The Spanish Cup is about to begin, with more than 100 clubs involved in the first round in October. The following is the complete schedule for the 2025/26 Copa del Rey season.
Barcelona are the defending champions, having won the trophy for the 32nd time in April when they beat Real Madrid in last season’s final. Two big teams will be favorites to return to Seville, although this competition often presents surprises. There have been six different winners in the last seven years.
Copa del Rey schedule
| Round | Teams involved | Date |
| 1 | 110 | October 28-30, 2025 |
| 2nd | 56 | December 2-4 2025 |
| the 3rd | 32 | December 16-18, 2025 |
| 4th | 16 | January 13-15, 2026 |
| Quarterfinals | 8 | February 3-5, 2026 |
| Semifinals | 4 | 10-12 February 2026 (first leg) 3-5 March 2026 (second leg) |
| Final | 2 | April 25, 2026 |
Although the format is the same as in recent years, the 2025/26 Copa del Rey calendar features one important change. The third round was brought forward from early January to mid-December, meaning every club would have been able to take part in the competition when Spanish football took a break over the festive period.
This season, there will only be one round in January, but things heat up in the first two weeks of February, with the first legs of the quarterfinals and semifinals taking place in consecutive weeks.
A long break occurs between the first and second legs of the last four, which is the only round in a major competition that is not a one-legged tie. All roads then lead to Seville, with the final scheduled for Saturday 25 April 2026.
Copa del Rey important dates
Tuesday 28 October 2025 – The main competition begins
The Copa del Rey preliminary round takes place in September, with minnows such as CD Yuncos, Inter de Valdemoro CF, Atletic Sant Just and Puerto de Vega CF emerging to take their place in the main draw.
As usual throughout the Copa del Rey, the first half saw teams from the lower divisions draw at home. This means that all 16 LaLiga clubs involved at this stage will have away games, with 55 matches to be played between Tuesday 28 and Thursday 30 October.
This will see some of the biggest top clubs flock to small town stadiums in every corner of Spain. A number of these teams will face sixth-tier opponents. That includes struggling Real Sociedad visiting Galicia to play SD Negreira, Alaves who have a Basque derby against Getxo, and Real Betis who face fellow Andalusian side Atletico Palma del Rio.
Week of Tuesday 16 December 2025 – Barca, Real Madrid, Atleti & Athletic enter
Defending champions Barcelona entered in the third round, along with the other clubs involved in the Spanish Supercopa – Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Athletic Club. Seeding allows them all to travel to clubs in the third tier or lower.
At this stage of last season’s competition, Barcelona won 4-0 away to Barbastro, while Real Madrid won 5-0 in Cartagena against Minera. However, there were also some disappointments, with fourth tier Pontevedra beating Mallorca 3-0 in Galicia, while Ourense beat Real Valladolid 3-2.
Sunday Tuesday 3 February 2026 – Quarter Finals
Although clubs often rotate and rest players in the early rounds of the Copa del Rey, almost everyone takes it seriously by the time the quarter-finals roll around.
There have been some cracks in the last eight games in recent years. In 2024, Iñaki Williams flew off AFCON duty just in time to help inspire Athletic to a 4-2 extra-time win over Barca. They went on to win the competition.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid needed a 93rd-minute goal from Gonzalo Garcia to seal a 3-2 derby win against Leganes at Butarque last season.
Week of Tuesday 3 March 2026 – Semi-final second leg
The semi-finals take place at a busy time in the Spanish football calendar, when a number of clubs will also be competing in the European knockout stages.
Apart from the final itself, this is the only round where the remaining clubs from the lower leagues will not have an advantage, given that the match will be played over two legs. The identities of the 2025/26 Copa del Rey finalists will be known on Thursday 5 March.
Atletico Madrid have fallen at this stage in the last two seasons. They lost 4-0 on aggregate to Athletic Club in 2023/24. Last season, they were involved in a superb 4-4 draw in the first leg against Barcelona, before losing the second leg 1-0 at the Estadio Metropolitano.
The other 2024/25 semi-final ended with the same aggregate scoreline, Real Madrid leading 1-0 away to Real Sociedad, before the two clubs shared eight goals in the second leg at the Bernabeu.
Saturday 25 April 2026 – Copa del Rey final in Seville
Seville’s Estadio La Cartuja is now the venue for the Copa del Rey final, and will again host this season’s edition. Although unpopular for some, the stadium can accommodate around 70,000 fans, and supporters are now closer to the pitch following recent renovation work at one of Spain’s most important stadiums.
This season, Cartuja is also home to Real Betis, and Los Verdiblancos will be one of the main contenders to reach the final of the competition they won in 2022.
Mark is a freelance football writer based in Madrid, and editor of LaLigaExpert.com. He has covered LaLiga and European football since 2014.
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