Editing FA Cup (section)

{{short description|Association football tournament}}
{{about|the English annual men's professional association football competition|English annual women's association football competition|Women's FA Cup|Non League Version|FA Trophy|other uses}}
{{Redirect|Emirates FA Cup|the pre-season invitational tournament|Emirates Cup}}

{{Use British English|date=October 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox football tournament
| logo                 = FA Cup 2020.png
| imagesize            = 170
| organiser            = [[The Football Association]]
| founded              = {{Start date and age|df=yes|1871}}
| number of teams      = 745 (2024–25)
| region               = {{ubl|England|Wales}}
| qualifier for        = [[UEFA Europa League]]<br>[[FA Community Shield]]
| current champions    = [[Crystal Palace F.C.|Crystal Palace]]<br>(1st title)
| most successful club = [[Arsenal F.C.|Arsenal]] (14 titles)
| website              = {{URL|https://www.thefa.com/competitions/thefacup|thefa.com}}
| broadcasters         = [[Sky Sports]]<br />[[BBC Sport]]
| current              = [[2025–26 FA Cup]]
}}

'''The Football Association Challenge Cup''', more commonly known as the '''FA Cup''', is an annual [[Single-elimination tournament|knockout]] [[association football|football]] competition in domestic [[Football in England|English football]]. First played during the [[1871–72 FA Cup|1871–72 season]], it is the [[list of oldest football competitions|oldest national football competition]] in the world.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-29598744|title=Oldest football cup 'not for sale'|date=14 October 2014|publisher=BBC News|access-date=4 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171105114055/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-29598744|archive-date=5 November 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> It is organised by and named after [[the Football Association]] (the FA). A concurrent [[Women's FA Cup]] has been held since 1970.

The competition is open to all eligible [[football club (association football)|clubs]] down to level 9 of the [[English football league system]], with level 10 clubs acting as stand-ins in the event of non-entries from above.<ref name=":12">{{Cite journal |last=Faulkner |first=Bryan |date=13 July 2022 |title=Rules of the FA Challenge Cup 2022–23 |url=https://www.thefa.com/-/media/thefacom-new/files/competitions/2022-23/emirates-fa-cup/rules-of-the-fa-challenge-cup-2022-23.ashx |journal=The Football Association |page= |access-date=18 August 2022 |archive-date=18 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220818051717/https://www.thefa.com/-/media/thefacom-new/files/competitions/2022-23/emirates-fa-cup/rules-of-the-fa-challenge-cup-2022-23.ashx |url-status=live }}</ref> A record 763 clubs competed in [[2011–12 FA Cup|2011–12]]. The tournament consists of 12 randomly drawn rounds followed by [[FA Cup semi-finals|the semi-finals]] and the [[FA Cup Final|final]]. Entrants are not [[seed (sports)|seeded]], although a system of [[Bye (sports)|byes]] based on league level ensures higher ranked teams enter in later rounds – the minimum number of games needed to win, depending on which round a team enters the competition, ranges from six to fourteen.

The first six rounds are the Qualifying Competition, and are contested by clubs in the [[National League System]], levels 5 to 10 of the English football system, more commonly called ''[[Non-League football|non-League]]''. 32 of these teams progress to the first round of the Competition Proper, meeting the first of the 48 professional teams from [[EFL League One|Leagues One]] and [[EFL League Two|Two]]. The last entrants are the 20 Premier League and 24 [[EFL Championship|Championship]] clubs, into the draw for the third round proper.<ref name=":12"/> In the modern era, only one non-League team has ever reached the quarter-finals, and teams below Level 2 have never reached the final.<ref group=note>Since the formation of the Football League in 1888, the only non-League club to win the FA Cup is Tottenham Hotspur in 1901. Since 1914, when Queens Park Rangers reached the fourth round proper (the last eight/quarter-final stage), the only non-League club to have reached that stage is Lincoln City in 2017. Both Tottenham and QPR achieved their feats whilst members of the Southern Football League, which ran parallel to the Football League until 1920, when the Football League expanded and absorbed the top division of the Southern League. Since then, the Southern League became part of the English league pyramid, below the Football League.</ref> As a result, significant focus is given to the smaller teams who progress furthest, especially if they achieve an unlikely "giant-killing" victory.

Winners receive the FA Cup trophy, of which there have been two designs and five actual cups; the latest is a 2014 replica of the second design, introduced in 1911. Winners also qualify for the [[UEFA Europa League]] and a place in the upcoming [[FA Community Shield]]. [[Arsenal F.C.|Arsenal]] are the most successful club with fourteen titles, most recently in [[2020 FA Cup final|2020]], and their former manager [[Arsène Wenger]] is the competition's most successful, having won seven finals with the team. [[Crystal Palace F.C.|Crystal Palace]] are the current holders, having defeated [[Manchester City F.C.|Manchester City]] 1–0 in the [[2025 FA Cup final|2025 final]].