📅 2025–26 FA Cup: Season Review

The 2025–26 FA Cup has already delivered one of the most extraordinary storylines in the competition’s history — and the best is still to come, with the quarter-finals just days away. From a sixth-tier club eliminating the reigning champions to a League One side reaching the last eight for the first time in 72 years, this season has reminded the footballing world why the FA Cup is unlike anything else.

Third Round — 9–12 January 2026

The 2025–26 third round will be remembered for a very long time. Macclesfield FC, playing in the National League North — the sixth tier of English football — eliminated Crystal Palace, the reigning FA Cup holders, with a stunning 2–1 win at Moss Rose on 10 January 2026. Paul Dawson headed Macclesfield in front on 38 minutes before Isaac Buckley-Ricketts doubled the lead on 60 minutes. Yeremy Pino pulled one back in the 90th minute but it was too late. The 117-place gap between the clubs is the largest ever recorded in a competitive FA Cup upset. Macclesfield are managed by John Rooney — younger brother of Wayne — making the moment all the richer.

They were not alone in causing chaos. Wrexham, newly promoted to the Championship under Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, beat Premier League side Nottingham Forest 3–3 before winning 4–3 on penalties — their first win over top-flight opposition in 26 years. Mansfield Town (League One) beat Sheffield United 4–3 away at Bramall Lane. Meanwhile, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur both crashed out at the first hurdle, with United falling to Brighton and Villa eliminating Spurs.

Fourth Round — 13–16 February 2026

Pedro Neto was the star of the round, scoring a hat-trick as Chelsea thrashed Hull City 4–0, with Estevão Willian adding a fourth — Neto’s first senior hat-trick. Macclesfield’s extraordinary run came to an end when a Sam Heathcote own goal gave Brentford a narrow 1–0 win at Moss Rose, but the sixth-tier side had already written themselves into FA Cup history. Wrexham’s fairytale continued with a 1–0 win over Ipswich Town.

Fifth Round — 6–9 March 2026

The fifth round produced more drama. Wrexham’s remarkable cup run ended when Chelsea won a six-goal thriller 4–2 after extra time, with goals from Josh Acheampong, an Arthur Okonkwo own goal, and late extra-time strikes from Alejandro Garnacho and Joao Pedro. Manchester City edged past Newcastle 3–1 with Omar Marmoush scoring twice. Port Vale — bottom of League One — produced the round’s giant-killing, beating Premier League Sunderland 1–0 through Ben Waine’s 28th-minute header to reach their first FA Cup quarter-final since 1954. Southampton, a Championship side, saw off Premier League Fulham with a last-gasp penalty from Ross Stewart to complete a remarkable run to the last eight.

Quarter-Finals — 4–5 April 2026

The last eight represents a fascinating mix of Premier League heavyweights and lower-league dreamers. Port Vale, from the bottom of League One, face Premier League Chelsea — one of the great David vs Goliath ties in recent FA Cup history. Southampton, a Championship club, face Arsenal. The standout fixture sees Manchester City take on Liverpool in what promises to be a classic.

FA Cup Final: Saturday, 16 May 2026 · Wembley Stadium · 4:30pm BST · BBC One (free to air)

⚽ What Is the FA Cup?

The FA Cup — officially the Football Association Challenge Cup — is the oldest football competition in the world. First held in the 1871–72 season, it predates the Football League by 17 years and remains, over 150 years later, the most romantic cup competition on the planet.

Organised by the Football Association, the competition is open to every eligible club in England’s football pyramid — from Premier League giants to part-time sides playing in front of a few hundred supporters. In the 2024–25 season, a staggering 745 clubs entered, all dreaming of a day at Wembley in May.

What makes the FA Cup truly special is its knockout format and the possibility of a “giant-killing” — a lower-league side defeating a much bigger club. These upsets are part of the competition’s DNA, and each January when Premier League clubs enter at the third round, the nation holds its breath waiting for the shock results.

