The Football Association Challenge Cup, better known as the FA Cup, is the oldest association football (soccer) tournament in the world. Contested by 732 teams across the top 9 divisions of the English football pyramid, along with a few from the tenth, the winner of the final at Wembley Stadium will earn a place in next year's Europa League. Manchester City is the defending champion, after defeating crosstown rival Manchester United in last year's final.
This is the largest contest ever undertaken by The Legion, and here is the format. Our contest starts with the third round proper, where teams from the Premier League and EFL Championship (the top two divisions) enter. All matches are randomly drawn each round, and draws are replayed with new matches (you'll be allowed to change your pick for replays). A second tied score will result in extra time and a penalty shootout, as necessary. The third round has 64 teams, and it's a straight knockout tournament from there on out. The point structure will be determined as we go along, but at least the third and fourth rounds (our first two) will be worth 1 point per match.
This contest is part of the 2023-24 Legion Cup. Due to its massive size, it will award a prize of 3 slot-equivalents, making this a double points contest. Points will also be awarded for the Football/Soccer and Global Cups.
Here are the matches for the third round:
| Home Div. | Home Team | Home Abbr. | Away Div. | Away Team | Away Abbr. |
| 1 | Crystal Palace | CRY | 1 | Everton | EVE |
| 1 | Brentford | BRE | 1 | Wolverhampton | WOL |
| 1 | Fulham | FUL | 2 | Rotherham United | ROT |
| 1 | Tottenham | TOT | 1 | Burnley | BUR |
| 4 | AFC Wimbledon | WIM | 2 | Ipswich Town | IPS |
| 2 | Millwall | MIL | 2 | Leicester City | LEI |
| 2 | Coventry City | COV | 3 | Oxford United | OXF |
| 6 | Maidstone United | MAI | 3 | Stevenage | STE |
| 2 | Sunderland | SUN | 1 | Newcastle United | NEW |
| 2 | Stoke City | STO | 1 | Brighton & Hove Albion | BHA |
| 2 | Norwich City | NOR | 3 | Bristol Rovers | BRI |
| 2 | Southamption | SOU | 4 | Walsall | WAL |
| 2 | Watford | WAT | 5 | Chesterfield | CHS |
| 2 | Blackburn Rovers | BLB | 3 | Cambridge United | CAM |
| 4 | Gillingham | GIL | 1 | Sheffield United | SHU |
| 2 | Queens Park Rangers | QPR | 1 | Bournemouth | BOU |
| 2 | Plymouth Argyle | PLY | 4 | Sutton United | SUT |
| 4 | Newport County | NC | 5 | Eastleigh | EAS |
| 2 | Hull City | HUL | 2 | Birmingham City | BIR |
| 2 | Middlesbrough | MID | 1 | Aston Villa | AVL |
| 2 | Sheffield Wednesday | SHW | 2 | Cardiff City | CAR |
| 2 | Swansea City | SWA | 4 | Morecambe | MOR |
| 1 | Chelsea | CHL | 2 | Preston North End | PNE |
| 1 | Luton Town | LUT | 3 | Bolton Wanderers | BOL |
| 3 | Shrewsbury Town | SHR | 4 | Wrexham | WRE |
| 1 | West Ham United | WHU | 2 | Bristol City | BRC |
| 2 | West Bromwich Albion | WBA | 5 | Aldershot Town | ALD |
| 3 | Peterborough United | PET | 2 | Leeds United | LEE |
| 1 | Nottingham Forest | NFO | 3 | Blackpool | BLA |
| 1 | Manchester City | MCI | 2 | Huddersfield Town | HUD |
| 1 | Arsenal | ARS | 1 | Liverpool | LIV |
| 3 | Wigan Athletic | WIG | 1 | Manchester United | MUN |
Due to the sheer number of matches, this contest is an exception to the usual rule that picks are due at the start of the event being picked. Crystal Palace vs. Everton picks are due on January 4 at 2 PM. The next three matches listed above (i.e. through Tottenham vs. Burnley) are due January 5 at 1:15 PM. Wigan vs. Manchester United is due January 8 at 2:15 PM. The remaining matches are due on January 6 at 6:30 AM.
Good luck to all in this experiment.