About the Russian Cup

After the collapse of the Soviet Union the Russian Cup replaced the Soviet Cup as Russia’s knockout competition. From the first edition in 1993 until 2007 it was open only to professional clubs, after which amateur clubs were allowed to enter providing they passed Professional Football League certification. 

Lokomotiv Moscow are the most successful side in the competition’s history with eight wins from nine appearances in the final. In fact in all but seven of the 27 Russian Cup campaigns the trophy has been won by a Moscow club. Twenty-two different teams have competed in the final of the competition, although only seven have made more than one appearance. 

All finals before 2010 were held in Moscow (in 2009 Khimki Arena in the outskirts of the capital hosted the showpiece event) with the Luzhniki, RZD Arena, Dynamo Stadium and Torpedo Stadium sharing the honour. Since then the final has been hosted across the country.

The competition is in a straight knockout system with around 100 entrants each season. Amateur and third-tier PFL professional clubs enter in the first, second and third rounds, while second-tier Football National League (FNL) teams enter in the fourth round. In the fifth round the RPL sides enter, and just like FNL sides in the previous round, they are always drawn away from home in their first tie.

Other than minor temporary alterations the format hasn’t changed much over the years. All ties up to the semi-finals are single-leg encounters, although in between 2005 and 2007 the fifth round onwards were held over two legs. There are no replays, with extra-time and penalties used to decide winners if scores are level after 90 minutes. A brief experiment with the golden goal rule (which meant the first team to score in extra time was declared the winner) was scrapped after one season in 2003.

The winner of the Russian Cup qualifies directly to the group stages of the Europa League as well as keeping the trophy temporarily until the following campaign. If the Cup winner has already qualified through their league placement, the highest ranked side in the RPL not to have already qualified for the Europa League earns the spot instead.

Akhmat Grozny remain the only side from outside the top flight to have won the Russian Cup after their last-minute extra-time win in 2004 over Krylia Sovetov Samara. Any side that wins the competition five times - or three times in a row - is granted the honour of keeping the original trophy permanently. To date, only Lokomotiv Moscow and CSKA Moscow have achieved this feat.