2026 FA Cup Final: Manchester City 1-0 Chelsea

The footage

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2026

The match report

Chelsea arrived at Wembley on 16 May 2026 having endured one of the most turbulent seasons in the club's recent history. Enzo Maresca had departed in January, the interim Calum McFarlane briefly steadied things, then the permanent appointment Liam Rosenior was sacked in April with the season still unresolved, handing McFarlane the reins again for the run-in. It was under his interim charge that Chelsea beat Leeds United in the semi-final to reach their first FA Cup final in four years. Manchester City, by contrast, arrived with the serene assurance of a club chasing history: victory would make them the first team ever to reach four consecutive FA Cup finals, and they had already beaten Arsenal in March's League Cup final.[1][7]

The final itself was tense and cagey rather than a procession. Pep Guardiola set his side up in a 4-3-3 with Rodri restored after injury alongside the captain Bernardo Silva, and a front three of Antoine Semenyo, Erling Haaland and Jeremy Doku. Chelsea defended with real discipline through Levi Colwill, Wesley Fofana and Jorrel Hato, and looked to spring forward through Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro. City had the greater share of possession and territory without carving out a flood of clear openings, while Chelsea, on the front foot at times, had penalty appeals of their own waved away as the game wore on.[1][6]

The moment that decided it arrived in the 72nd minute, and it was a finish worth winning a cup with. Haaland, played into space down the right, cut the ball back low into the area. Semenyo let it run through his legs in one movement, wrong-footing the defence, then diverted it with an audacious backheel flick beyond a diving Robert Sanchez and into the corner of the net. Guardiola later joked that the roles were usually reversed, with Semenyo crossing for Haaland to finish. On this occasion the forward provided City's moment of individual magic in the biggest match of the season, and was named man of the match for it.[1][2][3]

Chelsea pushed for an equaliser in the closing stages, sending on Pedro Neto, then Liam Delap, and finally Alejandro Garnacho as McFarlane threw fresh legs forward. The Blues had genuine cause for grievance. A physical collision between Jorrel Hato and Abdukodir Khusanov went unpunished, and Joao Pedro twice went down in the box only for his appeals to be waved away by Darren England, who was taking charge of his first FA Cup final. City made the more measured changes, Rayan Cherki replacing Omar Marmoush at half time and Mateo Kovacic coming on for Rodri, and saw out the closing stages comfortably enough.[1][2]

For Manchester City the win completed a domestic cup double and delivered the club's eighth FA Cup, the third of Guardiola's tenure. It was also his 20th trophy at the club, and he summed up his record in finals succinctly afterwards: five finals in ten years, three won, two lost, quite decent, he would say. The victory kept a treble faintly alive for a little longer, though the league title would ultimately elude them. Arsenal were crowned champions in the closing weeks of the season, their first in 22 years, which meant the cup double was as far as City's silverware went.[1][18]

For Chelsea, defeat was a bitter way to close a season defined by upheaval in the dugout. Reaching a final under an interim manager who had been an under-21s coach only months earlier was itself a notable achievement, but the manner of the loss left McFarlane publicly frustrated. He told reporters that it was a penalty, and that if the contact had happened anywhere else on the pitch it would have been a foul. Pundits took the opposing view that it was fair, shoulder to shoulder, with both players playing the ball. The result did nothing to resolve the uncertainty hanging over Chelsea's permanent appointment for the following season.[16][7]

The final was the showpiece of a competition that had already thrown up remarkable stories elsewhere in the draw. In the third round, sixth-tier Macclesfield produced arguably the greatest shock in the competition's history by beating the holders Crystal Palace at Moss Rose, a gap of 117 league places. On the very same weekend, at the opposite end of the pyramid, City were putting ten goals past Exeter City, the first time an English top-flight club had scored double figures in a match since 1986 and the first time it had happened in the FA Cup since 1960.[12][10]

There was history in the officiating too. Darren England took charge of his first final having been fourth official in 2025 and an assistant in 2015, while his fellow assistant Akil Howson became the first Black official appointed to an FA Cup final. With 83337 inside Wembley on a sunny May afternoon, the occasion had all the trappings of a marquee domestic final, even if the only goal separating two well matched sides came from a moment of improvisation rather than sustained dominance.[4][5]

Match facts

Date

Saturday 16 May 2026

Venue

Wembley Stadium, London

Attendance

83,337Consistent across Wikipedia, Sky Sports and the FA's own match stats.[1][6][5]

Referee

Darren England[1][4]

Scorers

Antoine Semenyo 72'[1][2]

Competition

2025-26 FA Cup

Where they played

Both sides as they lined up. Choose any player to read what they did in this final.

Select a shirt for that player's note.

