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Copa del Rey
Logo Copa del Rey 2021 (navy badge).svg
Organising body Royal Spanish Football Federation
Founded 1903; 121 years ago (1903)
Region  Spain
Number of teams 126
Qualifier for UEFA Europa League
Supercopa de España
Current champions Athletic Bilbao (24th title)
Most successful club(s) Barcelona (31 titles)
Television broadcasters List of broadcasters

The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey, La Copa or (in English) the Spanish Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanish football, organized by the Royal Spanish Football Federation.

The competition was founded in 1903, thus making it the oldest Spanish football competition played at a national level. Copa del Rey winners qualify for the following season's UEFA Europa League. If they have already qualified for Europe through their league position, then the Europa League spot is given to the highest-placed team in the league who has not yet qualified (until 2014 this place was awarded to the Copa runners-up, unless they too had already qualified via the league).

Barcelona is the most successful club in the competition, having won 31 titles. Athletic Bilbao has the second-most wins with 24, while Real Madrid is third with 20. Athletic Bilbao is also the most recent winner, having defeated Mallorca in the 2024 final held at the Estadio de La Cartuja.

History

In 1902, a competition under the name Copa de la Coronación was played after Juan de Astorquia, President of Bilbao Football Club, and Carlos Padrós, later president of Real Madrid, suggested a football tournament to celebrate the coronation of Spanish King Alfonso XIII. Four other teams joined Madrid FC for the competition: FC Barcelona, Club Español de Foot-Ball, New Foot-Ball de Madrid and Club Bizcaya (a team made up of players from Athletic Club and Bilbao FC), which eventually defeated Barcelona in the final. That cup is on display in the Athletic Bilbao museum and the club includes the victory in its honours list. Nevertheless, it is considered only the forerunner of the Copa del Rey. The Royal Spanish Football Federation officially does not recognize it.

The Copa del Rey was Spain's football national championship from 1903 (the first edition won by Athletic Bilbao with Juan de Astorquia as captain and president) until the foundation of the Campeonato de Liga—League Championship—in 1928. It was initially known as the Copa del Ayuntamiento de Madrid (Madrid City Council's Cup). Between 1905 and 1932, it was known as the Copa de Su Majestad El Rey Alfonso XIII (His Majesty King Alfonso XIII's Cup). During the Second Spanish Republic, it was known as the Copa del Presidente de la República (President of the Republic Cup) or Copa de España (Spanish Cup) and during the years of Francisco Franco's Spanish State, it was known as the Copa de Su Excelencia El Generalísimo or Copa del Generalísimo (His Excellency, The Supreme General's Cup).

Athletic Bilbao were declared winners in 1904 after their opponents Español de Madrid failed to show up. Between 1903 and 1909 the competition was organized by Madrid FC or by the Madrid Federation. Afterwards, it was taken over by the FECF (Federación Española de Clubs de Football), a forerunner of the RFEF. However, in both 1910 and 1913 there was a split among the clubs and two parallel competitions were held, one organized by the FECF and the other by the UECF (Unión Española de Club de Football). All these editions are officially recognized by the RFEF. In 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, clubs in the Republican area of Spain entered the Copa de la España Libre, with Levante FC (forerunner of the present Levante UD) beating their city rivals Valencia 1–0 in the final. Although in 2007 the Congress of Deputies urged the Royal Spanish Football Federation to recognise it as a Copa del Rey win for Levante, for several years the governing body of Spanish football made no decision on the matter. On 25 March 2023, the tournament was officially recognized by the RFEF, but not as a Copa del Rey.

Because of the dispute regarding the 1902 competition, the statistics regarding the leading winners are also disputed. Barcelona have won the Copa 31 times; Athletic Bilbao are in second place, with either 24 or 25 titles, depending on the source.

Before the formation of La Liga in 1929, the competition was effectively a national championship. Teams qualified to enter via their regional leagues. Over the years, various formats, including group stages have been used. Reserve teams of the professional clubs, who compete in lower divisions of the league pyramid, were permitted to take part until 1990. For a number of years, only teams from the Primera División, Segunda A, about 23 teams from the Segunda B and the 17 Tercera División champions (or runners-up if the champion was a reserve team) were invited to enter, giving a total of 83. Amended rules for the 2019–20 edition led to the number of entrants increasing to 125, including winners of the regional divisions at the fifth level.

All rounds are single-leg ties with lower division teams hosting the match and the majority of the top-level clubs entering at the First Round (four teams taking part in the Supercopa de España entering in the Third round – last 32), other than the semi-final stage which is played over two legs. This is another change introduced in 2019–20, with prior editions involving two legs from the point at which the top-tier clubs entered in the Fourth round (last 32). Athletic Bilbao particularly embraced the new format, winning a total of 21 single-leg ties to reach the two-legged semi-finals in each of its first five seasons. The final is a one-off game played at a neutral venue.

