2025–26 Women's FA Cup

2025–26 Women's FA Cup

The 2025–26 Women's FA Cup will be the 56th staging of the Women's FA Cup, a knockout cup competition for women's football teams in England. Chelsea are the defending champions, having beaten Manchester United 3–0 in the 2025 final on 18 May 2025.

Teams

2025–26 Women's FA Cup

A total of 538 teams were accepted into the 2025–26 Women's FA Cup, an increase of 24 from the previous year. A preliminary round was introduced with 190 tier 7 teams competing, and 159 tier 6 regional first division teams given an exemption until the first qualifying round. 93 tier 5 teams were given an exemption until the second round qualifying stage. The 48 teams that play in the FA Women's National League Division One (tier 4) were given exemption until third round qualifying. Teams in the Northern and Southern Premier Divisions (tier 3) entered at the first round proper, and the 12 Women's Super League 2 teams (tier 2) entered at the third round proper. The final teams to enter the competition, the 12 Women's Super League teams (tier 1), entered at the fourth round.

Round	Clubs remaining	Clubs involved	Winners from previous round	Games played	Goals scored	Prize money
Winner	Loser
Preliminary round	538	46	–	19	94	£600	£150
First round qualifying	515	326	23	154	887	£1,800	£450
Second round qualifying	352	256	163	124	654	£3,000	£750
Third round qualifying	224	176	128	88	478	£4,000	£1,000
First round	136	112	88	56	248	£6,000	£1,500
Second round	80	56	56	28	106	£8,000	£2,000
Third round	52	40	28	20	83	£35,000	£9,000
Fourth round	32	32	20	16	69	£54,000	£13,000
Fifth round	16	16	16	8		£80,000	£20,000
Quarter-final	8	8	8	4		£90,000	£22,500
Semi-final	4	4	4	2		£160,000	£40,000
Final	2	2	2	1		£430,000	£108,000

Preliminary round

2025–26 Women's FA Cup

The competition started at the preliminary round with games to be played on 24 August 2025, and made up of 46 teams from the seventh-tier county division football leagues.

First round qualifying

2025–26 Women's FA Cup

The draw for the first round qualifying took place on 20 August 2025 and included the introduction of 160 teams from the sixth-tier regional first division football leagues. 162 matches of the first round qualifying were played on 7 September 2025, with one abandoned fixture played the following week.

Second round qualifying

2025–26 Women's FA Cup

The draw for the second round qualifying took place on 8 September 2025 and included the introduction of 93 teams from the fifth-tier regional premier division football leagues. 120 matches were played on 21 September, with four rearranged fixtures played the following week.

Third round qualifying

2025–26 Women's FA Cup

The draw for the third round qualifying took place on 22 September 2025 and included the introduction of 48 teams from the fourth-tier FA Women's National League Division One. 87 matches were played on 5 October 2025, with one rearranged fixture played the following week.

First round proper

2025–26 Women's FA Cup

The draw for the first round proper took place on 6 October 2025 and included the introduction of 24 teams from the third-tier FA Women's National League Premier Division. 56 matches were played on 26 October 2025.

Second round proper

2025–26 Women's FA Cup

The draw for the second round proper took place on 27 October 2025. 25 matches were played on 21 and 23 November 2025, with three rearranged fixtures played the following week.

Third round proper

2025–26 Women's FA Cup

The draw for the third round proper took place on 24 November 2025 and included the introduction of 12 teams from the second-tier Women's Super League 2. 20 matches were played on 13 and 14 December 2025.

Fourth round

2025–26 Women's FA Cup

The draw for the fourth round took place on 15 December 2025 and included the introduction of 12 teams from the first-tier Women's Super League. It was the final round to introduce new teams. 16 matches were played between 15–18 January 2026.

Fifth round

2025–26 Women's FA Cup

The draw for the fifth round took place on 19 January 2026. Eight matches were played between 21–23 February 2026.

Quarter-finals

2025–26 Women's FA Cup

The draw for the quarter-finals took place on 23 February 2026. Four matches will be played on 5 and 6 April 2026.

Final

2025–26 Women's FA Cup

The final will be played at Wembley Stadium on 31 May 2026.

Television rights

2025–26 Women's FA Cup

<table><thead><tr><th>Round</th><th>Date</th><th>Teams</th><th>Kick-off</th><th>Channels</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Fourth round</td><td>16 January</td><td>Newcastle United v West Ham United</td><td>19:30</td><td>TNT Sports 1</td></tr><tr><td>17 January</td><td>Sunderland v London City Lionesses</td><td>12:15</td><td>TNT Sports 1</td></tr><tr><td>18 January</td><td>Arsenal v Aston Villa</td><td>14:00</td><td>Channel 4 and TNT Sports 1</td></tr><tr><td>Fifth round</td><td>21 February</td><td>Birmingham City v Chatham Town</td><td>17:15</td><td>TNT Sports 1</td></tr><tr><td>22 February</td><td>Chelsea v Manchester United</td><td>13:30</td><td>TNT Sports 1</td></tr><tr><td>Liverpool v Everton</td><td>16:30</td><td>Channel 4 and TNT Sports 1</td></tr><tr><td>23 February</td><td>London City Lionesses v Tottenham Hotspur</td><td>19:30</td><td>TNT Sports 1</td></tr><tr><td>Quarter-finals</td><td>5 April</td><td>Arsenal v Brighton & Hove Albion</td><td>13.00</td><td>TNT Sports 1 and HBO Max</td></tr><tr><td>Charlton Athletic v Liverpool</td><td>14.30</td><td>TNT Sports 2 and HBO Max</td></tr><tr><td>6 April</td><td>Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur</td><td>13.30</td><td>TNT Sports 1, HBO Max and Channel 4</td></tr><tr><td>Birmingham City v Manchester City</td><td>17.00</td><td>TNT Sports 1 and HBO Max</td></tr></tbody></table>