Every FA Cup Winner Since 1872, and Who Has Won the Most

Most FA Cup wins by club

Arsenal's 14 wins came in 21 finals, and they have won their last seven since losing to Liverpool in 2001. Manchester United have played a record 22 finals and won 13, the latest in 2024. Tottenham have lost only one of their nine finals, to Coventry City in 1987.

Chelsea and Manchester United have lost a record nine finals each, Everton eight. Twelve of the 57 finalists have never won it, and Cardiff City's win in 1927 is the only one by a club from outside England.

Every FA Cup final, 1872 to 2026: winners, scores and runners-up

No final was played in 1916-19 or 1940-45, during the two World Wars.

FA Cup winners by decade: how concentrated the cup is

In every full decade from the 1880s to the 1970s at least eight different clubs won the cup. Since 1990 the count has been six or fewer a decade, and five clubs, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United, have won 29 of the 34 finals since the Premier League began in 1992-93, against 22 of the 111 before.

The others since 1993 were Everton (1995), Portsmouth (2008), Wigan Athletic (2013), Leicester City (2021) and Crystal Palace (2025), the 45th club to win it. That makes 10 different winners in 34 seasons, against seven Premier League champions.

FA Cup winners from outside the top flight

Since the Football League began in 1888, 25 finals have pitted a top-flight club against one from outside the top flight, and the top-flight club won 17, 68 percent. The eight exceptions were Notts County (1894), Tottenham (1901), Wolverhampton Wanderers (1908), Barnsley (1912), West Bromwich Albion (1931), Sunderland (1973), Southampton (1976) and West Ham United (1980), all from the second tier except Tottenham, then of the Southern League.

Since Sunderland lost in 1992, only Millwall (2004) and Cardiff City (2008) have reached the final from the second tier, and both lost. Our giant-killings study finds the same from 1996-97 to 2025-26: the lower-tier club won 0 of 15 semi-finals and 0 of 2 finals against higher-tier sides.

FA Cup finals decided by replays, extra time and penalties

Of the 145 finals, 112 were won in 90 minutes, 16 in extra time, 14 after a replay and three on penalties. The last replay was in 1993, Arsenal beating Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 after extra time, and the three finals level after extra time since went to shootouts: Arsenal beat Manchester United in 2005, and Liverpool beat West Ham United in 2006 and Chelsea in 2022.

Five finals have ended 0-0, three of them replayed, the last in 2022, and 2026's was goalless until Antoine Semenyo's 71st-minute winner. The widest wins are 6-0, by Bury in 1903 and Manchester City against Watford in 2019.

One goal usually settles it: margins in FA Cup finals

Counting the match that settled each final, which is the replay where there was one, with extra-time goals included and the three shootouts set aside, 84 of the remaining 142 finals, 59 percent, were won by a single goal. The share has risen in every era, from 12 of 28 before 1900 (43 percent) to 20 of 36 from 1900 to 1939, 29 of 46 from 1946 to 1991 and 23 of 32 since 1992, 72 percent. The 1-0 is the commonest result by a distance, 47 finals against 27 for 2-1 and 23 for 2-0, and 13 of the 47 have come since 1992, including the last two finals, in 2025 and 2026. Scoring has eased as well, from 2.82 goals a final before 1900 to 2.25 since 1992, and the winners kept a clean sheet in 85 of the 142.

FA Cup final venues: Wembley since 1923, Cardiff 2001-06

Wembley has staged 92 finals, 72 at the old stadium from 1923 to 2000 and 20 at the new one since 2007, plus five replays. While it was rebuilt, Cardiff's Millennium Stadium hosted six, from 2001 to 2006. Before 1923, Kennington Oval held 20 finals, from 1872 to 1892, Crystal Palace 20, from 1895 to 1914, Stamford Bridge three and four other grounds one each.

League and FA Cup doubles

Eight clubs have won 13 league and cup doubles: Arsenal (1971, 1998, 2002) and Manchester United (1994, 1996, 1999) three each, Manchester City two (2019, 2023), and Preston North End (1889), Aston Villa (1897), Tottenham (1961), Liverpool (1986) and Chelsea (2010) one. Eight came in the 34 Premier League seasons, 24 percent, and five in the 93 seasons before. United in 1999 and City in 2023 also won the Champions League.

League champions have reached the final 22 times and won 13, the last loser being City in 2024. In 2025-26 City took the cup and Arsenal the league, sealed by City's draw at AFC Bournemouth three days after the final.

Back-to-back FA Cup winners and the longest waits

The holders have retained the cup 12 times, most recently Arsenal in 2015. Two clubs have won three in a row: Wanderers from 1876 to 1878, which won them the trophy outright, though they handed it back, and Blackburn Rovers from 1884 to 1886. City's four straight finals since 2023 are a record, and Chelsea are the only club to lose three in a row, from 2020 to 2022.

Portsmouth waited longest between wins, 69 years from 1939 to 2008, ahead of Nottingham Forest's 61. Tottenham have not won since 1991, Aston Villa since 1957 and Newcastle United since 1955.

The 2026 FA Cup final and the 2026-27 dates

City's win, the FA reports, was Chelsea's fourth defeat in a final since their last win in 2018. The 2026-27 competition proper starts on Saturday, November 7, and the final is on Saturday, May 22, 2027; our FA Cup fixtures and results page follows every tie.

FA Cup finals: frequently asked questions

Who has won the most FA Cups? Arsenal hold the record with 14 wins, the latest in 2020, one ahead of Manchester United's 13.

Who won the 2026 FA Cup final? Manchester City beat Chelsea 1-0 at Wembley on May 16, 2026, with Antoine Semenyo's goal in the 71st minute.

How many clubs have won the FA Cup? Forty-five clubs, the first Wanderers in 1872 and the latest Crystal Palace in 2025.

When did a team from outside the top flight last win the FA Cup? West Ham United did it in 1980, from the Second Division, beating Arsenal 1-0.

Sources and method: the 145 finals from 1872 to 2026, with their replays, come from Wikipedia's list of finals and were checked against the FA's list and RSSSF's. All three agree on every winner and on how each final was decided; the FA's list differs only on details of three replays (1876, 1912 and 1970, which it gives as 2-0), where we follow the other two. Clubs outside the top tier are those Wikipedia marks, matching our giant-killings data. League champions come from Wikipedia's list and, from 1992-93, our Premier League list. Decades go by the year of the final. Margins are those of the match that settled each final, with extra-time goals counted and the three shootouts left out. See our methodology. Data collected October 25-26, 2026.