2026–27 FA Cup
Football tournament season
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The 2026–27 FA Cup will be the 146th 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 purposes. The FA Cup is the main domestic cup competition for men's football teams in England. The qualifying competition will begin on 7 August 2026, with the tournament proper set to start on 7 November 2026. The final will be played at Wembley Stadium, London, on 22 May 2027.
Wales
651 (qualifying competition)
124 (main competition incl. 32 qualifiers)
| Football Association Challenge Cup | |
|---|---|
Wembley Stadium will host the final. | |
| Tournament details | |
| Country | England Wales |
| Dates | 7 November 2026 – 22 May 2027[1] |
| Teams | 743[2] 651 (qualifying competition) 124 (main competition incl. 32 qualifiers) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | TBD |
| Runners-up | TBD |
(Note: All statistics do not include qualifying competition) | |
Eight-time winners and defending champions, Manchester City, will enter the competition hoping to appear in their fifth consecutive FA Cup Final.
Teams, dates and regulations
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 22 May 2027.[2] 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 651 teams from the National League System that started the competition in the qualifying rounds. The total 743 entrants was an decrease of 4 from the previous season.[2]
| Round | Main date (Saturdays)[1] |
Number of fixtures | Clubs remaining | New entries this round | Winner prize money | Loser prize money | Divisions entering this round |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First round | 7 November 2026 | 40 | 124 → 84 | 48 | £47,750 | £15,800 | 24 EFL League One teams 24 EFL League Two teams |
| Second round | 5 December 2026 | 20 | 84 → 64 | None | £79,500 | £21,200 | None |
| Third round | 9 January 2027 | 32 | 64 → 32 | 44 | £121,500 | £26,500 | 20 Premier League teams 24 EFL Championship teams |
| Fourth round | 13 February 2027 | 16 | 32 → 16 | None | £127,000 | None | None |
| Fifth round | 6 March 2027 | 8 | 16 → 8 | None | £238,500 | None | None |
| Quarter-finals | 3 April 2027 | 4 | 8 → 4 | None | £477,000 | None | None |
| Semi-finals | 24 April 2027 | 2 | 4 → 2 | None | £1,060,000 | £530,000 | None |
| Final | 22 May 2027 | 1 | 2 → 1 | None | £2,120,000 | £1,060,000 | None |
Qualifying
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 begins with the extra preliminary round on 7 August 2026, with the fourth and final qualifying round kicking off on 17 October.[1]