The competition is also a vital lifeline for lower-league clubs financially. In the 2025–26 season, a club winning their way to the third round proper earns £121,500 from the prize fund — transformative for a part-time side. The winners’ prize is £2,120,000, with even the runner-up taking home £1,060,000. For a non-league club, simply reaching the first round proper earns £47,750.

📺 How to Watch the FA Cup on TV

In the 2025–26 season, FA Cup broadcasting rights in the UK are split between TNT Sports / Discovery+ and the BBC. This season marks a significant change: ITV has lost its FA Cup rights entirely, while BBC coverage has been reduced to 14 live games across the whole competition.

📋 Round-by-Round Guide

The FA Cup begins with amateur and semi-professional clubs in the summer qualifying rounds, before the main competition — the rounds proper — begins in autumn. Premier League and Championship sides enter at the third round in January, which is when national attention truly focuses on the cup.

🥇 Most Successful Teams

Arsenal are the most decorated club in FA Cup history with 14 wins — seven of them masterminded by Arsène Wenger. Crystal Palace became the 45th different club to lift the trophy when they won for the first time in 2025.

⚽ All-Time Top Scorers

The FA Cup has produced some extraordinary goalscorers across its 150-year history. The all-time record belongs to Harry Cursham of Notts County, who scored an astonishing 49 goals in just 44 appearances during the Victorian era — a record that will almost certainly never be broken. In the modern era, Ian Rush is the benchmark with 44 goals for Liverpool and Newcastle United.

* Denis Law’s total is sometimes cited as 41 in sources referencing the record he held before Ian Rush; the 43-goal figure reflects his complete career total across all clubs. Six more goals from an abandoned 1961 match were wiped from the records.

📖 History of the FA Cup

The FA Cup was born from a meeting of The Football Association at the Freemasons’ Tavern in London in 1871. FA secretary Charles Alcock proposed the competition, inspired by a house football tournament he had participated in at Harrow School. The first final was played at the Kennington Oval in March 1872, with Wanderers FC defeating Royal Engineers 1–0.

The early decades were dominated by wealthy amateur clubs from the south — Old Etonians, Oxford University, Royal Engineers. The shift to professionalism changed everything. By the 1890s, clubs from the industrial north and Midlands — Blackburn Rovers, Aston Villa, Preston North End — had come to dominate, reflecting the commercial growth of the game.

The famous White Horse Final of 1923 — Bolton Wanderers vs West Ham United at the newly opened Wembley Stadium — saw an estimated 200,000 fans pack the ground, with Police Constable George Scorey and his white horse Billy helping to clear the pitch. Wembley became the permanent home of the final from that point, hosting almost every final since.

The post-war era brought some of the most memorable finals in history: Blackpool’s 4–3 defeat of Bolton in 1953 (the “Matthews Final”), Arsenal’s 3–2 comeback win over Manchester United in 1979, and the remarkable Wimbledon upset over Liverpool in 1988. The competition has always found a way to produce the unexpected.

In recent decades, the FA Cup has faced questions about its prestige as top clubs prioritise European competition. Yet it continues to deliver iconic moments — Wigan Athletic beating Manchester City in 2013, Crystal Palace’s maiden triumph in 2025, and the extraordinary 2025–26 upset where sixth-tier Macclesfield knocked out holders Crystal Palace — the first non-league side to eliminate a reigning champion in over 117 years.

💥 Famous Giant-Killings

No other competition on earth produces upsets quite like the FA Cup. The possibility of a non-league team eliminating a Premier League giant is what makes the third round one of the most anticipated weekends in the English football calendar.

⭐ Iconic FA Cup Moments

📜 Full List of FA Cup Winners

A complete record of every FA Cup winner from 1872 to the present day. The competition was not held during the First World War (1915–1919) or the Second World War (1940–1945).

❓ Frequently Asked Questions