Last updated on January 12th, 2023
When you are following the English football season, you may notice that the English teams are playing 2 different cup competitions: the FA Cup and EFL Cup.
Why are there 2 different domestic cups in England, and how are they different?
Here’s what you need to know:
Contents
The difference between the FA Cup and the EFL Cup
The FA Cup is the older cup competition in England, and consists of a larger number of English football teams (736). Meanwhile, the EFL Cup (or League Cup) started 89 years later and only consists of 92 teams from the Premier League and the EFL.
Here is an in-depth explanation about the difference between these 2 competitions:
Competition format
Both competitions follow a knockout tournament format. This means that the losing team will be eliminated from the competition, while the winners will progress to the next round.
This is quite different from the Premier League, which follows a double round-robin format. This means that every team in the Premier League will play against all other 19 teams, both home and away.
In the Premier League, it is all about being consistent, and you can still afford to lose some matches. However, for the FA Cup, you will need to ensure that you win every match!
You can view my comparison between the Premier League and the FA Cup to find out more about these differences.
Eligible teams
The FA Cup includes teams all the way from tier 10 of English football to the Premier League. As such, there are many more teams that compete in the FA Cup (736).
Meanwhile, the EFL Cup only consists of teams from the Premier League and the English Football League (EFL). Only 92 teams are involved, which include:
| Competition | Number of Teams |
|---|---|
| Premier League | 20 |
| EFL Championship | 24 |
| EFL League One | 24 |
| EFL League Two | 24 |
Due to this restriction for the teams in the EFL Cup, there are lesser chances of having any huge upsets in this tournament.
Nevertheless, there have been quite a few upsets, such as when Arsenal lost to Bradford City in the 2012/13 League Cup Quarter-Finals!
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Frequency and duration of competition
Both the EFL Cup and the FA Cup occur every season as part of the English football calendar.
The EFL Cup has fewer number of rounds (7) compared to the FA Cup, which has 14 rounds. This is due to the FA Cup having many more teams compared to the EFL Cup!
Interestingly, the EFL Cup and the FA Cup start at the same time, in August of the football season. However, the EFL Cup usually ends around February in the next year of the football season.
Meanwhile, the FA Cup ends much later in May. The FA Cup final is usually held after the last match of the Premier League.
Round which the Premier League clubs enter
For the FA Cup, the Premier League teams will start to play in the Third Round. This is when there are 32 teams left in the FA Cup.
Meanwhile, the round in which the Premier League clubs enter the EFL Cup differs based on their Europe qualification in the previous season.
Clubs that did not qualify for the Champions League or the Europa League will enter the EFL Cup in Round Two. Meanwhile, those that qualified for Europe will enter the EFL Cup in Round Three.
By only entering in Round Three, this helps to reduce the number of matches your team needs to play!
Replays and extra time
For the EFL Cup, matches will go straight to penalties in the first 5 rounds if the scores are level after 90 minutes.
This is because the EFL wanted to reduce the fatigue of players by cutting out the extra 30 minutes of play.
However, when your team is playing in the semi-finals and the final, there will be extra time first before penalties.
This format is different from the FA Cup.
The Fourth Round of the FA Cup contains 32 teams, which is two rounds before the quarter finals.
You can learn more about penalty shootouts here.
Double-legged ties
The EFL Cup has double-legged ties in the semi-finals. This means that the teams will play two matches in the semi-finals: both home and away.
The European competitions used to have the away goals rule, which made their 2-legged ties more exciting. However, away goals do not count in the EFL Cup.
Here were the highlights for the second-leg semi-final match between Tottenham and Chelsea in the 2018/19 EFL Cup.
Meanwhile, the FA Cup does not have any double-legged ties for the semi-finals.
The only time that it has double-legged ties would be if the FA Cup match ends in a draw up till the Fourth Round.
Stadium hosting the final match
For the finals of both of these cup competitions, they are hosted in Wembley Stadium.
Wembley is the current national stadium of the English national football team.
It would be a dream for most players to be able to play in this prestigious stadium!
Prizes for winning competition
Here are some of the prizes that your team will receive when they win either cup:
| FA Cup | EFL Cup | |
|---|---|---|
| Prize money | Higher | Lower |
| Europe qualification | Europa League | Conference League |
| FA Community Shield? | Yes | No |
The prize money is considerably less for winning the EFL Cup compared to the FA Cup. This may be a reason why the top Premier League teams may not be playing their full-strength teams in these cup matches.
Instead, the top teams in the Premier League usually play their youth players or reserves during the EFL Cup matches.
This could also be due to the extremely congested schedule that these Premier League teams have.
