The FFA Cup’s strange format continues in Round of 16

The odd format for this year's FFA Cup will continue as A-League clubs take centre stage with the first Round of 16 Draw.

COVID-19 restriction have created a number of disruptions this year. Many have been impacted including the FFA Cup.

However, organizers of the competition have found ways around ensuring that the competition would be able to progress, despite the current lockdowns and border restrictions in parts of Australia.

Regional scheduling was originally instituted for the Round of 32, splitting up qualified teams into four regional zones. This allowed the Northern Territory, Queensland (QLD), Western Australia (WA) and South Australia (SA) qualified teams, who were in Zones 2 North and Zone 4 West, to progress and play their next knockout match.

At present all but one of these six Round of 32 encounters have been played, with ECU Joondalup SC facing Adelaide Olympic FC this Wednesday, September 29, 2021.

The FFA Cup will continue after this last currently scheduled Round of 32 match is completed. The organizers have announced that this Zonal play will remain with the five QLD, WA and SA qualified teams facing each other in the Round of 16 as well as the Adelaide City/(Perth Glory versus Melbourne Victory) winner.

The draw for this part of the Round of 16 will occur on Thursday, the 30th of September at 1:30 PM AEST after the ECU Joondalup-Adelaide fixture.

The following teams will be included in this first Round of 16 draw:

Brisbane Roar FC
Gold Coast Knights
Lions FC
Adelaide United
ECU Joondalup/Adelaide Olympic
Adelaide City/ (Winner of Perth Glory v Melbourne Victory)

In total two A-League qualifications for the Round of 32 matches have yet to be played. They are the previously mentioned Perth Glory versus Melbourne City and the Newcastle Jets versus Wellington Phoenix qualifiers.

Alongside those qualifiers, there are another eleven Round of 32 FFA Cup matches currently postponed from Zones 1 and 3.

The postponed Round of 32 match-ups are as follows:

South Melbourne FC v Melbourne City FC
Avondale FC v Devonport City Strikers
Hume City FC v Port Melbourne Sharks SC
Adelaide City FC v Perth Glory/Melbourne Victory
Sydney Olympics FC v Sydney FC
Broadmeadow Magic FC v Western Sydney Wanderers FC
Tigers FC v APIA Leichhardt FC
Blacktown City FC v Central Coast Mariners
Mount Druitt Town Rangers FC v Wollongong Wolves
Newcastle Olympic FC v Macarthur FC
Western United/Newcastle Jets v Wellington Phoenix

All FFA Cup matches from Round of 32 onwards are broadcast via 10 play. The draw will be broadcast on the FFA Cup Facebook and the My Football Youtube.