==Rule changes==
==Rule changes==
This is the second consecutive (and third overall) edition of the tournament to be played without replays in the proper rounds, following a six-year agreement beginning in 2024–25 between the FA and the [[Premier League]].<ref>{{cite news |date=18 April 2024 |title=FA Cup replays and Premier League winter break scrapped from next season |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2024/apr/18/fa-cup-replays-and-premier-league-winter-break-scrapped-from-next-season |publisher=The Guardian |access-date=18 April 2024}}</ref>
This is the second consecutive (and third overall) edition of the tournament to be played without replays in the proper rounds, following a six-year agreement beginning in 2024–25 between the FA and the [[Premier League]].<ref>{{cite news |date=18 April 2024 |title=FA Cup replays and Premier League winter break scrapped from next season |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2024/apr/18/fa-cup-replays-and-premier-league-winter-break-scrapped-from-next-season |publisher=The Guardian |access-date=18 April 2024}}</ref>
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{{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}
Football tournament season
| Football Association Challenge Cup | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Country | England Wales |
| Dates | 1 November 2025 – 16 May 2026[2] |
| Teams | 747[1] 655 (qualifying competition) 124 (main competition incl. 32 qualifiers) |
| Defending champions | Crystal Palace |
| (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 1 November 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.
Crystal Palace are the defending champions.
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 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.
Rule changes
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.[3]
Qualifying
Teams that are not members of either the Premier League or English Football League will 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.
Television rights
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.[4][5]
| 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. [4] |
| 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.[5] |
