Arsenal Faces Portsmouth in FA Cup Third Round Showdown

We will kick off our 2025/26 FA Cup campaign with a third-round tie against Portsmouth after the two teams were paired together in tonight’s draw.

Our quest to lift club football’s most famous trophy for a record-extending 15th time in our history will begin against Championship side Pompey, with the tie to take place at Fratton Park.

We last played the south-coast side in the FA Cup in March 2020 when we won 2-0, en route to lifting the silverware in Mikel Arteta’s first season in charge, extending our unbeaten run against Portsmouth in the competition to five games. Portsmouth are currently 22nd in the second tier.

Third-round ties will take place across the weekend of Saturday, January 10, with the date and kick-off time of our fixture to be announced in due course.

Unlike in previous years, there are no replays if matches end as a draw, meaning all ties will go to extra-time and, if necessary, a penalty shootout to determine who makes it through to round four.

Full third-round draw

Boreham Wood v Brackley Town or Burton Albion
Bristol City v Watford
Burnley v Millwall
Cambridge United v Birmingham City
Charlton Athletic v Chelsea
Cheltenham Town v Leicester City
Derby County v Leeds United
Doncaster Rovers v Southampton
Everton v Sunderland
Fulham v Middlesbrough
Grimsby Town v Weston-super-Mare
Hull City v Blackburn Rovers
Ipswich Town v Blackpool
Liverpool v Barnsley
Macclesfield v Crystal Palace
Manchester City v Exeter City
Manchester United v Brighton
MK Dons v Oxford United
Newcastle United v Bournemouth
Norwich City v Walsall
Port Vale v Fleetwood Town
Portsmouth v Arsenal
Preston North End v Wigan Athletic
Salford City v Swindon Town
Sheffield United v Mansfield Town
Sheffield Wed v Brentford
Stoke City v Coventry City
Swansea City v West Bromwich Albion
Tottenham Hotspur v Aston Villa
West Ham United v QPR
Wolves v Shrewsbury Town
Wrexham v Nottingham Forest