The curtain rises on the Copa del Rey
The draw for the first knockout round of the Copa del Rey is due to take place on Thursday 10 October at 13.00 in the Luis Aragonés Hall at the Ciudad del Fútbol.
The road to Copa glory is about to begin. 110 teams take to the field in the first knockout round of the Copa del Rey, in which ten teams from the regional leagues will face teams from the Primera División. The 55 competitive matches in the first knockout round ties will be announced at the draw to be held on Thursday 10 October at 13.00 in the Luis Aragones Hall at the Ciudad del Fútbol in Las Rozas.
The draw for the first round of the Copa del Rey can be followed live on the RFEF's official social media channels and on the website rfef.es.
This first event will involve 110 teams out of the 115 participating in 55 competitive matches. The reigning Primera Federación champions (RC Deportivo de la Coruña) are exempt from playing in this first knockout round, as are the four Primera División clubs (Athletic Club, Real Madrid CF, RCD Mallorca and FC Barcelona), who begin their Cup journey in the round of the Last 32. A right they earned as participants in the Spanish Super Cup.
Dynamics of the draw
The pairings will be drawn from pots, pitting the lower-ranked clubs against the higher-ranked ones as much as possible. Seven pots will be used for the draw, each of which will include the 16 First Division teams, the 21 Second Division teams, the 16 First Federation teams, the 35 Second Federation teams, the 8 Third Federation teams, the 4 Federation Cup semi-finalists and the 10 winning teams from the preliminary qualifying round held on Wednesday, 9 October.
The lowest-ranked team in each round will always be the home team in the round. If the clubs play in the same division, the team whose ball was drawn first will be the home team. The 55 winners and RC Deportivo will participate in the second round of the Cup.
The first knock out round of matches in the Copa del Rey will be held on 29, 30 and 31 October 2024.