FA Cup Table: How the FA Cup Works, Results & Betting Guide

The FA Cup is the oldest football competition in the world. Founded in 1871, the Football Association Challenge Cup has been running continuously for over 150 years and remains one of the most loved and followed competitions in the global football calendar. Unlike a league, the FA Cup does not have a traditional points table. It is a knockout competition where every match is a final for the losing side, and a single result can send any club home, from a Premier League giant to a non-league minnow.

This guide explains how to follow the FA Cup table round by round, how the competition is structured, what happened in the 2024/25 FA Cup, and how the 2025/26 edition unfolded, including one of the great giant-killing stories in recent memory.

What Is the FA Cup Table?

When people search for the FA Cup table, they are typically looking for the current round results, the bracket of remaining clubs or the order of teams still involved in the competition. Because the FA Cup is a single elimination tournament rather than a league, there are no points, goal differences or weekly standings to track in the traditional sense.

Instead, the FA Cup table is best understood as the progression chart for each round. After every set of matches, the clubs that won advance and the clubs that lost are eliminated. The competition shrinks from hundreds of entrants at the qualifying stage to just two clubs at Wembley Stadium for the final.

FA Cup Format: How Each Round Works

The 2025/26 FA Cup, officially known as the Emirates FA Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the 145th edition of the competition. It involves 747 clubs across all levels of English football and follows a clear structure from August through to the final in May.

Qualifying rounds (August to October): Clubs from the National League system and lower professional divisions enter at this stage. The qualifying competition alone involves hundreds of clubs, giving every team in English football a pathway to the tournament proper.
Round 1 (November): League One and League Two clubs join the surviving qualifying clubs. This is where smaller professional clubs get their first taste of the main draw.
Round 2 (December): Similar in composition to Round 1, with more clubs involved and further eliminations.
Round 3 (January): The most anticipated round in the FA Cup calendar. All 20 Premier League clubs and all 24 Championship clubs enter the competition. This is the round that generates the biggest attendances, the most television coverage and the strongest possibility of giant killings, when a lower league club draws one of the elite sides.
Round 4 (January): 32 clubs remain after Round 3 results, and the competition narrows further.
Round 5 (February): 16 clubs remain. At this point, only Premier League clubs and the occasional Championship survivor are typically still in.
Quarter finals (March/April): 8 clubs remain. These ties are played at the home grounds of one of the two drawn clubs, with both legs and the match decided on the day.
Semi-finals (April): All four semi-finals are played at Wembley Stadium, giving supporters of lower-ranked clubs the chance to experience the national stadium before even reaching the final itself.
Final (May): The last two clubs meet at Wembley Stadium in one of the most iconic matchdays in English football. Attendance at the final is typically around 85,000.

2024/25 FA Cup: Crystal Palace Win Their First Major Trophy

The 2024/25 FA Cup produced one of the most emotional stories in recent cup history when Crystal Palace defeated Manchester City 1-0 in the final at Wembley Stadium on 17 May 2025, claiming the first major trophy in the south London club’s history.

Eberechi Eze scored the only goal of the match in the first half with a powerful shot from the edge of the area. Goalkeeper Dean Henderson then saved a penalty to keep City at bay as Palace held on for a famous victory in front of 84,163 supporters.

It was Palace’s third appearance in the FA Cup final, having lost to Manchester United in both 1990 and 2016. The victory ended a wait of over a century for major silverware and sent Crystal Palace supporters into scenes of celebration that their football club had never previously witnessed.

Palace went on to win the 2025 FA Community Shield in August 2025, beating Premier League champions Liverpool 3-2 on penalties after a 2-2 draw at Wembley, further extending their remarkable cup run across seasons.

2025/26 FA Cup: Manchester City Win, Macclesfield Create History

The 2025/26 FA Cup delivered one of the most memorable giant killings in the competition’s history before a ball was kicked in the quarter finals. Non-league Macclesfield FC beat Crystal Palace, the defending FA Cup champions, 2-1 in the third round in January 2026. The result produced the kind of moment that makes the FA Cup uniquely beloved: a part-time club eliminating the reigning holders at the very round the Premier League sides first entered.

Macclesfield’s run was the story of the 2025/26 competition, drawing attention from football fans well beyond England’s borders and capturing everything that makes the FA Cup a global curiosity.

The 2025/26 FA Cup Final took place on 16 May 2026 at Wembley Stadium between Manchester City and Chelsea. Manchester City won the trophy, ending a run in which they had reached the final in each of the previous four seasons but lost two of them.

