Coppa Italia Fixtures, Results and Statistics

Coppa Italia, officially branded Coppa Italia Frecciarossa for sponsorship purposes, is Italy’s primary men’s domestic knockout cup. Organised by Lega Serie A under the jurisdiction of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), it brings together leading clubs from Serie A and Serie B with selected representatives from Serie C.

A national cup with a distinctive place in Italian football

The competition exists to determine Italy’s national cup champion through a knockout route rather than a league table. It gives clubs a separate path to silverware alongside their domestic league campaigns and creates competitive links between different levels of the Italian football pyramid. Although the current structure is designed to deliver high-profile fixtures in the later rounds, its national identity remains central: clubs from outside Serie A can still progress into ties against the country’s strongest teams.

First held in 1922, the Coppa Italia has changed considerably over time. Earlier editions were associated with a broader, more open-entry concept, while the modern tournament uses a deliberately streamlined field and a seeding system that places the leading clubs into the competition at a later stage. This evolution reflects the competition’s current balance between access for lower-tier clubs and a commercially attractive route towards major fixtures.

Lega Serie A is responsible for the competition’s regulations, scheduling and commercial administration. The tournament is separate from Serie A, Serie B and Serie C: those are league competitions played over a season, whereas the Coppa Italia is a cup decided by elimination. Its recorded coverage on this page runs from the 2016 season through 2025, spanning ten recorded seasons.

Who enters and how the bracket is formed

The current format features 44 clubs: all 20 Serie A teams, all 20 Serie B teams and four selected Serie C sides. The Serie C places are assigned on sporting merit from the previous campaign, typically involving the runners-up from the three groups and the winner of the Coppa Italia Serie C.

Before the tournament begins, clubs are seeded from 1 to 44 according to their previous-season performance. The eight highest-ranked entrants, often described as the “Big Eight”, receive a bye to the Round of 16. The other teams enter through the preliminary and early rounds, which reduce the field to eight challengers for the seeded clubs.

The bracket is fixed by a pre-tournament draw. The preliminary round involves the lowest-ranked part of the field, after which the remaining early-round ties progressively determine the Round of 16 line-up. From the preliminary stage through the quarter-finals, ties are played over one match. The higher-seeded club generally has home advantage in these rounds, including the Round of 16 and quarter-finals.

Knockout rules and progression

The semi-finals are the only two-legged stage. Each pairing is played home and away, with the aggregate score deciding which club reaches the final. The away-goals rule does not apply, so a team cannot advance by virtue of scoring more away goals when the aggregate scores are level.

Under the rules in force from the 2024–25 season, matches through the quarter-finals go directly to a penalty shoot-out if the score is level after 90 minutes. The semi-finals and final use extra time when required: two 15-minute periods are played before penalties if the teams remain level. In the semi-finals, this applies when the aggregate score is tied after the second leg.

The final is a single match, traditionally staged at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico. It provides the competition’s decisive occasion and crowns the Coppa Italia champion for that edition. The winner receives the official trophy and earns the right to display the Coccarda Tricolore, the Italian tricolour roundel worn on the shirt during the following season as a mark of national cup success.

Calendar, European qualification and wider rewards

The Coppa Italia follows the European football season rather than a calendar-year schedule. Preliminary and first-round fixtures normally begin in August, before or around the opening of the Serie A campaign. The leading eight seeds enter in the winter Round of 16, with the quarter-finals generally following during the winter period. The semi-finals are normally played in spring, leading to the final in May.

The sporting reward extends beyond the trophy. The champion earns direct entry to the UEFA Europa League league phase, providing a route into European competition through the cup. The winner, runner-up and the top two Serie A teams also qualify for the following season’s four-team Supercoppa Italiana, subject to the competition’s qualification arrangements. The Coppa Italia therefore connects domestic knockout success with both European football and Italy’s national super cup.

Its defining feature is the contrast between a fixed, highly seeded modern bracket and the breadth of the clubs it represents. A Serie C entrant may begin in August and face several elimination ties, while one of the eight highest seeds waits until January. That progression gives the competition its characteristic shape: early access for clubs from across the pyramid, followed by increasingly concentrated contests involving Italy’s leading sides.