2025–26 FA Cup qualifying rounds

2025–26 FA Cup qualifying rounds
Sporting Khalsa 2–3 Hereford, Second qualifying round replay, 23 September 2025
Tournament details
CountryEngland
Wales
Dates2 August – 14 October 2025
Teams655

The 2025–26 FA Cup qualifying rounds opened the 145th edition of the FA Cup, the world's oldest association football single knockout competition, organised by The Football Association, the governing body for the sport in England. 655 teams in the 5th to 9th tier of English football competed across six rounds for 32 spots in the 2025–26 FA Cup first round proper.

Eligibility

The qualifying rounds are the point of entry into the FA Cup for all "non-League" teams—teams below the top four tiers of English football, and therefore outside the English Football League (EFL). These teams compete in leagues below the EFL which constitute the National League System. The number of teams entered in the FA Cup overall is 747, a rise from 745 teams in 2024–25.[1]

Calendar

Round Main date[2] Leagues entering this round[1] New entries this round Winners from the previous round Number of fixtures Prize fund
Losing club Winning club
Extra preliminary round 2 August 2025 Level 9
Level 8
(32 newly promoted clubs and
95 lowest ranked clubs by points per game from 24/25)		 446 None 223 £375 £1,125
Preliminary round 16 August 2025 Level 8
(Remaining clubs)		 49 223 136 £481 £1,444
First qualifying round 30 August 2025 Level 7 88 136 112 £750 £2,250
Second qualifying round 13 September 2025 National League North
National League South		 48 112 80 £1,125 £3,375
Third qualifying round 27 September 2025 None 0 80 40 £1,875 £5,625
Fourth qualifying round 11 October 2025 National League 24 40 32 £3,125 £9,375

Extra preliminary round

The draw for the extra preliminary round was made on 4 July 2025.[3]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d (9) represents teams allocated to divisions at the 9th tier of English football (otherwise known as Step 5 of the National League System). (8) represents the 8th tier (Step 4 NLS).
  2. ^ Atherton Collieries awarded a walkover due to Farsley Celtic withdrawing from the competition.
  3. ^ The score was 2–1 to Bridlington after extra time, however a second replay was ordered after Knaresborough were mistakenly denied a final substitution in extra time.
  4. ^ Bedfont Sports were awarded a walkover after Guernsey were eliminated from the competition for fielding an unregistered player in the 1–1 draw between the sides. Therefore, the scheduled replay was cancelled.

Preliminary round

The draw for the preliminary round was made on 4 July 2025, following the draw for the extra preliminary round.[3] This round saw the remaining teams from Tier 8 enter the competition.

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d (9) represents teams allocated to divisions at the 9th tier of English football (otherwise known as Step 5 of the National League System). (8) represents the 8th tier (Step 4 NLS).
  2. ^ The match was abandoned with the score at 2–3, after a Wythenshawe player was seriously injured in second-half stoppage time.
  3. ^ The match was abandoned with the score at 2–1, after the linesman was seriously injured in the second-half.

First qualifying round

The draw for the first qualifying round was made on 18 August 2025.[4] This round saw all teams from step three enter the competition.

Upsets

Giantkiller (tier) Opponent (tier)
Upset of two leagues above
Tadley Calleva (level 9) 4–2 at home vs Weymouth (level 7)
Whitstable Town (level 9) 3–2 away vs Dulwich Hamlet (level 7)

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d (9) represents teams allocated to divisions at the 9th tier of English football (otherwise known as Step 5 of the National League System). (8) represents the 8th tier (Step 4 NLS). (7) represents the 7th tier (Step 3 NLS).
  2. ^ Congleton Town awarded a walkover due to Widnes withdrawing from the competition.

Second qualifying round

The draw for the second qualifying round was made on 1 September 2025.[5] This round saw all teams from Tier 6 enter the competition. 17 teams from Tier 9 (Ashford Town (Middlesex), Atherton Laburnum Rovers, Chadderton, Epsom & Ewell, Eynesbury Rovers, Hackney Wick, Laverstock & Ford, Mulbarton Wanderers, Newcastle Blue Star, Pickering Town, Soul Tower Hamlets, Steyning Town, Tadley Calleva, Torpoint Athletic, West Auckland Town, Whitstable Town, and Woodford Town) entered this round as the lowest ranked teams remaining in the competition.

