The FA Cup is one of the most famous domestic cup competitions in the world and its allure still grabs fans in the modern age.
The 2022/23 season has already seen some incredible giant-killings from minnows dreaming of glory, though many top flight sides remain intent on making the later rounds of the competition.
Liverpool are the defending champions, having beaten Chelsea on penalties in the final last year, and they are one such side eyeing up a spot at Wembley.
The 2022/23 FA Cup started on the same day as the season’s first slate of Premier League fixtures back in August. Qualifying rounds took place before the first round proper began – that stage saw League One and League Two teams join the fray.
The third round sees Premier League and Championship outfits enter the competition. They need to progress past the third, fourth and fifth rounds and the quarter and semi finals to reach the final at Wembley.
|
Round |
Date |
|---|---|
|
Extra preliminary round |
August 6 2022 |
|
Preliminary round |
August 20 2022 |
|
First round qualifying |
September 3 2022 |
|
Second round qualifying |
September 17 2022 |
|
Third round qualifying |
October 1 2022 |
|
Fourth round qualifying |
October 15 2022 |
|
First round proper |
November 5 2022 |
|
Second round |
Nov. 26, 2022 |
|
Third round |
January 7 2023 |
|
Fourth Round |
January 28 2023 |
|
Fifth Round |
March 1 2023 |
|
Quarter finals |
March 18 2023 |
|
Semi finals |
April 22 2023 |
|
Final |
June 3 2023 |
The FA Cup final for the 2022/23 season will take place on June 3 2023 and be held at Wembley, the competition’s natural home. The stadium also hosts the two semi finals.
The final has often kicked off at 15:00 BST, though in recent years that time has been altered for the game to take place later in the afternoon – in 2022, the first half began at 16:45.
Does the FA Cup final clash with Premier League games?
The day of the FA Cup final has previously seen Premier League games take place earlier in the day, though this is no longer the case. The FA decided to schedule the final after the final round of league games from 2014.
The final will adhere to that ruling this year, with the Premier League’s final round of games taking place on 28 May.
The finals of European competitions also take place around that time. The Europa League final is on 31 Mau, the Europa Conference League finishes on 7 June and the Champions League concludes on 10 June. The likes of Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester United remain in both the FA Cup and differing European tournaments.
The headline tie for the fourth round is Manchester City’s meeting with Arsenal on Friday night. The two sides are duking it out for the Premier League title, with the Gunners in excellent shape to finish first in England’s top flight for the first time since 2003/04.
Premier League and Championship sides joined the competition at the third round stage.
Manchester City dumped Chelsea out with a 4-0 thrashing, while fifth-tier Wrexham stunned the nation by beating Coventry – who sit three division higher – to reach the fourth round.
The second round of the 2022/23 FA Cup took places across the weekend of 26 and 27 November.
The 32 winners from the fourth qualifying round joined the 48 League One and League Two teams for the first round at the start of November. Seventh tier Alvechurch provided the shock of the round by eliminating Cheltenham.
