The FA Cup third-round draw will bring Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, and all other Premier League clubs into the competition, adding extra excitement to the festive knockout stage.
The draw marks a major milestone in the English football calendar, as teams from the Premier League and the Championship enter the fray. Arsenal, Chelsea, and Spurs are among the high-profile clubs joining Crystal Palace as they defend the trophy, while the 64-team field expands to include clubs from the top two divisions, alongside two sixth-tier teams guaranteed to make the round due to weekend non-league ties.
All eyes will be on potential glamour ties and payday fixtures, since high-profile matchups can deliver meaningful financial boosts for smaller clubs. Here are the key details about the FA Cup third round, including when and how the draw takes place and the full list of ball numbers.
Sky Sports has reduced the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle for the 2025/26 season, enabling fans to access more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL, and beyond, with at least 215 live Premier League games this season—an expansion of up to 100 matches.
The third-round draw is scheduled for Monday, December 8, around 6:40 p.m. UK time. Peter Crouch and Joe Cole will conduct the draw ahead of the Brackley Town versus Burton Albion second-round tie.
Fans can watch the draw live on TNT Sports 1 or stream it via the discovery+ app. If a TNT Sports subscription isn’t available, the draw will also be streamed on the TNT Sports YouTube channel. All third-round ties are set to kick off over the weekend of Saturday, January 10.
Ball numbers for the draw are as follows:
- AFC Bournemouth
- Arsenal
- Aston Villa
- Birmingham City
- Blackburn Rovers
- Brentford
- Brighton & Hove Albion
- Bristol City
- Burnley
- Charlton Athletic
- Chelsea
- Coventry City
- Crystal Palace
- Derby County
- Everton
- Fulham
- Hull City
- Ipswich Town
- Leeds United
- Leicester City
- Liverpool
- Manchester City
- Manchester United
- Middlesbrough
- Millwall
- Newcastle United
- Norwich City
- Nottingham Forest
- Oxford United
- Portsmouth
- Preston North End
- Queens Park Rangers
- Sheffield United
- Sheffield Wednesday
- Southampton
- Stoke City
- Sunderland
- Swansea City
- Tottenham Hotspur
- Watford
- West Bromwich Albion
- West Ham United
- Wolverhampton Wanderers
- Wrexham
- Slough Town or Macclesfield Town
- Grimsby Town
- Shrewsbury Town
- Swindon Town
- Weston-super-Mare
- Barnsley
- Boreham Wood or Newport County
- Milton Keynes Dons
- Wigan Athletic
- Fleetwood Town
- Salford City
- Mansfield Town
- Cambridge United
- Brackley Town or Burton Albion
- Blackpool or Carlisle United
- Gateshead or Walsall
- Exeter City
- Cheltenham Town
- Doncaster Rovers
- Port Vale
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