FA Cup, 2026

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FA Cup Season Review 2025-26

The Final of the 145th edition of the world`s oldest cup competition was held at Wembley Stadium on 16 May 2026. This was the 11th year of the title sponsorship deal with Emirates, the Dubai-based airline. The extra preliminary round commenced on 1 August 2025. 747 clubs entered: an increase of 15 on the 2024-25 season. This included a total of 655 clubs in the qualifying rounds.

With the exception of the 2020-21 COVID season, this was the second time that the competition did not feature replays from the proper round onwards. Therefore, if they ended in a draw, the single ties would be decided by extra-time then penalties, if required. As in the 2024-25 season, the 5th round ties were all played over a weekend. The Final was also staged a week before the final round of Premier League games.

The competition prize fund ranged from losers in the Extra preliminary round receiving £375 while the winners received £2.12million. Attendances in the proper rounds totalled 1,842,926: an average of 15,106.

In becoming the first-ever team to reach the Final in four consecutive seasons, Manchester City won the trophy for the eighth time. Chelsea became the first team to lose in four consecutive appearances at FA Cup Finals since Leicester City between 1949 and 1969.

At the start of a new four year television deal, the domestic broadcasting rights were awarded to TNT Sport and the BBC: both broadcast the Final live. Ties from the 1st round proper to 5th round were also streamed on Discovery+, and from the Quarter-finals onwards on HBO Max. Having previously been used at Premier League grounds and Wembley Stadium only, VAR was used in all ties from the 5th round onwards.

Nine players were allowed to be selected on the substitutes bench with up to five allowed to be used. If required, a sixth could be used in extra time while further substitutions could be made under the concussion protocols. The traditional alternative-style format was used for penalty shoot-outs.

Details shown under the Goal scorers` tab on this page refer to Premier League clubs in the 2025-26 season only.