Wembley Stadium awaits Chelsea and Manchester United on Sunday as they compete for the final piece of domestic silverware available this season – the Women’s FA Cup.
United beat Tottenham Hotspur in last year’s final to lift their first-ever major trophy, and tzsurpassed expectations this season by taking the race for second in the Women’s Super League right to the wire, only to finish third following a 4-3 final-day defeat to Arsenal.
But securing Champions League qualification ahead of Manchester City was a huge boost for Marc Skinner’s side, and more silverware would cap a campaign of progress.
But Chelsea are looking to complete a famous domestic treble, having beaten Man City 2-1 in the League Cup final before swatting aside the competition in the WSL.
They completed the first-ever unbeaten 22-game season in the WSL, winning 19 times and drawing on three occasions, while setting a new points record with 60.
Sonia Bompastor’s first season at the club may not have brought European glory, but her predecessor Emma Hayes only managed the domestic clean sweep on one occasion.
Will Bomasptor’s Blues repeat the trick? Here, we run through the best Opta facts in our FA Cup final preview.
Third time’s the charm
Bompastor had a tough act to follow when she took the reins, with the legacy of Hayes’ 12-year tenure looming large.
However, the former Lyon boss has risen to the occasion and despite the disappointment of a heavy Champions League semi-final defeat to Barcelona, she can be delighted with her first campaign at the helm.
Bompastor could become only the third coach in the WSL era to win a domestic treble, after Laura Harvey did so with Arsenal in 2011 (WSL, FA Cup, WSL Cup) and Hayes with Chelsea in 2020-21 (WSL, FA Cup, League Cup).
Chelsea were also the most recent side to win both domestic cups in the same season, as part of their 2020-21 treble. That campaign, they beat Bristol City in the League Cup final and Arsenal in the FA Cup showpiece.
Bompastor could also end a long wait for a non-British manager to win the FA Cup, with Spain’s Pedro Martinez Losa the most recent to do so with Arsenal in 2016 – beating Chelsea in the final.
The Frenchwoman has won all four of her domestic finals as a manager overall, three with Lyon and one with Chelsea, who are competing in their eighth Women’s FA Cup final.
The Blues have won five of their previous seven, hoisting the trophy aloft in 2015, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023.
Only Arsenal (14 times), Southampton (eight) and Doncaster Rovers Belles (six) have won the competition more often.
Red Devils mount cup defence
Sunday’s final is unlikely to be a formality for the Blues, however. Buoyed by last year’s success in this competition, Skinner’s United will be desperate to go back-to-back.
United have reached their third Women’s FA Cup final in as many years, and they are the first team from outside London to reach the final in three consecutive seasons since Liverpool did so between 1994 and 1996.
The Red Devils lost to Chelsea in 2023 before beating Tottenham Hotspur 4-0 to get their hands on the cup last year.
Hayes (seven) is the only manager that has reached the FA Cup final more often in the WSL era than Skinner (four including 2025). He was also a runner-up with Birmingham City in 2017.
United have reached this final having scored 18 goals and conceded just once in their four matches in the 2024-25 competition, beating West Brom 7-0, Wolves 6-0, Sunderland 3-1 and Manchester City 2-0.
Only three WSL teams have reached the final with a better goal difference than United’s +17 – Arsenal in 2020-21 (+26), Chelsea in 2017-18 (+21) and Man City in 2021-22 (+18).
Finals can often be cagey affairs, and Sunday’s match features the two best defences from the WSL this season.
Chelsea were the only team to concede fewer goals in 2024-25 (13) than United (16), and the most recent meeting between the sides featured just a single goal.
When they faced off in the WSL in late April, Chelsea won 1-0 to clinch the title. In a tightly contested affair, United were profligate in front of goal, having 16 shots but only getting five on target and failing to hit the net.
They created 1.8 expected goals (xG), bettering Chelsea’s figure of 1.3 xG from 11 attempts (six on target). United also had four big chances compared to three for Chelsea, but Lucy Bronze’s second-half header proved decisive.
Positive omens for Blues
This will be third Women’s FA Cup meeting between Chelsea and United, with the Blues winning 1-0 in the 2023 final before the Red Devils earned revenge in last season’s semi-finals, winning 2-1.
Chelsea have won 13 of their last 15 meetings with United in all competitions (one draw, one loss), with the Red Devils losing more games to the Blues (13) than any other opponent since they became a WSL club in 2019.
United have had 10 different goalscorers in the tournament so far this season, with Celin Bizet (four goals) their most prolific player.
Bizet has been involved in the most goals among WSL players in this season’s FA Cup, scoring (four) or assisting (two) on all three of her appearances in the competition, including netting a semi-final winner against rivals Manchester City.
Chelsea, meanwhile, have scored the third-most goals in the 2024-25 FA Cup (11, behind both United and Aston Villa – 12), though they have had the most shots (101).
Bompastor’s team will threaten from multiple areas as they have had nine different goalscorers, with only Aggie Beever-Jones and Mayra Ramirez (both two) scoring more than once in the competition for them this campaign.
Chelsea have conceded just twice and kept two clean sheets in their four matches en route to the final. They have created 11.7 expected goals (xG) in the FA Cup, only slightly underperforming those underlying figures.
Who, then, will be the hero?
Ella Toone scored the opening goal in United’s 4-0 win over Tottenham in last year’s FA Cup final, before Rachel Williams doubled their lead.
The only previous English player to score in consecutive finals in the WSL era is Georgia Stanway, who did so for Manchester City in 2019 and 2020.
If United are to deny Chelsea a famous treble, they may just need Toone or Williams to replicate last year’s heroics.