The winners qualify for both the Supercopa de España and the UEFA Europa League the following season; in the past, the runners-up often played in the Supercopa if the winners had also finished as league champions (although on some occasions in these circumstances, no Supercopa match was not played and the double winners were awarded the title). From the 2019–20 Supercopa de España edition onwards, the previous Copa del Rey runners-up automatically qualify in addition to the winners with four teams taking part in the event.

Throughout the history of the competition, there have been 12 actual trophies, which were permanently awarded to clubs for winning the competition either three times in a row or on five separate occasions, and for other special reasons. Thus, five trophies have been permanently awarded to Barcelona, three to Athletic Bilbao and one to Real Madrid (the last Copa de la República in 1936). Athletic kept the first trophy as inaugural winners, Sevilla were awarded the Trofeo del Generalísimo after its first edition in 1939 and Atlético Madrid, winners the previous year, were awarded the 11th trophy following the death of Francisco Franco in 1976.

On 22 December 2010, at an extraordinary general meeting of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, Sevilla requested permission from the Federation to keep the trophy they had won in the 2010 final to commemorate the victory of the Spain national team at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. A new trophy was made by Madrid jeweler Federico Alegre. The trophy, made of silver, weighs 15 kg (33 lb) and is 75 cm (30 in) tall. On 21 April 2011, Real Madrid became the first recipients. During the post-game celebrations, the trophy was accidentally dropped by Real Madrid player Sergio Ramos from the top of a double-decker bus, which then ran over it. Ten pieces were found by civil servicemen when they recovered it from the ground at Plaza de Cibeles. The club received a copy which is displayed at Santiago Bernabéu.

The new presidency of Luis Rubiales initiated profound restructuring within the Federation. These changes impacted competitions organized by the organization, specifically the Copa del Rey and the Supercopa de España. Both were reformed with new formats designed to increase competitiveness and attractiveness. In the case of the Supercopa, the changes had a reciprocal effect; the Copa champion and runner-up were included alongside the league championship's top two finishers, creating a four-team competition. Beginning with the 2019-20 edition, the cup championship introduced a significant change: the designation of a fixed venue for the final; the Estadio de La Cartuja in Seville was chosen to host the final for a four-year period.

Performances

Official winners list provided by the RFEF, as of 7 April 2024.

List of football clubs ranked by wins, together with runners-up, total finalists and seasons of finals.
Rank Club Winners Runners-up Finalists Seasons
1 Barcelona 31 11 42 1909–10, 1911–12, 1912–13, 1918–19, 1919–20, 1922, 1925, 1926, 1928, 1931–32, 1935–36, 1942, 1951, 1952, 1952–53, 1953–54, 1957, 1958–59, 1962–63, 1967–68, 1970–71, 1973–74, 1977–78, 1980–81, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1985–86, 1987–88, 1989–90, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2020–21
2 Athletic Bilbao 24 16 40 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1910, 1911, 1913, 1914, 1915, 1916, 1920, 1921, 1923, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1944–45, 1948–49, 1949–50, 1952–53, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1965–66, 1966–67, 1969, 1972–73, 1976–77, 1983–84, 1984–85, 2008–09, 2011–12, 2014–15, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2023–24
3 Real Madrid 20 20 40 1903, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1916, 1917, 1918, 1924, 1928–29, 1930, 1933, 1934, 1936, 1940, 1943, 1946, 1947, 1958, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1961–62, 1967–68, 1969–70, 1973–74, 1974–75, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1991–92, 1992–93, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2010–11, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2022–23
4 Atlético Madrid 10 9 19 1920–21, 1925–26, 1955–1956, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1971–72, 1974–75, 1975–76. 1984–85, 1986–87, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1995–96, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2009–10, 2012–13
5 Valencia 8 10 18 1934, 1941, 1944, 1944–45, 1946, 1948-49, 1952, 1954, 1966–67, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1978–79, 1994–95, 1998–99, 2007–08, 2018–19, 2021–22
6 Zaragoza 6 5 11 1962–63, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1975–76, 1985–86, 1992–93, 1993–94, 2000–01, 2003–04, 2005–06
7 Sevilla 5 4 9 1935, 1939, 1947–48, 1955, 1961–62, 2006–07, 2009–10, 2015–16, 2017–18
8 Espanyol 4 5 9 1911, 1915, 1929, 1940, 1941, 1947, 1957, 1999–2000, 2005–06
9 Real Betis 3 2 5 1931, 1976–77, 1996–97, 2004–05, 2021–22
Real Unión 3 1 4 1918, 1922, 1924, 1927
11 Real Sociedad 2 4 6 1913, 1928, 1951, 1986–87, 1987–88, 2019–20
Deportivo La Coruña 2 2 1994–95, 2001–02
13 Arenas 1 3 4 1917, 1919, 1925, 1927
Mallorca 1 3 4 1990–91, 1997–98, 2002–03, 2023–24
Club Ciclista de San Sebastián 1 1 1909
Racing Club de Irún 1 1 1913
17 Español de Madrid 3 3 1904, 1909, 1910
Celta Vigo 3 3 1947–48, 1993–94, 2000–01
Sporting Gijón 2 2 1981, 1982
Real Valladolid 2 2 1949–50, 1988–89
Getafe 2 2 2006–07, 2007–08
Osasuna 2 2 2004–05, 2022–23
Bizcaya 1 1 1907
Real Vigo Sporting 1 1 1908
Vasconia Sporting Club 1 1 1910
Gimnástica 1 1 1912
Espanya de Barcelona 1 1 1914
CE Europa 1 1 1923
Sabadell 1 1 1935
Racing de Ferrol 1 1 1938–39
Granada 1 1 1958–59
Elche 1 1 1969
Castellón 1 1 1972–73
Las Palmas 1 1 1977–78
Real Madrid Castilla 1 1 1979–80
Recreativo 1 1 2002–03
Alavés 1 1 2016–17

