Cup final details, where to watch & more

The 2024/25 FA Cup final is almost upon us, with an all-Premier League clash between Crystal Palace and Manchester City deciding the latest winner of the famous trophy.

Crystal Palace booked their place in the final after a comprehensive Wembley win over Aston Villa, with goals from Eberechi Eze and Ismaila Sarr sealing a first final for the Eagles since 2016.

Opponents Manchester City are aiming for a third FA Cup in seven seasons, and are heading back to Wembley after a 2-0 semi-final win over Nottingham Forest.

The 2024/25 tournament has not seen as many giantkillings as in previous years, though Plymouth Argyle produced a classic FA Cup upset with their defeat of eventual Premier League champions Liverpool.

Meanwhile, holders Manchester United were dumped out on penalties at home to Fulham in the fifth round.

Last year saw former United boss Erik ten Hag get revenge for his side’s defeat to City in the 2023 final. While the final featured two of the elite top-flight sides, there were a few cup runs from those in the lower tiers.

Maidstone United reached the fifth round, suffering a 5-0 defeat to Coventry City, who came so close to reaching the final. Against Man Utd, the Sky Blues thought they had won the tie in extra time, but eventually lost on penalties.

The first FA Cup final was played in 1872 and won by Wanderers Football Club – the first of five victories. As of 2025, Arsenal hold the record for most trophies won with 14, with their last coming in 2020.

In total, there have been 143 FA Cup finals staged, with 44 teams winning the competition at least once in their history.

FA Cup format and changes

The FA Cup is a simple knockout tournament, with the winners of each tie advancing to the next round. Non-league clubs take part in qualifying, with teams from League One and League Two entering in the first round proper. Premier League and Championship clubs join at the third-round stage.

A major change to the format has seen replays scrapped from the first round onwards. Previously, drawn matches would see the fixture replayed at the visitors’ home ground, but citing player welfare, the FA decided to remove replays to ease fixture congestion.

The move sparked anger from the EFL and prompted backlash from the likes of Keir Starmer.

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FA Cup final preview

With Crystal Palace and Manchester City winning their semi-finals, both clubs will be back on the road to Wembley three weeks after victories over Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest respectively. Kick-off is at 4.30pm.

It will be Palace’s first FA Cup final since 2016, when they lost to Manchester United after extra time, as Jesse Lingard’s winner secured the trophy for the Red Devils in what was Louis van Gaal’s final match in charge.

Both of the Eagles’ previous cup finals have been against United – the other coming in 1990, which was won after a replay following an enthralling 3-3 draw at Wembley Stadium.

Now, United’s neighbours stand in the way of a first major trophy for Oliver Glasner’s side.

As for seven-time winners Manchester City, they are far more experienced in this situation, with Pep Guardiola guiding his side to a third successive final, having taken part in back-to-back Manchester derbies in 2023 and 2024.

Despite their glut of trophies under the Spaniard’s reign, the FA Cup has only been won by the Citizens twice since Guardiola’s arrival (in 2019 and 2023), with their 2011 win the only other City triumph this century.

After an underwhelming campaign by their high standards, City have the chance to end it on a high and avoid going trophyless for the first time since the 2016/17 season – Guardiola’s first at the helm.

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2024/25 FA Cup results

The FA Cup’s first round proper kicked off with fifth-tier Tamworth defeating League One Huddersfield Town, while the weekend saw its fair share of surprise results and almighty scares.

However, there was to be no ‘fairytale’ run for Wrexham as they were undone by Harrogate Town. AFC Wimbledon’s win in a grudge match against MK Dons was another highlight of the round.

Tamworth continued their story in the second round after knocking out Burton Albion on penalties, while Reading were taken to extra time by Harborough Town. Elsewhere, League One leaders Wycombe avoided an upset with a win at non-league Wealdstone.

The Lambs’ superb run to the third round came to a valiant end at home to Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur, with the National League outfit taking Ange Postecoglou’s men to extra time.

The shock of the third round was undoubtedly Brentford’s undoing at home to Championship strugglers Plymouth Argyle, while holders Manchester United saw off Arsenal in a fierce affair at the Emirates Stadium following a penalty shootout.

The Pilgrims were at it again in the fourth round, while Brighton claimed a high-profile scalp themselves by coming from behind to see off Chelsea.

Elsewhere, Manchester City were given an almighty scare by League One’s Leyton Orient, falling behind to one of the goals and moments of the season before battling back to squeeze into Round Five.

The round of 16 kicked off with Aston Villa boosting their chances of a first major trophy since 1996, as they beat Cardiff 2-0 at Villa Park. This left Preston as the only second-tier representatives after they beat Championship rivals Burnley.

That weekend also saw Bournemouth’s dramatic shootout win over Wolves, with Boubacar Traore missing the all-important spot-kick before Luis Sinisterra sealed the Cherries’ place in the last eight.

Crystal Palace joined them courtesy of their 3-1 win over Millwall, which was overshadowed by Jean-Philippe Mateta’s sickening injury, which put the Frenchman in hospital, where he required stitches.

Plymouth were on their way to another big upset, but only led for seven minutes at Manchester City before the Premier League champions eventually came back to win.

Another dramatic afternoon followed as Brighton saw off Newcastle in extra-time thanks to Danny Welbeck’s winner in a game which saw both sides reduced to 10, while Fulham prevailed on penalties at Old Trafford, with Bernd Leno saving from Joshua Zirkzee and Victor Lindelof.

The quarter-finals saw all the away sides prevail, with Bournemouth the only losing side to get on the scoresheet before bowing out.

Crystal Palace and Aston Villa secured comfortable victories on the road, while Nottingham Forest and Manchester City needed to rely on penalties and super subs respectively to overcome their last-eight opponents.

In the semi-finals at Wembley, Palace steamrolled Villa to comfortably win 3-0, with the West Midlanders exiting the cup and the Champions League in the space of two weeks.

Manchester City finally dispatched Nottingham Forest in the other semi, with the Reds’ superb run amid an exceptional domestic campaign coming to an end after successive shootout victories.

First round

Second round

Third round

Fourth round

Fifth round

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

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Round dates

This year’s final takes place on Saturday, 17th May 2025, on the penultimate weekend of the Premier League season. Top-flight league fixtures have been rescheduled to make the final the standalone fixture on cup final day.

FA Cup prize money

The FA will give out over £22m in prize money over the course of the 2024/25 season. Any non-league clubs who make it through from the first round of qualifying to the first round proper could pocket around £23,000, while if a Premier League or Championship club was to go all the way, they’d be better off to the tune of £5.41m.

How to watch the FA Cup final on TV

In the UK, broadcasting rights for the FA Cup are shared between the BBC and ITV. Throughout the season, the BBC have shown 18 live matches, while ITV committed to broadcasting 20 games from the competition.

In the US, FA Cup games are broadcast live on ESPN, with ESPN+ streaming a selection of fixtures across the duration of the tournament.

Recent years have seen BBC and ITV share coverage of the final, while a new broadcasting deal is set to take effect next year, which will see BBC and TNT Sports share coverage of the competition.

This year’s final will indeed be shown on both channels, with ITV’s coverage starting at 3pm; BBC One’s broadcast will begin at 3.25pm. The match itself kicks off at 4.30pm.