Semi-final results (April 2026):

Manchester City 2-1 Southampton (25 April 2026, Wembley)
Chelsea 1-0 Leeds United (26 April 2026, Wembley)

Chelsea, under interim manager Calum McFarlane, edged past Leeds United with an Enzo Fernández goal in a tense Wembley showdown, booking a final place despite a difficult period in the club’s season.

Quarter-final results (April 2026):

Manchester City 4-0 Liverpool
Chelsea 7-0 Port Vale
Southampton 2-1 Arsenal
Leeds United beat West Ham United 4-2 on penalties after a 2-2 draw.

Arsenal’s quarter-final exit to Southampton at that stage was one of the significant FA Cup upsets of the round, ending the Gunners’ hopes of reaching a fourth final appearance in successive seasons.

The top goal scorer in the 2025/26 FA Cup was Tyrese Shade with 5 goals, and the competition recorded an average attendance of 15,106 per match across the 122 games played in the main competition.

Why the FA Cup Table Matters for Bettors

The FA Cup table, understood as the bracket of remaining clubs at each stage, is one of the most useful reference points for football bettors following the competition. Several factors make the FA Cup particularly interesting from a betting perspective.

Giant killings: The FA Cup produces genuine upsets at a higher rate than most competitions. Lower league clubs, energised by the occasion and freed from the pressure of league survival, frequently outperform their expected level in cup ties. Understanding which clubs are historically strong cup performers and which Premier League sides rotate their squads heavily in early rounds gives a genuine edge.
Match context matters: A Premier League club may field a weakened side in Round 3 if they are focused on Champions League qualification or have a heavier schedule around the fixture. Always check the team news before placing any FA Cup bet.
Goals markets in early rounds: Early rounds between League One and League Two clubs tend to produce open, high-scoring games. Goals markets and both teams to score can be productive in Round 1 and Round 2 fixtures, where defensive organisation is often less established than in top-flight football.
The semi-finals at Wembley: The FA Cup semi-finals are among the most neutral big game environments in English football. Both clubs play at the same ground, removing home advantage entirely. Match result markets in the semis tend to reflect fairly balanced pricing for closely matched opponents.
Live betting during FA Cup ties: The drama that defines FA Cup football, late goals, giant killings, penalty shootouts, makes live betting particularly relevant. Reacting to a red card or an early goal in a tie between a Premier League side and a lower league opponent can reveal significant value in the live market.

The FA Cup Remains Football’s Great Storyline

The FA Cup table is not a standings table in the traditional sense; it is the living record of which clubs remain in the world’s oldest football competition after each round. From the qualifying rounds in August to the Wembley final in May, the FA Cup tells a story that runs across an entire football season, capable of ending in triumph for a non-league club that no one expected to survive Round 1.

The 2025/26 edition gave football exactly what it always promises: Manchester City lifting the trophy at Wembley, Chelsea reaching the final from a difficult position, and, most memorably, Macclesfield FC eliminating Crystal Palace and briefly writing themselves into FA Cup folklore.

At 96.com, you can bet on every round of the FA Cup, from the third round onwards through to the final. Always set a budget, understand the context of each fixture and treat football betting as entertainment.

FAQs About the FA Cup Table

What is the FA Cup table?

The FA Cup does not have a traditional league table. The FA Cup table refers to the bracket or progression chart showing which clubs remain in the competition after each round. It is a knockout tournament where the losing club exits and the winning club advances.

Who won the 2025 FA Cup?

Crystal Palace won the 2024/25 FA Cup, beating Manchester City 1-0 at Wembley Stadium on 17 May 2025. It was the first major trophy in Crystal Palace’s history, with Eberechi Eze scoring the only goal.

Who won the 2025/26 FA Cup?

Manchester City won the 2025/26 FA Cup, defeating Chelsea in the final at Wembley Stadium on 16 May 2026. Manchester City reached the final after beating Southampton 2-1 in their semi-final.

When do Premier League clubs enter the FA Cup?

Premier League and Championship clubs enter the FA Cup at the third round, which is typically played in January. This is the most-watched round of the competition and the stage at which giant killings most often occur.

What is the biggest FA Cup giant-killing of 2025/26?

Non-league Macclesfield FC beat defending champions Crystal Palace 2-1 in the third round of the 2025/26 FA Cup. It was one of the most dramatic early-round results in recent years.

Can I bet on the FA Cup at 96.com?

Yes. At 96.com, you can bet on FA Cup fixtures from the third round onwards, including match result, goals markets, goalscorer and live in-play betting, as well as outright winner markets available throughout the competition.