Last update 6 April, 2024 por Alberto Llopis
The Copa del Rey is becoming a private preserve for the big clubs. The organization of the RFEF does not help to make the competition attractive to other Spanish clubs with its peculiar format (two-legged qualifiers, table defined since the Round of 16 and with the participation of only 7 non-professional clubs in their final rounds). Next from Hanging by Soccer we will analyze the national Cups of the 4 major european leagues (Inglaterra, Italia, Germany and France)
Inglaterra
The most famous cup in the world of football is disputed: the FA Cup, A single match is played, although it has the peculiarity that if the match ends in a draw, a replay is played in the visiting team's stadium and if the replay ends in a tie, an extension and penalties will be played.. The draw is pure without seed heads, the local team is not decided by the division in which the clubs play and it is held on the same day that the round in play ends, all rounds are played on weekends. All teams that have played a cup competition the previous year participate, new teams must wait a year to participate. There are 14 rounds in competition, the first three are played under geographical criteria and are played by teams in the 7th, 8ª, 91st and 10th category, los de Conference North/South (6ª) enter the second qualifying round (4ª round), los de Conference National (5ª) enter the fourth qualifying round (6ª round), those of League Two and League One (4ª and 3ª) enter the first round proper (7ª round) and those of Championship and Premier in the third round proper (9ª round) adding to 20 lower division teams, this round is the most famous and is played on the first weekend of the year. From that round there are 32 teams struggling to reach the semi-finals already held at Wembley, no replay in case of a tie, as well as the grand final that is played on the Saturday after the end of the Premier League.
Italia
The Coppa Italia has undergone a makeover in recent years that has helped make it much more interesting and competitive. All teams from Serie A and B participate, 27 Lega Pro teams 1 (3ª), the two Lega Pro group champions 2 (4ª) y los 9 Serie D group champions (5ª). It consists of 8 rounds to pure draw regardless of the division of the team to exercise at home in the tie, all rounds except semi-finals, these are a double game, they are played as a single match. The Lega Pro Teams 1,2 and those of Serie D enter the first round, those of Serie B in the second round, los 12 worst-ranked Serie A teams in the third round and the 8 Remaining Serie A teams in the fifth round or round of 16. The final is played at the Olympic in Rome.
Germany
DFB Pokal is the national cup of the higher-level leagues with fewer teams opting to win it, all Bundesliga teams participate 1, Bundesliga 2 (including descendants), los 4 top finishers last season in Bundesliga 3 and the winners of the 21 regional cups. It consists of 6 rounds with pure draw and single match, with the particularity that if there is more than one division difference between the teams, the team with the smallest division is played at home., all participating teams enter the first round. The final takes place at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.
Francia
With much less name than the FA Cup, but just as attractive and perhaps with more surprises due to the level of the best French teams, The Coupe de France can be played by all teams affiliated to the FFF, they only have to pay the registration to play the tournament. It consists of 14 rounds, the first two are disputed by the regional division teams (61st to 16th category) following some geographical criteria, already in the third round all the CFA teams participate 2 (5ª), those of CFA (4ª) enter the fourth round and the National (3ª) in fifth round. From the seventh round the Ligue teams participate 2 and the Cup champions of the French overseas territories (Guadalupe, French polynesia, Meeting, Mayotte, New Caledonia, Martinique and French Guiana). The ninth round is played on the first weekend of the year, where they meet 44 Surviving teams with clubs that are active in the Ligue 1. All the qualifying rounds are played as a single match, with a pure draw with the particularity, same as in germany, that if there is more than one category of difference between the two clubs, the lowest category acts as a local. The final is played at the Stade de France, in the suburb of Saint-Denis in Paris.
You can continue reading about other cup competitions at: Cups in Europe (II)