The FA Cup is the oldest club cup competition in world football history. This historic trophy is unwavering in appeal as it produces iconic David vs. Goliath fixtures where superstars turn up to play on 3G artificial pitches adjacent to supermarkets.
Officially known as the Football Association Challenge Cup, the FA Cup has become a staple in English football. The cup has come a long way in its tenure and is now referred to as the Emirates FA Cup due to sponsorship reasons.
Manchester City hold several records in the competition, having lifted the trophy more times than any other club with an impressive 7 FA Cups to their credit.
With over 120 teams earning the right to compete in the 2023/2024 official rounds it makes for entertaining viewing, and this FA Cup streaming TV guide will explain the options for watching the action live in Australia.
How to watch FA Cup games live in Australia
The official FA Cup season kicks off with the extra preliminary round on 5th August 2023, and will conclude with the Final on the 25th of May, 2024
Here in 2023/24, the live broadcast rights for the FA Cup in Australia belong exclusively to Paramount Plus. All matches from the First Round Proper (4 November) until the last match of the Finals, will be available live on Paramount Plus.
Meaning, that despite Paramount+ affiliation with the Ten Network, there will be no FA Cup games shown live on free to air this season, as 10 Play will be offering only draws, previews and some shortened highlights shows.
Paramount Plus, however, will be streaming every FA Cup match live in all five Proper Rounds and the Finals (see fixtures table), with select live matches made available during the qualifying stage.
The live coverage on Paramount+ extends to every FA Cup Round Replay, which occur when the proper round match ends in a draw.
| Provider | FA Cup | Streaming Live |
|---|---|---|
| Paramount Plus | Every match in all 5 official Proper Rounds and round replays in 2023/24, as well as the finals shown LIVE | Yes – 7 days free |
| beIN Sports | None | N/A |
| Foxtel/Kayo | None | N/A |
| Optus Sports | None | N/A |
In addition to the FA Cup, Paramount+ are the exclusive Australian providers of live EPL pre-season matches, and every game of the 2023/24 Men’s A-League season.
Is the the FA Cup live on TV in Australia today?
The Australian TV fixtures with dates and start times (AEST) for the next scheduled round of FA Cup matches can be found in the table below. Every match starting from the First Round Proper until the Finals will be available live on Paramount+.
Currently, forty-teams will advance from the previous round, which includes nine teams which won their replay matches. During the Third Round there will be teams joining from the English Premier League (EPL) and EFL Championship.
These live TV fixtures will be updated after each round of play concludes, and the new matches and broadcasts times are confirmed.
| Date | Quarter Finals | Time (AEST) |
|---|---|---|
| Sun, 21 Apr | Manchester City v Chelsea | 2:15am |
| Mon, 22 Apr | Coventry v Man United | 12:30am |
Stream every FA Cup match Live with Paramount+
Paramount Plus is now the exclusive Emirates FA Cup provider in Australia, and will broadcast every match in each Proper Round live, starting from the 7th of November. This live coverage also includes the seven games that make up the Finals series.
Fortunately for FA Cup fans, Paramount Plus is quite affordable, with memberships starting at $9.99 per month, and they currently have a 7 day free trial for new customers.
Streaming with Paramount+ is also quite convenient, as they are available on a range of devices including desktop, iOS, Android, Apple TV 4, Android TV, Chromecast, Fetch, and Telstra TV.
Watch FA Cup highlights and draws free on 10 Play
FeaturedWhile 10 Play will no longer be providing live FA Cup matches, the streaming app will have all the draws, previews and round highlights shows from the third Round forward.
Simply visit 10 Play on-demand or download the app, and start enjoying these free FA Cup features on your favourite mobile device today.
The previews and highlights are generally less than 30 minutes each, so don’t expect to see a lot of what makes the FA Cup one of the most popular Football tournaments in the world.
FA Cup fixtures and TV schedule
| FA Cup Rounds | Match Dates (GMT) |
|---|---|
| Extra Preliminary Round | Saturday 5 August 2023 |
| Preliminary Round | Saturday 19 August 2023 |
| First Round Qualifying | Saturday 2 September 2023 |
| Second Round Qualifying | Saturday 16 September 2023 |
| Third Round Qualifying | Saturday 30 September 2023 |
| Fourth Round Qualifying | Saturday 14 October 2023 |
| First Round Proper | Saturday 4 November 2023 |
| Second Round Proper | Saturday 2 December 2023 |
| Third Round Proper | Saturday 6 January 2024 |
| Fourth Round Proper | Saturday 27 January 2024 |
| Fifth Round Proper | Wednesday 28 February 2024 |
| Quarter-Final | Saturday 16 March 2024 |
| Semi-Final | Saturday 20 April 2024 |
| FA Cup Final | Saturday 25 May 2024 |
Which teams will compete in the FA Cup this year?
This question should really be, who doesn’t compete in the FA Cup? Over 700 clubs participate in the initial qualifying rounds; before being whittled down to 124 in the main competition.
The ‘third round proper’ is when the big name teams enter competition with all 20 Premier League and 24 Championship clubs coming in at this point. An interesting point to remember is that some Welsh clubs like Cardiff City, Swansea City and Wrexham play in this competition too.
Leicester City rose to prominence after winning the Premier League in the 2016/17; but more recently won the FA Cup; defeating Chelsea 1-0 in the final courtesy of a Youri Tielemans goal.
Football to watch after the FA Cup
Once the latest round of FA Cup games are over and you’re still looking for a football fix, there are plenty of other options when it comes to watching the ‘beautiful game’ live across a number of sports streaming services.
A-League
The current A-League season is also available to watch with a Paramount Plus subscription. Paramount will have every game available to watch Live and On Demand, for a total of 26 rounds of action, plus the Finals which will kick off from the 5th of May, 2024.
English Premier League
If you want to watch the biggest teams in England play each and every week across the season, then Optus Sport is the place to be. They have exclusive rights to the live EPL, where you can see stars like Mo Salah, Kevin De Brunye and Harry Kane do what they do best.
Spanish La Liga
Home to two of football’s giant clubs, Barcelona and Real Madrid, the Spanish La Liga is one of the best domestic soccer leagues in Europe. You can watch games every week in 2023 Live or On Demand with Optus Sport.
Best free trials for watching Football
These days football is spread across a number of providers, meaning that you will need a number of sports streaming subscriptions to stay right on top of the action. Check out some of the best trials and deals to watch football below.
