The 2026 Nigeria Federation Cup was the 78th edition of the Nigeria Federation Cup, the nation's oldest knockout football tournament. The tournament began with the National playoffs on 6 May. Defending champions Kwara United were eliminated at the round of 32 by Sokoto United.
The format remained the same with 70 clubs qualifying as finalists from 34 state tournaments held across the states of Nigeria and the FCT. Taraba State and Yobe State failed to enter a team.
El-Kanemi Warriors defeated Ikorodu City 1–0 in the final to win their fourth title.
Format The competition is a single elimination knockout tournament featuring the 70 finalists of each state tournaments plus the FCT. The 12 weakest clubs entered the national play-off round, whereafter the winners joined the remaining 58 teams at the main tournament. All matches are played at neutral stadiums.
Matches are played 90 minutes with tied games going straight to penalties.
The final was held at the Stephen Keshi Stadium in Asaba.
Schedule
The rounds of the 2026 competition were scheduled as follows:
Round Matches National play-offs 6 May 2026 Draw 15 May 2026 Round of 64 19–21 May 2026 Round of 32 1 June 2026 Round of 16 6 June 2026 Quarter-finals 11 June 2026 Semi-finals 17 June 2026 Final 11 July 2026
State tournament finals StateWinnerScoreRunners-upAbiaAdamawaAkwa-IbomAnambraBauchiBayelsa BenueBornoDeltaEbonyiEdoEkitiEnuguGombeImoJigawaKadunaKanoKatsinaKebbiKogiKwaraLagosNasarawaNigerOgun OndoOsunOyoPlateauRiversSokotoZamfaraFCT
National play-offs All matches were played on 6 May.
Round of 64
Matches were played from 19th to 21st May 2026.
|colspan=3|19 May 2026
|colspan=3|20 May 2026
|colspan=3|21 May 2026
Round of 32 Matches were played on 1 June.
Round of 16 Matches were played on 6 June.
Quarter-final Matches were played on 11 June.
Semi-final Both matches were played on 17 June.
Final The final sees three-time champions El-Kanemi Warriors, competing in their second final in three years face the previous edition semifinalists Ikorodu City.
See also 2026 Nigeria Women's Federation Cup 2025–26 Nigeria Premier Football League 2025–26 Nigeria National League 2025–26 NWFL Premiership
References