Route to the final

Line-ups

Trivia and detail

• Manchester City became the first club to reach four consecutive FA Cup finals.[1]
• The win was Manchester City's eighth FA Cup and Pep Guardiola's third as manager, taking his trophy haul at the club to 20.[1][18]
• It completed a domestic cup double. City had already beaten Arsenal in the League Cup final in March, with Nico O'Reilly scoring both goals.[9]
• In the third round, Manchester City beat Exeter City 10-1, the first time an English top-flight side had scored ten or more in a match since 1986 and the first time in the FA Cup since 1960. Antoine Semenyo scored on his City debut in that game.[10][11]
• Also in the third round, sixth-tier Macclesfield beat the holders Crystal Palace at Moss Rose, a gap of 117 league places and among the biggest shocks in FA Cup history.[12][13]
• Chelsea reached the final under interim manager Calum McFarlane, who had taken caretaker charge twice that season and had been an under-21s coach months earlier.[7][8]
• Darren England refereed his first FA Cup final, having been fourth official in 2025 and an assistant in 2015. Assistant referee Akil Howson became the first Black official appointed to an FA Cup final.[4]
• Manchester City's semi-final win over Southampton was secured by a Nico Gonzalez strike from around 30 yards in the 87th minute, after Southampton had led through a 79th-minute Finn Azaz goal.[14][15]
• The main post-match talking point was a waved-away penalty appeal for a collision between Jorrel Hato and Abdukodir Khusanov, plus two further Joao Pedro appeals.[16]
• Arsenal were confirmed as champions in the closing weeks of the season, their first league title in 22 years, ending City's treble hopes.[17]

How well do you know the 2026 final?

Five questions. Every answer is sourced from the material on this page.

1. Who scored the only goal of the 2026 FA Cup final?

   Antoine SemenyoBernardo SilvaReece JamesNico O'Reilly
   Answer

   Antoine Semenyo. The goal came in the second half and settled a tight final.[1][2]

2. What record did Manchester City set by reaching this final?

   First club to reach four consecutive FA Cup finalsFirst club to win five FA Cups in a rowFirst club to reach a final unbeatenFirst club to field an all-academy XI in a final
   Answer

   First club to reach four consecutive FA Cup finals. No club had previously reached four FA Cup finals in consecutive seasons.[1]

3. Who was in charge of Chelsea for the final?

   Calum McFarlane, as interim managerEnzo MarescaMauricio PochettinoGraham Potter
   Answer

   Calum McFarlane, as interim manager. McFarlane had taken caretaker charge twice that season before leading the side out at Wembley.[7]

4. Which sixth-tier club knocked out the holders in the third round?

   MacclesfieldMaidstone UnitedMarineChorley
   Answer

   Macclesfield. They beat Crystal Palace at Moss Rose, across a gap of 117 league places.[12]

5. What was the score when Manchester City met Exeter City in the third round?

   10-16-04-28-1
   Answer

   10-1. The first time an English top-flight side had scored ten or more in the competition for decades.[11]

What is not settled

Honesty matters more than tidiness. These details are contested or unrecorded, and we have not guessed at them:

• One Sky Sports line-up fetch returned a 4-2-3-1 shape for Chelsea and listed a player not associated with the club in any other source. That fetch appears to be a data error and has been disregarded rather than silently merged, but it is recorded here.
• The build-up to Semenyo's goal is described slightly differently across sources. Wikipedia and ESPN describe a direct cutback from Haaland, while NBC Sports adds that Bernardo Silva advanced the ball to Haaland first. The accounts are compatible but not identical.
• Some compact line-up listings read more like a 4-2-3-1 for Manchester City. The 4-3-3 recorded here is the majority-sourced shape.

How we know

Every claim on this page is tied to a numbered source below. These are the contemporary records behind it, each one fetched and matched word for word before publication rather than taken on trust:

• The FA, 29 April 2026, match officials appointed · The FA

Where a primary record and a modern account disagree, we show both rather than choosing the tidier number.

Sources

1. 2026 FA Cup final · Wikipedia
2. Chelsea 0-1 Man City, game analysis · ESPN
3. Brilliant Semenyo flick sees off Chelsea to win City an eighth FA Cup · Manchester City FC
4. Darren England to referee the 2026 FA Cup Final · The FA
5. Match stats ahead of the FA Cup Final · The FA
6. Starting line-ups, Chelsea v Man City · Sky Sports
7. Who is Calum McFarlane? · Yahoo Sports
8. Calum McFarlane · Wikipedia
9. 2026 EFL Cup final · Wikipedia
10. Antoine Semenyo stars as Manchester City equal record FA Cup win · The FA
11. Man City v Exeter · ESPN
12. Macclesfield 2-1 Crystal Palace (2026) · Wikipedia
13. Superb Macclesfield knock out Crystal Palace in all-time FA Cup upset · The FA
14. Manchester City 2-1 Southampton · FotMob
15. Man City 2-1 Southampton report · Sky Sports
16. Calum McFarlane makes Chelsea penalty claim after final defeat · Yahoo Sports
17. Arsenal crowned 2025/26 Premier League champions · Arsenal FC
18. A look at Pep Guardiola's trophy haul in his decade at Man City · The Washington Post

Elsewhere in the encyclopedia

Other finals involving these clubs

• 2009 Chelsea: Chelsea 2-1 Everton
• 2010 Chelsea: Chelsea 1-0 Portsmouth
• 2011 Manchester City: Manchester City 1-0 Stoke City
• 2012 Chelsea: Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool
• 2013 Manchester City: Wigan Athletic 1-0 Manchester City
• 2017 Chelsea: Arsenal 2-1 Chelsea

Other finals at Wembley Stadium

• 2008 Cardiff City 1-0 Portsmouth
• 2009 Chelsea 2-1 Everton
• 2010 Chelsea 1-0 Portsmouth
• 2011 Manchester City 1-0 Stoke City
• 2012 Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool
• 2013 Wigan Athletic 1-0 Manchester City

Elsewhere on WhatChan