2025 FA Cup Final: Preview

The FA Cup Final is set to be held this weekend, with Manchester City and Crystal Palace set to go head to head to get their hands on the oldest domestic cup competition in world football.

The 144th FA Cup Final will be played this weekend between Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City and a Crystal Palace side led by Austrian Head Coach Oliver Glasner.

City will be looking to win this trophy for the eighth time in their history, whereas the Eagles will be looking to secure the first major trophy in the South London Club’s 119 year history in what is their first final in this competition since 2016, where they initially took the lead, only to be eventually beaten 2 – 1 by Manchester United.

This game is set to be enthralling, and here we are going to be taking a look ahead at the action to come in the English Capital this weekend.

When and where will the 2025 FA Cup Final be played this weekend?

The FA Cup Final is one of the standout events of any football season in English and indeed world football, with this domestic cup competition being the oldest of them all. The 2025 Final will be held on Saturday 17th May, with it set to get underway at 16:30 in the afternoon.

The game itself will of course be taking place under the arch at the historic Wembley Stadium, which has been the host venue of the Final of the FA Cup every year since 1923, except the period between 2001 and 2006, when it was hosted at the Millennium Stadium (Principality Stadium) in Cardiff whilst renovations were taking place at Wembley.

Additionally, the replay of the 1970 FA Cup Final was played at Old Trafford.

The first ever FA Cup Final to be held at Wembley was in the 1922/23 season, which saw Bolton Wanderers defeat West Ham United 2 – 0 thanks to goals from David Jack (2’) and Jack Smith (53’).

What happened in the most recent FA Cup Final?

The most recent FA Cup Final took place back in May 2024, with this highly prestigious match taking place between two fierce local rivals, with Manchester United, then led by Erik Ten Hag, taking on a Manchester City side led by Pep Guardiola at Wembley. The game was played in front of an 84,814 strong crowd.

The enthralling game saw United edge their cross-city rivals 2 – 1 following goals from the likes of Alejandro Garnacho (30’) and academy graduate Kobbie Mainoo (39’), with both of the goals for the Red Devils coming in the latter stages of the first half. A goal from City’s Belgian international forward Jeremy Doku did halve the deficit late on in the game in the final moments of the second half, but they were unable to find the equalising goal (87’).

In the 2025 FA Cup Final, City will be looking to put the disappointment of last year’s final behind them and go on to win what would be their 8th FA Cup in their illustrious history. However, Oliver Glasner’s Crystal Palace will be looking to stop their Manchester counterparts as they look for a maiden major trophy.

Have Manchester City and Crystal Palace met in the FA Cup previously?

Historically, Manchester City and Crystal Palace have met just four times previously in this cup competition, but never in a final. Their previous encounters are as follows:

8^th January 1921 – Crystal Palace 2 – 0 Manchester City (FA Cup First Round, The Nest)

20^th February 1926 – Manchester City 11 – 4 Crystal Palace (FA Cup Fifth Round, Maine Road)

3^rd January 1981 – Manchester City 4 – 0 Crystal Palace (FA Cup Third Round, Maine Road)

28^th January 2017 – Crystal Palace 0 – 3 Manchester City (FA Cup Fourth Round, Selhurst Park)

In their most recent FA Cup meeting, it was Raheem Sterling (43’), Leroy Sané (71’), and Yaya Touré (90’) who were able to score the goals for the Cityzens on this occasion to win the tie in comfortable fashion.

Palace are looking for what would be just a second victory against City in this competition in the 2025 Final in what is a massive game for the Eagles and for City themselves as well.

Memorable FA Cup Finals of the past

The FA Cup Final is the biggest occasion in domestic football in England, and there have been a plethora of FA Cup Finals that have taken place in the past, and below you can take a look back at some of them ahead of the 2025 Final this weekend.

1953 – Blackpool 4 – 3 Bolton Wanderers (The Matthews Final) – A Stanley Matthews inspired Blackpool come from 3 – 1 down to win 4 – 3, with Stanley Mortensen scoring a memorable hat-trick Mortensen remains the only player to have ever scored a hat-trick in an FA Cup Final that has taken place at Wembley Stadium.

1973 – Sunderland 1 – 0 Leeds United – This was one of those ‘cupsets’ that this highly prestigious and historic competition is known for. This game saw Sunderland of the Second Division take on holders Leeds United, led by the legendary Don Revie, with Revie’s side being the massive favourites. A famous winning goal from John Porterfield (32’) made history for the Black Cats.

2013 – Manchester City 0 – 1 Wigan Athletic – This is one that all City fans will want to forget, but they have managed to win this competition a number of times since this disappointing result for the Cityzens. It was a massive shock, with the Latics scoring a dramatic winning goal in second half stoppage time through Ben Watson (90+1’).

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Excitement is building ahead of the action to come in the highly anticipated 2025 FA Cup Final that is set to take place and the iconic Wembley Stadium on Saturday 17th May 2025, with kick-off taking place at 16:30 that afternoon.

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