With the quarter-finals of the FA Cup set to be completed between March 19-20, all eyes will quickly turn to the tournament semi-finals, and a date at Wembley.
The draw for the semi-finals will be held on Sunday, March 20, just before the last quarter-final to be played between Nottingham Forest and Liverpool.
The semifinal draw will be streamed live and former Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler will do the honors of conducting the draw.
Unlike the previous rounds of the competition, the semi-finals are both staged at Wembley Stadium in London, as has been the new tradition for the past several years.
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When is the FA Cup semi-final draw?
The FA Cup semi-final draw is set for Sunday, March 20 at 1:30 p.m. ET, a half-hour before kickoff of the Nottingham Forest vs. Liverpool quarterfinal.
- Date: Sunday, March 20
- Time: 1:30 p.m. ET
- USA stream: ESPN+
- Canada stream: SportsNet Now Premium
ESPN+ will stream the draw in the USA. SportsNet Now Premium carries the FA Cup in Canada.
The official FA Cup Twitter, Facebook and YouTube channels will also stream the event.
The draw is not seeded and, given that Wembley is a neutral venue, home and away sides will be drawn for administrative purposes only (for matters like bench and jersey assignments).
According to an official communication from the English Football Association, each quarter-final has already been assigned a number ahead of the draw. For FA Cup draws, a number is selected in lieu of a team name:
- 1 — Crystal Palace vs. Everton winner
- 2 — Nottingham Forest vs. Liverpool winner
- 3 — Middlesbrough vs. Chelsea winner
- 4 — Southampton vs. Manchester City winner
Teams in FA Cup semi-finals
The four teams heading to Wembley will be the winners of the four quarter-final matches.
With two Championship teams still in the competition, there’s a possibility of a lower league team reaching the semi-finals, but qualifying will be a tough ask for both given the opposition.
Middlesbrough, in 8th place in the Championship, will be hosting European champions Chelsea on Saturday. The remaining quarter-finals will all take place on Sunday.
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There are two all-Premier League affairs. Crystal Palace host Everton with a trip to Wembley welcomed by either fanbase given it’s their only chance at silverware. Premier League leaders Man City, who are the most recent winners (2019), aim to get past a Southampton team which held them to a draw in in both league meetings this season.
Nottingham Forest will host Liverpool to wrap up the round. Forest have won the trophy twice in their history and, having already knocked off recent FA Cup winners Leicester and Arsenal, they may well feel that a third success isn’t beyond them.
| Club | Division | Tier | FA Cup Titles (last) |
| Middlesbrough | Championship | 2nd | — |
| Chelsea | Premier League | 1st | 8 (2018) |
| Crystal Palace | Premier League | 1st | — |
| Everton | Premier League | 1st | 5 (1995) |
| Southampton | Premier League | 1st | 1 (1976) |
| Man City | Premier League | 1st | 6 (2019) |
| Nottingham Forest | Championship | 2nd | 2 (1959) |
| Liverpool | Premier League | 1st | 7 (2006) |
When are FA Cup semi-finals played?
With the quarter-finals scheduled to wrap on March 20, there will be almost a month before the next round, with the semi-finals slated for the weekend of April 16-17.
The first match will take place on Saturday, April 16, and the second semi-final will follow a day later on Sunday.
Unlike the first two rounds of the competition, the FA Cup semi-finals will not be resorting to a replay if a game is drawn at full time. If the score is level after 90 minutes, the game will continue with 30 minutes of extra time, followed by a penalty-kick shootout if the teams still can’t be separated.
There will then be another gap of just under a month before the final takes place. As is traditional, it is scheduled for mid-May, with the showpiece game expected to go ahead on Saturday, May 14.
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