Reporter Wang Wei reports The first draw for the 2025 FA Cup was held in Beijing on February 27, and the first round matches and the second and third rounds were released.

In the first round of the competition, 12 amateur teams that broke through from the FA Cup qualifying round and 20 teams from the second and second divisions competed against each other, and the Chinese Super League teams joined the competition in the second and third rounds respectively. There are seven rounds of this year's FA Cup, with 64 teams from the professional leagues including Chinese Super League, Chinese Super League, Chinese League B, and amateur teams that have qualified for the qualifying rounds. The first draw shows that the FA Cup is expected to feature a number of derbies in the second and third rounds.

This year's competition continued the draw method of the previous competition, with a total of two draws. Among them, the first draw determines the first three rounds of matches and home-and-away arrangements to ensure that low-end teams gain home advantage; The second draw is scheduled to take place after the end of the third round of matches, and the matchups and home and away arrangements for the next four rounds will be determined by the draw.

A total of 32 teams participated in the first round of the draw, including 12 winners of the qualifying round and 20 teams from this season's China B (4 teams from the Chinese Super League B participating in China B did not participate), of which the teams ranked lower have a home advantage. A total of 32 teams participated in the second round of the draw, and the 16 teams that advanced in the first round settled at home according to the established signing, and the 16 participating teams in the Chinese League were drawn to sign the corresponding away slots to determine the matchup. A total of 32 teams participated in the third round of the draw, and the 16 teams that advanced to the second round of the competition were settled at home according to the established signing, and the 16 teams in the Super League this season were drawn and settled in the corresponding away draw.

All FA Cup matches are played in a single-elimination format. According to the 2025 FA Cup format, this season's FA Cup final is scheduled to be held at the Suzhou Olympic Sports Center on December 5.

The first draw was quite dramatic, and there is a possibility that the first three rounds will have multiple Guangdong derby, Yangtze River Delta derby, Shandong derby and Northeast derby.

Among them, Nantong, located in the Yangtze River Delta, will face Shenhua, which is also in the Yangtze River Delta, in the third round, if it is promoted in the second round; If Guangdong Guangzhou Leopards advance in the second round, they will face Shenzhen Xinpeng City, a team from the same province, at home; If Dalian Kuncheng advances in the second round, it will face Changchun Yatai at home, which is also in the northeast; If Qingdao Red Lion of the Chinese League League advances in the second round, they will face Shandong Taishan in the same province at home; If Suzhou Dongwu advances in the second round, it will host the Yangtze River Delta harbor in the third round; If Nanjing City advances in the second round, they will face Zhejiang at home, which is also in the Yangtze River Delta.

It is worth mentioning that Guangdong Province has a total of 10 teams participating in the FA Cup, which is the province with the most participating teams. The first round of matches was held from March 14th to 16th, with 5 teams from Guangdong Province participating, Guangdong Mingtu away to Ningbo Zhenhai Youkang, Guangdong Shudihong at home against Guizhou Zhucheng Athletic, Shenzhen 2028 away against Wuhan Lianzhen, Shenzhen Jixiang team at home against Guangxi Blue Airlines, Guangzhou Dandelion team at home Zengcheng Stadium against Hubei Youth Stars.

The second round of matches will be held from April 18 to 28, and the Chinese League A teams will join the competition, in addition to the Guangdong teams that may advance from the first round, the Guangdong Guangzhou Leopards, Shenzhen Youth and Foshan Southern Lions of the Chinese League will participate. If Guangdong Shudihong and Guangdong Mingtu win in the first round, they will face Foshan Southern Lions and Shenzhen Youth respectively in two Guangdong derbys.

The third round of matches will be played from May 20 to 22, with Chinese Super League teams Shenzhen Xinpeng City and Meizhou Hakka debuting, and if Guangdong Guangzhou Leopards advance, they will play a Guangdong derby with Shenzhen Xinpeng City again.