The winners of the FA Cup will play in the Europa League, while the winners of the EFL Cup will be playing in the UEFA Conference League.
The Conference League is considered to be the 3rd tier of European football.
This is slightly different compared to other leagues like the Bundesliga or Serie A, where the 6th placed team will play in the Europa Conference League.
By winning either trophy, your team will be able to play in Europe! However, the ‘tier’ that you play in depends on which trophy you win.
Verdict
Here is a summarised comparison between the FA Cup and the EFL Cup.
| FA Cup | EFL Cup | |
|---|---|---|
| Competition format | Knockout | Knockout |
| Eligible teams | Premier League to Tier 10 | Premier League to EFL League Two |
| Frequency | Annually | Annually |
| Duration | 14 rounds | 7 rounds |
| Period | Aug – May | Aug – Feb |
| Round which Premier League clubs enter | Third Round | Round Two / Three |
| Replays | Present | Absent |
| Extra time | From Fifth Round onwards | Only for semi- finals and final |
| Double-legged ties | Absent | Present (Only for semi-final) |
| Stadium hosting the final | Wembley | Wembley |
| Prize money | Higher | Lower |
| Europe qualification | Europa League | Conference League |
| Entry to FA Community Shield? | Yes | No |
As such, there are quite a few differences between these cups!
Is the FA Cup the same as the Carabao Cup?
The FA Cup is a separate competition from the Carabao Cup. The EFL (or League) Cup was named the Carabao Cup due to sponsorship reasons, and the EFL Cup is a separate competition from the FA Cup.
The English football season has both of these cups, and they are 2 separate competitions from each other!
Is the EFL Cup the same as the Carabao Cup?
The EFL Cup is currently known as the Carabao Cup due to sponsorship reasons ever since the 2017-18 season.
Here are the different titles that the League Cup has had ever since its inception in 1960:
| Year | Sponsor | Name of Cup |
|---|---|---|
| 1960–61 to 1980–81 | No main title sponsor | Football League Cup |
| 1981–82 to 1985–86 | Milk Marketing Board | Milk Cup |
| 1986–87 to 1989–90 | Littlewoods | Littlewoods Challenge Cup |
| 1990–91 to 1991–92 | Rumbelows | Rumbelows Cup |
| 1992–93 to 1997–98 | Coca-Cola | Coca-Cola Cup |
| 1998–99 to 2002–03 | Worthington’s | Worthington Cup |
| 2003–04 to 2011–12 | Molson Coors/Carling | Carling Cup |
| 2012–13 to 2015–16 | Capital One | Capital One Cup |
| 2016–17 | No main title sponsor | EFL Cup |
| 2017–18 onwards | Carabao | Carabao Cup |
You can see that the League Cup has had quite a few different names throughout the years!
This is similar to how the Premier League was previously known as the Barclays Premier League.
Why is there both a League Cup and FA Cup?
The FA Cup is governed by the Football Association, while the League Cup is organised by the English Football League (EFL). Due to the presence of 2 governing bodies in English football, has resulted in 2 different cup competitions that English teams will play in.
The Football Association and the English Football League are 2 separate associations that are involved in English football. The Football Association governs the professional clubs that are involved in English football competitions.
Meanwhile, the English Football League only governs the 3 leagues which are immediately below the Premier League:
- EFL Championship
- EFL League One
- EFL League Two
In fact, the League Cup (or EFL Cup) was started due to a disagreement between the EFL and the FA!
While this has added an extra competition that a team can win, it adds more matches to an already congested schedule.
This may be the reason why some of the bigger teams choose to rotate their players and field their reserves for these matches.
Which is more prestigious: the FA Cup or EFL Cup?
The FA Cup can be considered the more prestigious trophy compared to the EFL Cup, especially due to its long history. Furthermore, winning the FA Cup grants you a place in the UEFA Europa League, while your team will only enter the UEFA Conference League by winning the EFL Cup.
Due to both the higher prize money and greater prestige of the Europa League compared to the Europa Conference League, the FA Cup is the competition with greater prestige.
Furthermore, if your team wins the FA Cup, they will be able to play in the FA Community Shield.
The FA Community Shield is seen to be the curtain raiser to mark the start of the English football season.
Since your team is able to receive much better prizes when they win the FA Cup, it may be considered the cup with greater prestige compared to the EFL Cup.
Conclusion
The EFL Cup and the FA Cup are different cup competitions that form a part of the English football season. There are some slight differences between these 2 cups, especially for the number of clubs that they include.
Although these 2 cups are present, the FA Cup may be considered to be the more prestigious trophy.
This could be due to the FA Cup’s long history, as well as the better prizes you’ll receive for winning it!
You can find out if the EFL Cup can be considered a major trophy here.
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