Upsets

Giantkiller (tier) Opponent (tier)
Upset of two leagues above
Faversham Town (level 8) 1–0 away vs Maidenhead United (level 6)
Westbury United (level 8) 3–2 at home vs Oxford City (level 6)
Chadderton (level 9) 1–0 away vs FC United of Manchester (level 7)
Whitstable Town (level 9) 1–0 away vs Chichester City (level 7)
Woodford Town (level 9) 1–0 at home vs Bury Town (level 7)

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d (9) represents teams allocated to divisions at the 9th tier of English football (otherwise known as Step 5 of the National League System). (8) represents the 8th tier (Step 4 NLS). (7) represents the 7th tier (Step 3 NLS). (6) represents the 6th tier (Step 2 NLS).
  2. ^ The match was abandoned during the 67th minute due to racist abuse directed towards Ravan Constable (Sporting Khalsa). The score was 2–1 in favour of Hereford.

Third qualifying round

The draw for the third qualifying round was made on 15 September 2025.[6] Chadderton, Whitstable Town and Woodford Town from Tier 9 were the lowest ranked teams remaining in the competition.

Upsets

Giantkiller (tier) Opponent (tier)
Upset of two leagues above
Whitstable Town (level 9) 2–0 at home vs Hungerford Town (level 7)

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d (9) represents teams allocated to divisions at the 9th tier of English football (otherwise known as Step 5 of the National League System). (8) represents the 8th tier (Step 4 NLS). (7) represents the 7th tier (Step 3 NLS). (6) represents the 6th tier (Step 2 NLS).

Fourth qualifying round

The draw for the fourth qualifying round was made on 29 September 2025.[7] Whitstable Town, from Tier 9, is the lowest ranked team to progress to this round.

Upsets

Giantkiller (tier) Opponent (tier)
Upset of two leagues above
Gainsborough Trinity (level 7) 3–1 away vs Hartlepool United (level 5)

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d (9) represents teams allocated to divisions at the 9th tier of English football (otherwise known as Step 5 of the National League System). (8) represents the 8th tier (Step 4 NLS). (7) represents the 7th tier (Step 3 NLS). (6) represents the 6th tier (Step 2 NLS). (5) represents the 5th tier (Step 1 NLS).

Broadcasting

The qualifying rounds are not covered by the FA Cup's broadcasting contracts held by TNT Sports and BBC Sport for the competition proper, although one game per round will be broadcast by the BBC on its media platforms. This year, the BBC started with the first qualifying round. This meant that the preliminary round was not shown for the first time since live qualifying matches began on the BBC.

Round Tie Broadcaster
First qualifying round[8] Tadley Calleva v Weymouth BBC Sport
Second qualifying round[9] Pickering Town v Runcorn Linnets BBC Sport
Third qualifying round[10] Westbury United v Farnborough BBC Sport
Fourth qualifying round[11] Farnham Town v Sutton United BBC Sport
Worthing v Forest Green Rovers TNT Sports

References

  1. ^ a b "Clubs confirmed for the 2025-26 Emirates FA Cup, Youth Cup, Isuzu FA Trophy and Vase". www.thefa.com. 26 June 2025. Retrieved 4 July 2025.
  2. ^ "The Emirates FA Cup, FA Youth Cup and Isuzu FA Trophy and Vase round dates confirmed". www.thefa.com. 13 June 2025. Retrieved 4 July 2025.
  3. ^ a b "Early round draws released for Emirates FA Cup, Youth Cup, Isuzu FA Trophy and Vase". www.thefa.com. 4 July 2025. Retrieved 4 July 2025.
  4. ^ "The Emirates FA Cup First Round Qualifying Draw has been confirmed". www.thefa.com. 18 Aug 2025. Retrieved 18 Aug 2025.
  5. ^ "THE DRAW FOR THE EMIRATES FA CUP SECOND ROUND QUALIFYING HAS BEEN MADE". www.thefa.com. 1 September 2025. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  6. ^ "The draw for the Emirates FA Cup third round qualifying has been made". www.thefa.com. 15 September 2025. Retrieved 15 September 2025.
  7. ^ "The Emirates FA Cup fourth round qualifying draw has been made". www.thefa.com. 29 September 2025. Retrieved 29 September 2025.
  8. ^ "Emirates FA Cup tie Tadley Calleva v Weymouth chosen for live broadcast by BBC Sport". The Football Association. 22 August 2025. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
  9. ^ "Emirates FA Cup tie Pickering Town v Runcorn Linnets chosen for live broadcast by BBC Sport". The Football Association. 3 September 2025. Retrieved 4 September 2025.
  10. ^ "Emirates FA Cup tie Westbury United v Farnborough chosen for live broadcast by BBC Sport". The Football Association. 18 September 2025. Retrieved 18 September 2025.
  11. ^ "Emirates FA Cup tie Farnham Town v Sutton United chosen for live broadcast by BBC Sport, Emirates FA Cup tie Worthing v Forest Green Rovers chosen for live broadcast by TNT Sports". The Football Association. 2 October 2025. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
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