2026–27 FA Cup qualifying rounds

2026–27 FA Cup qualifying rounds
Dudley Town 0–2 Droitwich Spa, Extra preliminary round, 7 August 2026
Tournament details
CountryEngland
Guernsey
Jersey
Wales
Dates7 August – 17 October 2026
Teams651

The 2026–27 FA Cup qualifying rounds open the 146th 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. 651 teams in the 5th to 9th tier of English football will compete across six rounds for 32 spots in the 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 743, a drop from 747 teams in 2025–26.[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 round8 August 2026Level 9
Level 8
(32 newly promoted clubs and
91 lowest ranked clubs by points per game from 25/26)		438None219£375£1,125
Preliminary round22 August 2026Level 8
(Remaining clubs)		53219136£481£1,444
First qualifying round5 September 2026Level 788136112£750£2,250
Second qualifying round19 September 2026National League North
National League South		4811280£1,125£3,375
Third qualifying round3 October 2026None08040£1,875£5,625
Fourth qualifying round17 October 2026National League244032£3,125£9,375

Extra preliminary round

Number of non-league teams per tier still in qualifying
National League[a] North/South[b] Premier Division[c] Division One Regional Total
24 / 24
48 / 48
88 / 88
176 / 176
315 / 315
651 / 651

The draw for the extra preliminary round was made on 3 July 2026.[3]

Notes

  1. ↑ National League teams joined in the fourth round of qualifying
  2. ↑ National League North/South teams joined in the second round of qualifying.
  3. ↑ Premier Division teams joined in the first round of qualifying.
  4. 1 2 (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).
  5. ↑ Match abandoned, with the score at 0–1, at half time due to persistent issues with the floodlights.
  6. ↑ Marske United awarded a walkover due to Boro Rangers withdrawing from the competition.
  7. ↑ Abbey Hulton United were awarded a walkover after Kidsgrove Athletic were eliminated from the competition for fielding an unregistered player in the 0–0 draw between the sides. Therefore, the scheduled replay was cancelled.
  8. ↑ Roman Glass St George had initially won the tie 6–7 on penalties after the game had ended 3-3 in extra time, but Roman Glass St George were eliminated due to them using an ineligible player in the replay. Hallen were therefore reinstated back into the competition and were given a bye straight to the next round.
  9. ↑ The score was 6–1 to Herne Bay, however a second replay was ordered after Herne Bay were allowed a sixth substitution.

Preliminary round

The draw for the preliminary round was made on 3 July 2026.[3]

Number of non-league teams per tier still in qualifying
National League[a] North/South[b] Premier Division[c] Division One Regional Total
24 / 24
48 / 48
88 / 88
129 / 176
89 / 315
432 / 651

Notes

  1. ↑ National League teams joined in the fourth round of qualifying
  2. ↑ National League North/South teams joined in the second round of qualifying.
  3. ↑ Premier Division teams joined in the first round of qualifying.
  4. 1 2 (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).

First qualifying round

The draw for the first qualifying round was made on 24 August 2026.[4] This round saw all teams from step three enter the competition.

Number of non-league teams per tier still in qualifying
National League[a] North/South[b] Premier Division Division One Regional Total
24 / 24
48 / 48
88 / 88
80 / 176
56 / 315
296 / 651

Notes

  1. ↑ National League teams joined in the fourth round of qualifying
  2. ↑ National League North/South teams joined in the second round of qualifying.
  3. 1 2 (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).

References

  1. 1 2 "Clubs confirmed for 2026-27 Emirates FA Cup, FA Youth Cup, FA Trophy and FA Vase". www.thefa.com. 26 June 2026. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  2. ↑ "The Emirates FA Cup round dates for the 2026-27 season". www.thefa.com. 13 June 2026. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  3. 1 2 "Draws confirmed for early rounds of our men's FA competitions". www.thefa.com. 3 July 2026. Retrieved 22 July 2026.
  4. ↑ "The Emirates FA Cup First Round Qualifying Draw has been confirmed". www.thefa.com. 24 Aug 2026. Retrieved 24 Aug 2026.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.