Seven seasons of the current format King’s Cup They are suitable for many cases. And 2025/2026 is offering the first cup tournament without Primera RFEF teams -or the old Second B- in the round of 16 since the implementation of the new format in the 2019/2020 academic year. Although paradoxically it is the year with the most Second Division teams in the round of 16: five classified out of 16, and waiting to see if the Granada complete the fight before him Rayo Vallecano.
Ourense, Real Murcia, Eldense, Guadalajara, Talavera de la Reina and even Atlético Balearesfrom the Second RFEF, were not able to extend their dream and succumbed to the logic of the Spanish football ladder. They fought a lot, but the details marked them to fall and leave the Copa del Rey less democratized since the implementation of the current format.
Except in the 2022/2023 season, with that great participation of the AD Ceutathe Spanish Copa del Rey had always left at least two stories of Primera RFEF clubs that sneaked into the round of 16 of the KO tournament.
The first edition of 2019/2020 revealed the stories of Badajoz and Cultural and Sports Leonesawhich were seconded in 20/21 by the Navalcarnero and the historic Alcoyano that eliminated the almighty Real Madrid.
Atlético Baleares, Ceuta and Unionistas de Salamanca They continued to support the name of the First RFEF for the next three seasons, to give way to the great work of the Galician tandem of Pontevedra and Ourense in the 2024/2025 academic year. A nice list of stories that stopped the Copa del Rey 2025/2026 in its tracks.
The fairy tales of the most humble have fallen on the shore of the round of 16 of a King’s Cup that has finished imposing the voracity of a format that still has many reticent voices because it is not pure, even more so this year in which the clubs of Spanish Super Cup They maintain the priority of confrontations in the round of 16.
Despite the disappearance of the First RFEF teams, the Second Division has given its chest with its greatest participation in the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey of the current format. Albacete, Cultural, Racing de Santander, Burgos and Sports They have achieved the best performance in the silver category after defeating greats like Villarreal, Celta de Vigo, Getafe and Mallorca.
And if he Granada eliminates the Rayo Vallecano The count can go up to six Second Divisions and leave the First Division teams with just ten members, figures that have not been seen since the 2019/2020 season.
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The King’s Cup It is the tournament of opportunities for humble teams to show themselves to the general public, get a good box office and feel that they can compete against anyone, although the 2025/2026 season has knocked a Primera RFEF which, for the first time, will be unprecedented in the round of 16 since 2019/2020.
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