 1969.

The draw was made on 12 January 2026 by Joleon Lescott and Steve McManaman, and took place at Anfield, Liverpool, prior to the third round match between Liverpool and Barnsley.^[9]

Number of teams per tier still in competition

Premier League	Championship	League One	League Two	Non-League	Total
14 / 20	11 / 24	4 / 24	2 / 24	1 / 32	32 / 124

The 16 winners from the fourth round played in the fifth round. League One sides Mansfield Town and Port Vale were the lowest-ranked teams remaining in the draw.

The draw was made on 16 February 2026 by Karen Carney and Joe Cole, and took place at Moss Rose, Macclesfield, prior to the fourth round match between Macclesfield and Brentford.^[10]

Number of teams per tier still in competition

Premier League	Championship	League One	League Two	Non-League	Total
11 / 20	3 / 24	2 / 24	0 / 24	0 / 32	16 / 124

The eight winners from the fifth round will play in the quarter-finals. League One side Port Vale were the lowest-ranked team remaining in the draw. The matches will be played on the weekend of 4 April 2026.

The draw was made on 9 March 2026 by Joe Cole and Joe Hart, and took place at London Stadium, Stratford, prior to the fifth round match between West Ham United and Brentford.^[11]

Number of teams per tier still in competition

Premier League	Championship	League One	League Two	Non-League	Total
6 / 20	1 / 24	1 / 24	0 / 24	0 / 32	8 / 124

2025–26 marks the start of a new four-year television deal, replacing a previous one in which rights were split between the BBC and ITV. Broadcast rights were won by TNT Sports, with a guarantee of free-to-air matches being obtained by an agreement to show 14 matches on the BBC.^[12][13]

Broadcaster	Summary
BBC Sport	14 live matches per season, all to be shared with TNT Sports. BBC Sport has two matches per round up to and including the quarter-finals, plus one semi-final and the final.[12]
TNT Sports	Selected matches from the first and second round, and all matches from the third round onwards (including those on the BBC) which do not kick off at 3pm on a Saturday.[13]

Round	Date	Fixture	Kick-off	Channels
				TV	Digital
First round[14]	31 October 2025	Luton Town v Forest Green Rovers	19:30	TNT Sports 1	Discovery+
	1 November 2025	Chelmsford City v Braintree Town	12:00	TNT Sports 1 TNT Sports 3	Discovery+
		Brackley Town v Notts County	17:30	BBC Two TNT Sports 3	BBC iPlayer Discovery+
	2 November 2025	South Shields v Shrewsbury Town	12:00	TNT Sports 1	Discovery+
		Eastleigh v Walsall	14:15	BBC Two TNT Sports 2	BBC iPlayer Discovery+
		Port Vale v Maldon & Tiptree	15:00	TNT Sports 1	Discovery+
		Gainsborough Trinity v Accrington Stanley	17:15	TNT Sports 1 TNT Sports 2	Discovery+
	3 November 2025	Tamworth v Leyton Orient	19:30	TNT Sports 1	Discovery+
Second round[15]	5 December 2025	Salford City v Leyton Orient	19:30	TNT Sports 1	Discovery+
	6 December 2025	Sutton United v Shrewsbury Town	17:15	BBC Two TNT Sports 2	BBC iPlayer Discovery+
		Chesterfield v Doncaster Rovers	19:30	TNT Sports 1	Discovery+
	7 December 2025	Slough Town v Macclesfield	12:30	TNT Sports 2	Discovery+
		Boreham Wood v Newport County	14:30	BBC Two TNT Sports 1	BBC iPlayer
		Gateshead v Walsall	15:30	TNT Sports 2	Discovery+
		Blackpool v Carlisle United	17:30	TNT Sports 1	Discovery+
	8 December 2025	Brackley Town v Burton Albion	19:30	TNT Sports 1	Discovery+
Third round[16]	9 January 2026	Wrexham v Nottingham Forest	19:30	TNT Sports 1	Discovery+
	10 January 2026	Macclesfield v Crystal Palace	12:15	BBC One TNT Sports 1	BBC iPlayer Discovery+
		Tottenham Hotspur v Aston Villa	17:45	BBC One TNT Sports 1	BBC iPlayer Discovery+
		Grimsby Town v Weston-super-Mare	17:45	TNT Sports 5	Discovery+
		Charlton Athletic v Chelsea	20:00	TNT Sports 1	Discovery+
	11 January 2026	Derby County v Leeds United	12:00	TNT Sports 2	Discovery+
		Portsmouth v Arsenal	14:00	TNT Sports 1	Discovery+
		Manchester United v Brighton & Hove Albion	16:30	TNT Sports 1	Discovery+
	12 January 2026	Liverpool v Barnsley	19:45	TNT Sports 1	Discovery+
Fourth round[17]	13 February 2026	Hull City v Chelsea	19:45	BBC One TNT Sports 1	BBC iPlayer Discovery+
		Wrexham v Ipswich Town	19:45	BBC Wales	Discovery+
	14 February 2026	Burton Albion v West Ham United	12:15	TNT Sports 1	Discovery+
		Aston Villa v Newcastle United	17:45	BBC One TNT Sports 3	BBC iPlayer Discovery+
		Liverpool v Brighton & Hove Albion	20:00	TNT Sports 1	Discovery+
	15 February 2026	Birmingham City v Leeds United	12:00	TNT Sports 3	Discovery+
		Grimsby Town v Wolverhampton Wanderers	13:30	TNT Sports 1	Discovery+
		Arsenal v Wigan Athletic	16:30	TNT Sports 1	Discovery+
	16 February 2026	Macclesfield v Brentford	19:30	TNT Sports 1	Discovery+
Fifth round[18]	6 March 2026	Wolverhampton Wanderers v Liverpool	20:00	BBC One TNT Sports 1	BBC iPlayer Discovery+
	7 March 2026	Mansfield Town v Arsenal	12:15	TNT Sports 1	Discovery+
		Wrexham v Chelsea	17:45	BBC One TNT Sports 2	BBC iPlayer Discovery+
		Newcastle United v Manchester City	20:00	TNT Sports 1	Discovery+
	8 March 2026	Fulham v Southampton	12:00	TNT Sports 2	Discovery+
		Port Vale v Sunderland	13:30	TNT Sports 1	Discovery+
		Leeds United v Norwich City	16:30	TNT Sports 1	Discovery+
	9 March 2026	West Ham United v Brentford	19:30	TNT Sports 1	Discovery+