The FPL Cup explained (which cup you are in, and how it is decided)
Most of the confusion is not the knockout, it is that you are in several cups at once and the app does not shout about which is which. Rules below from the official Fantasy Premier League rules, read on 10 September 2026, and then the version we build in DraftIcon PL, where a knockout is not an extra competition but the whole gameweek.
A cup is a knockout played on top of your leagues. Each round lasts one gameweek: you are drawn at random against another manager, the higher gameweek score wins after transfer points are deducted, and the loser is out for good.
Every manager is entered automatically, and the round you enter at depends on how many teams are in that competition. Every final is played in gameweek 38.
You are in more than one cup
This is why the answers you find never quite match your screen. There is not one FPL Cup, there are several running side by side, and each has its own draw.
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GW15
The Overall CupOpen to every team in the game, starting in gameweek 15 and running to the final in gameweek 38. This is the one people mean when they say "the FPL Cup".
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2nd half
Your league's cupEvery invitational classic league gets one automatically. It starts in the second half of the season, exactly when depending on how many teams are in your league, and it also finishes in gameweek 38. Worth knowing: a team cannot leave a classic league while it is still in that league's cup.
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Auto
The Fan CupEntered automatically for the club you support, against everybody else who picked that club. A quieter competition than the overall one and a much better story in the group chat.
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Auto
The Country CupThe same idea for your country of residence. All of these run in addition to the Overall Cup rather than instead of it, so you can be knocked out of one and alive in another on the same weekend.
One gameweek, one round, half the field gone
There is no group stage and no second leg. Each round is a single gameweek, the field halves, and the survivors go back into a fresh random draw.
Where you join the ladder depends on how many teams are in that cup. In the Overall Cup, with millions of entrants, the first rounds happen without you and the game seeds you in accordingly.
The scoring is the same as a head-to-head match: your gameweek total minus any points spent on transfers that week. That deduction knocks people out every season, and it is the reason a hit in a cup week is a bigger decision than a hit in a normal one. The full head-to-head rules, which the cup borrows, are on FPL head to head.
What happens if a cup tie is drawn
Two managers finishing on the same score is common, and the tie-breaks are applied in order until somebody wins.
- Most goals scored in the gameweek. Not points, goals. Suddenly your three defenders are a liability and the striker you nearly benched is the reason you are through.
- Fewest goals conceded in the gameweek. If the goals are level too, the defence you assembled decides it, which is the one week clean sheets are worth more than they score.
- A virtual coin toss. If everything is level, the game flips a coin. There is no appeal and no replay, and this is where most of the annual outrage comes from.
It is worth reading that list before a cup week rather than after one. A captain who scores from the spot and a goalkeeper who keeps a clean sheet are the same number of points and very different tie-break outcomes.
A cup week, every week
The appeal of a cup is that one gameweek suddenly matters completely. The problem is that losing it ends your involvement until next season. In DraftIcon PL the whole game runs at cup tension and then deals you back in.
- Every gameweek is settled on its own, win or lose
- A rival you choose, with the record carried between weeks
- No elimination, because the next draft starts from nothing
Drafted Friday, decided Sunday.
A squad built from packs against the clock, then ninety minutes of football deciding whether it was the right one. The same stakes as a cup tie, without the season attached.
What do you actually win?
For the Overall Cup, the Premier League runs its own prize list alongside the season prizes, and it changes from year to year, so the only honest answer is to check the prizes page of the official game rather than trust a blog from three seasons ago. For your league's cup, for the Fan Cup and for the Country Cup, you win exactly what your group decides you win, which in most cases is the right to bring it up until May.
That is not a criticism. A cup is worth playing because a single gameweek matters, not because of what arrives in the post. If your mini league needs more of those moments, fourteen ways to build them is the neighbouring page, and none of them need a prize either.
Cup tension, without the exit
Declared bias: the game below is ours. The cup is the best thing the official season has, and we would not claim to replace it. A knockout that runs from gameweek 15 to a final in May carries a weight that a weekly game cannot manufacture, and the moment you survive a coin toss is a story you tell for years.
What we took from it is the shape of the week: one gameweek, one opponent, settled at the final whistle. What we left behind is elimination. In DraftIcon PL a bad Saturday costs you that Saturday, and Friday deals a new squad from packs, so the group that lost in round one still has something to play.
Run both, honestly. Keep your cups for the arc and the drama of a draw you cannot control, and use a weekly draft for the weeks in between, especially after somebody knocks you out in gameweek 17. FPL Draft explained covers the other official format, and the practice draft against our coach bot needs no account.
Pick the opponent, keep the record
A cup draw is random and final. Here you choose who you are chasing, and the head-to-head record between you carries on from gameweek to gameweek even though both squads are new.
- Star up to three friends as rivals
- Two to four managers on one phone, or an invitation link
- Ranked among friends, in your country and worldwide as well
Quick answers
How does the FPL Cup work?
It is a knockout in which every round is played over a single gameweek. You are drawn randomly against another manager, the higher gameweek score after transfer deductions goes through, and the loser is eliminated. It runs alongside your leagues rather than instead of them.
When does the FPL Cup start?
The Overall Cup starts in gameweek 15 and finishes with the final in gameweek 38. Your own league's cup starts somewhere in the second half of the season, depending on how many teams are in the league, and also ends in gameweek 38.
How do I qualify for the cup?
You do not have to. All managers are entered into their cup competitions automatically. What varies is the round you come in at, which is determined by the number of teams in that particular competition.
How many cups am I in?
Usually several at once: the Overall Cup, the cup attached to each invitational classic league you are in, a cup for the club you support and one for your country. They are separate competitions with separate draws, so you can go out of one and stay in another.
What happens if a cup match is drawn?
Three tie-breaks are applied in order: most goals scored in the gameweek, then fewest goals conceded, then a virtual coin toss. There is no replay and no extra time.
Do transfer hits count in the cup?
Yes. The result uses your gameweek score minus any points spent on transfers that week, exactly as in a head-to-head league, so a minus-four can end a cup run you would otherwise have won.
What do you win in the FPL Cup?
The official game runs its own prizes for the Overall Cup, and they are listed on its prizes page and change from season to season. In a league cup, a fan cup or a country cup there is no prize beyond whatever your group has agreed.
Can I leave a league while its cup is running?
No. A team cannot leave a classic league while it is still entered in that league's cup competition, which catches out managers trying to tidy up their league list mid-season.
Does FPL Draft have a cup?
Draft leagues are scored classic or head-to-head rather than through the cup competitions of the classic game. If a knockout is what your Draft league wants, the usual answer is head-to-head scoring with an optional knockout stage at the end.
Is there a cup in DraftIcon PL?
Not as a separate competition, because every gameweek already works like a cup tie: one squad, one opponent, decided when the matches end. Nobody is eliminated, though, since the next gameweek deals everyone a new squad. It is our own game and it is not an official Premier League product.
Every gameweek is a cup tie.
Free, in the browser, and nobody is ever knocked out. A practice draft runs without an account.