Nigeria Federation Cup
Nigerian football competition
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The Nigeria Federation Cup is the main football single-elimination tournament in Nigeria contested by 74 teams, representing the 36 states and the FCT of Nigeria. It is the Nigerian domestic cup and the Nigerian equivalent of the FA Cup, Emperor's Cup, Copa do Brasil, Coupe de France, and Hrvatski nogometni kup, among others. The tournament was created in 1945 as the "Governor's Cup",[1] succeeding the War Memorial Challenge Cup that had been limited to teams from Lagos.
CAF Confederation Cup
| Founded | 1942 |
|---|---|
| Teams | 74 |
| Qualifier for | Nigeria Super Cup CAF Confederation Cup |
| Current champions | Kwara United (1st title) |
| Most championships | Shooting Stars FC (8 titles) |
 2025 Nigeria Federation Cup | |
The tournament, as the Governor's Cup, was initially dominated by Lagosian teams, later it was known as the Nigeria FA Cup from (1954–1959), Nigeria Challenge Cup (1960–1998), Coca-Cola FA Cup (1999–2008) and Nigeria Federation Cup (2009–2016). Between 2017 and 2022, the competition was sponsored by the AITEO group and known as the AITEO Cup including the women's tournament.[2]
On 8 August 2021, Bayelsa became the first state to have two clubs win the FA cup in the men's and women's editions in the same year.[3] Shooting Stars are the most successful club, having won the competition eight times, followed by the defunct Lagos Railways with 7 titles and Enugu Rangers with six titles.
Kwara United are the current champions, with the 2025 tournament victory giving them their maiden Nigeria FA Cup title.
Format
The competition is a single elimination knockout tournament featuring 74 teams from the 36 states and 1 from the FCT in Nigeria. All clubs qualify via their states cup championships, the winners and runners-up of each state cup championship qualifies for the tournament regardless of their position at the Nigerian football league system. A 'Rookie' play-off will be held for the 20 lowest ranked clubs, the 10 winners then joins the remaining 54 at the first round. All matches are held at neutral venues.
The winner qualifies automatically for the next season's CAF Confederation Cup or the runners-up if the winner had already qualified for a CAF club competition based on league's position.
Finals
- The 2020 edition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Total (not including War Memorial Cup)
| Club | Titles |
|---|---|
| Shooting Stars (Ibadan) [includes Ibadan Lions and WNDC] | 8 |
| Lagos Railways (Lagos) | 7 |
| Enugu Rangers (Enugu) | 6 |
| Bendel Insurance (Benin City) | 4 |
| BCC Lions (Gboko) | 4 |
| Dolphins FC (Port-Harcourt) [formerly known as Eagle Cement] | 4 |
| Stationery Stores (Lagos) | 4 |
| Enyimba (Aba) | 4 |
| El-Kanemi Warriors (Maiduguri) | 3 |
| Iwuanyanwu Nationale/Heartland (Owerri) | 3 |
| Lagos ECN (Lagos) (later renamed NEPA) | 3 |
| Port Harcourt FC (Port Harcourt) | 3 |
| Kano Pillars (Kano) | 2 |
| Abiola Babes (Abeokuta) | 2 |
| Akwa United (Uyo) | 2 |
| Julius Berger (Lagos) | 2 |
| Leventis United (Ibadan) | 2 |
| Marine (Lagos) | 2 |
| St Patrick's College (Calabar) | 1 |
| Ifeanyi Ubah (Nnewi) | 1 |
| Kaduna United (Kaduna) | 1 |
| Lagos PAN Bank (Lagos) | 1 |
| Lagos UAC (Lagos) | 1 |
| Lobi Stars (Makurdi) | 1 |
| Niger Tornadoes (Minna) | 1 |
| Ocean Boys (Brass) | 1 |
| Plateau United (Jos) | 1 |
| Police (Lagos) | 1 |
| Wikki Tourists (Bauchi) | 1 |
| Bayelsa United (Yenagoa) | 1 |
| Kwara United (Ilorin) | 1 |