TheCampeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey,[a] commonly known asCopa del Rey,[b]La Copa[c] or (inEnglish) theSpanish Cup[1] or King's Cup, and formerly known asCopa del Presidente de la República[d] (1932–1936) andCopa del Generalísimo[e] (1939–1976), is an annualknockoutfootball competition inSpanish football, organized by theRoyal Spanish Football Federation.
The competition was founded in 1903, making it the oldest Spanish football competition played at a national level. Copa del Rey winners qualify for the following season'sUEFA Europa League. If they have already qualified for Europe through their league position, 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).[2]
The Copa del Rey was effectively Spain's national football championship from 1903 (the first edition won by Athletic Bilbao with Juan de Astorquia as captain and president)[5] until the foundation of theCampeonato de Liga—League Championship (La Liga)—in 1928. It was initially known as theCopa del Ayuntamiento de Madrid (Madrid City Council's Cup). Between 1905 and 1932, it was known as theCopa de Su Majestad El Rey Alfonso XIII (His Majesty King Alfonso XIII's Cup). During theSecond Spanish Republic, it was known as theCopa del Presidente de la República (President of the Republic Cup) orCopa de España (Spanish Cup) and during the years ofFrancisco Franco'sSpanish State, it was known as theCopa de Su Excelencia El Generalísimo orCopa del Generalísimo (His Excellency, The Supreme General's Cup).[5]
Athletic Bilbao were declared winners in 1904 after their opponentsEspañol de Madrid failed to show up. Between 1903 and 1909 the competition was organized byMadrid 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.[6] 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.[7][8] In 1937, during theSpanish Civil War, clubs in theRepublican area of Spain entered theCopa de la España Libre, withLevante FC (forerunner of the presentLevante UD) beating their city rivalsValencia 1–0 in the final. Although in 2007 theCongress of Deputies urged theRoyal Spanish Football Federation to recognise it as a Copa del Rey win for Levante,[9] for several years the governing body of Spanish football made no decision on the matter.[10] On 25 March 2023, the tournament was officially recognized by the RFEF,[11][12] but not as a Copa del Rey.[7]
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 in essence 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 thePrimera División,Segunda A, about 23 teams from theSegunda B and the 17Tercera 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 theregional divisions at the fifth level.[13][14]
Since the format overhaul, 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 theSupercopa 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 22 single-leg ties to reach the two-legged semi-finals in each of its first five seasons[15] before losing toOsasuna in the2024–25 Round of 16. The final is a one-off game played at a neutral venue, withSeville becoming the regular home.
The winners qualify for both the following season's Supercopa de España andUEFA Europa League; in the past, the runners-up often played in the Supercopa if the winners had also finished as league champions (although on some earlier occasions in these circumstances, no Supercopa match was played and thedouble winners were awarded the title by default). From the2019–20 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 lastCopa de la República in 1936). Athletic kept the first trophy as inaugural winners,Sevilla were awarded theTrofeo del Generalísimo after its first edition in 1939 andAtlético Madrid, winners the previous year, were awarded the 11th trophy following the death of Francisco Franco in 1976.
On 22 December 2010, at anextraordinary general meeting of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, Sevilla requested permission from the Federation to keep the trophy they had won in the2010 final to commemorate the victory of theSpain national team at the2010 FIFA World Cup inSouth Africa.[16] A new trophy was made byMadrid 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 playerSergio Ramos from the top of adouble-decker bus, which then ran over it. Ten pieces were found by civil servicemen when they recovered it from the ground atPlaza de Cibeles. The club received a copy which is displayed atSantiago Bernabéu.[17][18]
The new presidency ofLuis Rubiales initiated profound restructuring within the Federation.[19][20][21] These changes impacted competitions organized by the organization, specifically the Copa del Rey and theSupercopa de España. Both were reformed with new formats designed to increase competitiveness and attractiveness.[22] 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.[23][24][25] Beginning with the 2019–20 edition, the cup championship introduced a significant change: the designation of a fixed venue for the final; theEstadio de La Cartuja in Seville was chosen to host the final for a four-year period.[25][26]
^abcdefghTwo finals and winners are recognised for 1910 and 1913.
^The 1909 final was won by Club Ciclista de San Sebastián, using players from the newly-formed teamReal Sociedad which was not officially founded until later that year.
^Racing de Irún merged with Irún Sporting Club in 1915 to formReal Unión.
^The 1910 tournament was played byReal Sociedad under the umbrella of Vasconia, due to registration issues in respect of it being so recently incorporated.
‡Real Madrid's reserve team. Reserve teams have been banned from this competition from1990–91 onward. ‡‡ The number of winsAthletic 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.[27] However, that edition is not recognized as official by the RFEF.[7]
Clubs initalic no longer exist. Seasons inbold indicate winners, whilst season initalic are losing finalists.
From the2019–20 season, the final match is already included in La Copa broadcasting rights package.[41] Previously, the final match is excluded in selected countries (other broadcasters (including Spain) will receive theSupercopa rights after covering a Copa final match) due to laws and regulations of the tournament broadcasting rights byCNMC in Spain.
A. ^ En route to the final, Español de Madrid had tied one game and had not completed the other game, which led Athletic Bilbao to file a complaint. Faced with this problem and unable to quickly resolve the case, the Madrid Association decided to award the cup to Athletic as defending champions.
D. ^ A mini-group of three teams was played, with Athletic Bilbao defeatingMadrid FC 2–0 a day before their win over Vasconia, thus the match between the Basque teams was decisive in deciding the winner, although not a typical final (Vasconia then played Madrid the following day to complete the group, also winning 2–0).
E. ^ The first final, played the day earlier, ended 2–2 after extra time.
F. ^ Originally played as a two-legged final. The first match, played seven days earlier, ended 2–2, and the second match, played six days earlier, ended 0–0.
G. ^ The first final, played two days earlier, ended 0–0 after extra time.
H. ^ The first and second final ended 1–1 after extra time. Both matches were played a month before the second replay.
^Real Federación Española de Fútbol (March 2011)."Historial"(PDF).Revista Oficial de la R.F.E.F. p. 70. Archived fromthe original(pdf) on 18 July 2012. Retrieved10 May 2023.