Real Madrid's reserve team. Reserve teams have been banned from this competition from 1990–91 onward.
‡‡ The number of wins Athletic Bilbao have been credited with is disputed. The 1902 version was won by Bizcaya, a team made up of players from Athletic Bilbao and Bilbao FC. In 1903 these two clubs merged as the current Athletic Bilbao. The 1902 cup is on display in the Athletic museum and the club includes it in its own honors list. However, that edition is not recognized as official by the RFEF.

Clubs in italic no longer exist. Seasons in bold indicate winners, whilst season in italic are losing finalists.

Top goalscorers

Bold indicates a player still active in Spain.

Rank Nat. Player Pos. Years Club(s) (goals) Total Ref.
1 Spain Zarra, TelmoTelmo Zarra FW 1939–1957 Athletic Bilbao (81) 81
2 Spain Samitier, JosepJosep Samitier MF 1919–1934 Barcelona (65)
Real Madrid (5)
70
3 Spain Gorostiza, GuillermoGuillermo Gorostiza FW 1928–1946 Racing Ferrol (3)
Athletic Bilbao (37)
Valencia (24)
64
4 Argentina Messi, LionelLionel Messi FW 2004–2021 Barcelona (56) 56
5 Spain Suarez, EdmundoEdmundo Suárez FW 1939–1950 Valencia (55) 55
6 Spain Quini FW 1968–1987 Sporting Gijón (36)
Barcelona (14)
50
7 HungarySpain Puskas, FerencFerenc Puskás FW 1958–1966 Real Madrid (49) 49
CzechoslovakiaHungarySpain KubalaLászló Kubala FW 1951–1965 Barcelona (49) 49
Spain Santillana FW 1970–1988 Real Madrid (49) 49
10 Spain César Rodríguez FW 1939–1960 Granada (3)
Barcelona (36)
Elche (8)
47

Individual records

Broadcasters

From the 2019–20 season, the final match is already included in La Copa broadcasting rights package. Previously, the final match is excluded in selected countries (other broadcasters (including Spain) will receive the Supercopa rights after covering a Copa final match) due to laws and regulations of the tournament broadcasting rights by CNMC in Spain.

2022–2025

Spain and Andorra

Broadcaster Copa del Rey Supercopa Ref
RTVE 15 matches free, including semi-finals and final No
Movistar+ 55 matches All three matches

International

Country Broadcaster
Copa del Rey Supercopa Ref
Africa StarTimes
 Albania Over Sport SuperSport
 Kosovo
 Austria Sportdigital
 Germany
 Switzerland
Arena Sport
TV3 Sport
 Belgium VTM (Dutch)
RTL-TVI (French)
 Bolivia Tigo Sports
 Paraguay
 Brazil ESPN
 United States
 Bulgaria BTV
 Caribbean DSports
Sky Sports
 Dominican Republic
Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico
 China PPTV
 Cyprus PrimeTel Cablenet
 Czech Republic Sport TV
 Hungary
 Slovakia
 France L'Équipe
 Georgia Adjarasport
 Greece Cosmote Sport Action 24
 India FanCode
 Indonesia RCTI
iNews
Sportstars
 Ireland TNT Sports
 United Kingdom
 Israel Charlton
 Italy Telelombardia
 Japan Wowow
 Myanmar Canal+
 Netherlands Ziggo Sport
 Norway VG+
 Poland TVP Eleven Sports
 Portugal Sport TV Eleven Sports
 Romania Digi Sport
 Russia Match TV
 Saudi Arabia SSC
 South Korea Coupang
 Sweden Sportbladet
 Turkey Tivibu
 Ukraine MEGOGO Setanta Sports

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Copa del Rey para niños

  • Copa Federación de España
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