The FA Cup third round draw is one of the top moments in the English domestic footballing calendar, as minnows aim to be drawn against some of the giants of the game.
Monday’s draw largely decided to pit teams of similar class against each other.
MORE — FA Cup all-time winners, records
Tottenham Hotspur will face Aston Villa, Newcastle go against Bournemouth, Everton tangle with Sunderland, and Manchester United meet Brighton as eight of the Premier League’s sides didn’t manage to draw a team underneath them in the pyramid.
All 20 Premier League and 24 Championship teams enter the FA Cup at the third round stage, while other teams from the lower leagues have been scrapping away for some time in several previous rounds just to reach this stage.
Last season’s memorable win by Palace broke a three-year run of Big Six clubs winning the title, but that can easily turn into three underdogs in six years winning the FA Cup if someone can step up to join the Eagles and Leicester City during this season’s tournament
Arsenal look to build on their record 14 FA Cups, while Man United hope to join them atop the leaderboards and dozens of others dream of what could be later this Spring.
A few storylines to keep an eye on are sixth-tier Weston-super-Mare reaching the third round for the first time in their 138-year history. Two other non-league side have made it to the third round draw with fifth-tier Boreham Wood (who reached the last 16 back in 2022) definitely in, plus sixth-tier Macclesfield FC are also in and Brackley Town have to beat Burton Albion on Monday to reach the third round.
With 64 teams left in the competition, each team was assigned a ball number (see below) for the random draw out of a glass bowl. The big change for this season is that there will be no replays at all from the third round on, so every game has to be decided on the day with extra time and penalty kicks if necessary.
Below are all of the details from the FA Cup third round draw live, as the third round games will take place on the weekend of January 10, 2026.
FA Cup third round draw: Who are ‘the minnows’?
Premier League and Championship sides are the beasts of these rounds, but there are always upsets and in the past they have come from beyond the top four divisions.
Macclesfield — not Macclesfield Town — are a National League North side managed by John Rooney, the younger brother of Everton and Manchester United hero Wayne Rooney. They’ve been led in part by ex-Man United prospect D’Mani Mellor and former Hofstra University star Danny Elliott.
Weston-super-Mare come from the National League South and have never finished higher than seventh place in their sixth-tier division. This is the furthest they’ve reached in the FA Cup, and another fun fact is that Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins scored 10 goals for them on loan from Exeter City in 2014-15. Surely they wouldn’t be drawn together here...
FA Cup third round draw results
Here we go!
Wolves vs Shrewsbury Town
Doncaster Rovers vs Southampton
Tottenham Hotspur vs Aston Villa
Port Vale vs Fleetwood Town
Preston North End vs Wigan Athletic
Ipswich Town vs Blackpool
Wrexham AFC vs Nottingham Forest
Charlton Athletic vs Chelsea
Manchester City vs Exeter City
West Ham United vs Queens Park Rangers
Sheffield Wednesday vs Brentford
Fulham vs Middlesbrough
Everton vs Sunderland
Liverpool vs Barnsley
Burnley vs Millwall
Norwich City vs Walsall
Portsmouth vs Arsenal
Derby County vs Leeds United
Swansea City vs West Bromwich Albion
Salford City vs Swindon Town
Boreham Wood vs Brackley Town or Burton Albion
Grimsby Town vs Weston-super-Mare
Hull City vs Blackburn Rovers
Newcastle United vs Bournemouth
MK Dons vs Oxford United
Cheltenham Town vs Leicester City
Cambridge United vs Birmingham City
Bristol City vs Watford
Stoke City vs Coventry City
Macclesfield FC vs Crystal Palace
Manchester United vs Brighton & Hove Albion
Sheffield United vs Mansfield Town
FA Cup third round ball numbers
1. AFC Bournemouth
2. Arsenal
3. Aston Villa
4. Birmingham City
5. Blackburn Rovers
6. Brentford
7. Brighton & Hove Albion
8. Bristol City
9. Burnley
10. Charlton Athletic
11. Chelsea
12. Coventry City
13. Crystal Palace
14. Derby County
15. Everton
16. Fulham
17. Hull City
18. Ipswich Town
19. Leeds United
20. Leicester City
21. Liverpool
22. Manchester City
23. Manchester United
24. Middlesbrough
25. Millwall
26. Newcastle United
27. Norwich City
28. Nottingham Forest
29. Oxford United
30. Portsmouth
31. Preston North End
32. Queens Park Rangers
33. Sheffield United
34. Sheffield Wednesday
35. Southampton
36. Stoke City
37. Sunderland
38. Swansea City
39. Tottenham Hotspur
40. Watford
41. West Bromwich Albion
42. West Ham United
43. Wolverhampton Wanderers
44. Wrexham
45. Macclesfield
46. Grimsby Town
47. Shrewsbury Town
48. Swindon Town
49. Weston-super-Mare
50. Barnsley
51. Boreham Wood
52. Milton Keynes Dons
53. Wigan Athletic
54. Fleetwood Town
55. Salford City
56. Mansfield Town
57. Cambridge United
58. Brackley Town or Burton Albion
59. Blackpool
60. Walsall
61. Exeter City
62. Cheltenham Town
63. Doncaster Rovers
64. Port Vale
How to watch the FA Cup third round draw live: Stream, time, details
Date: Monday, December 8
Time: 1:40pm ET
How to watch, stream: TNT Sports UK YouTube channel
