The 2022–23 Copa del Rey was the 121st staging of the Copa del Rey (including two seasons where two rival editions were played), the oldest official football competition in Spain. The winners of the competition would have automatically qualified for the 2023–24 UEFA Europa League group stage; however, as Real Madrid had already qualified for European competition via league standings, their place was passed down to the sixth-placed team in La Liga and the UEFA Europa Conference League spot reserved for the sixth-placed team was awarded to the team who finished seventh in the league. Both the winners and runners-up qualified for the four-team 2024 Supercopa de España.
Real Betis were the defending champions, having beaten Valencia on penalties in the previous edition's final, but were eliminated in the round of 16 by Osasuna. Osasuna would go on to reach the 2023 final, where they lost 2–1 to Real Madrid. For Madrid, this was their twentieth Copa del Rey title, and first since 2014.[1]
As across Spain, match times up to 30 October 2022 and from 26 March 2023 were CEST (UTC+2). Times on interim ("winter") days were CET (UTC+1). Matches played in the Canary Islands used the WET (UTC±00:00).
Schedule and format
In the summer of 2022, the RFEF released the calendar of the competition and confirmed the format of the previous season would remain.[2]
New entries: All qualified teams except for the four participants in the Supercopa de España and champions of the 2021–22 Primera División RFEF. Opponents seeding: Teams from lowest divisions faced La Liga teams. Local team seeding: Matches were played at home stadiums of teams in lower divisions. Knock-out tournament type:Single match.
Second round
16 November 2022
20–22 December 2022
28
56 → 28
New entries:2021–22 Primera División RFEF champions entered at this stage. Opponents seeding: Teams from lowest divisions face La Liga teams. Local team seeding: Matches were played at home stadiums of teams in lower divisions. Knock-out tournament type:Single match.
Round of 32
23 December 2022
3–5 January 2023
16
32 → 16
New entries: Clubs participating in the Supercopa de España entered at this stage. Opponents seeding: Teams from lowest divisions faced La Liga teams. Local team seeding: Matches were played at home stadiums of teams in lower divisions. Knock-out tournament type:Single match.
Round of 16
7 January 2023
17–19 January 2023
8
16 → 8
Opponents seeding: Teams from lowest divisions faced La Liga teams. Local team seeding: Matches were played at home stadiums of teams in lower divisions. Knock-out tournament type:Single match.
Quarter-finals
20 January 2023
25-26 January 2023
4
8 → 4
Opponents seeding: Luck of the draw. Local team seeding: Matches were played at home stadiums of teams in lower divisions. Knock-out tournament type:Single match.
Semi-finals
30 January 2023
1-2 March 2023
2
4 → 2
Opponents seeding: Luck of the draw. Local team seeding: Luck of the draw. Knock-out tournament type:Double match.
^Amigó did not play the game in their main stadium Colegio Luis Amigó, Aranguren, as it did not meet the broadcasting requirements.
First round
The first round was played by 110 of the 115 qualified teams, with the exceptions being the four participants of the 2023 Supercopa de España and Primera RFEF champions. The ten winners from the previous preliminary round were paired with ten teams from La Liga. The four Copa Federación semi-finalists were drawn with the other four teams from La Liga, and the last two La Liga teams were drawn with the teams from the Tercera RFEF. The last five teams from the Tercera RFEF were paired with five teams from the Segunda División. The last fifteen teams from Segunda División were paired with fifteen teams from the Segunda RFEF. Finally, the nineteen teams from the Segunda RFEF were paired with the nineteen teams from the Primera RFEF.
A total of 55 games were played on 12 and 13 November 2022.
Draw
The draw was held on 24 October 2022. Teams were divided into seven pots.[22]
Stadium: Espiñedo Referee: Juan Luis Pulido Santana
Notes
^Barbadás did not play the game in their main stadium Os Carrís, Barbadás, as it did not meet the broadcasting requirements.[23]
^Racing Rioja did not play the game in their main stadium El Salvador as it did not meet the broadcasting requirements.[24]
^L'Alcora did not play the game in their main stadium El Saltador, L'Alcora, as it did not meet the broadcasting requirements.[25]
^Autol did not play the game in their main stadium La Manzanera, Autol, as it did not meet the broadcasting requirements.[26]
^Santa Amalia did not play the game in their main stadium Municipal, Santa Amalia, as it did not meet the broadcasting requirements.[27]
^Rincón did not play the game in their main stadium Francisco Romero, Rincón de la Victoria, as it did not meet the broadcasting requirements.[28]
^Almazán did not play the game in their main stadium La Arboleda, Almazán, as it did not meet the broadcasting requirements.[29]
^Diocesano did not play the game in their main stadium Campo de la Federación, Cáceres, as it did not meet the broadcasting requirements.[30]
^Lealtad did not play the game in their main stadium Les Caleyes, Villaviciosa, as it did not meet the broadcasting requirements.[31]
^Unión Adarve did not play the game in their main stadium Vicente del Bosque as it did not meet the broadcasting requirements.[32]
^Algar did not play the game in their main stadium Sánchez Luengo, El Algar, as it did not meet the broadcasting requirements.[33]
^Cirbonero did not play the game in their main stadium San Juan, Cintruénigo, as it did not meet the broadcasting requirements.[34]
^Cazalegas did not play the game in their main stadium Ébora Formación, Cazalegas, as it did not meet the broadcasting requirements.[35]
Second round
Pontevedra – Tenerife match.
Draw
The draw was held on 16 November 2022 in the RFEF headquarters in Las Rozas. The Primera RFEF champions entered in this round. Teams were divided into five pots according to their division in the 2022–23 season. Matches were played at the stadiums of lower-ranked teams. A total of 28 games were played from 20 to 22 December 2022.
The draw was held on 23 December 2022 in the RFEF headquarters in Las Rozas. The four participant teams of the 2023 Supercopa de España were drawn with the teams from the lowest category. The remaining teams from the lowest categories faced the rest of La Liga teams. Matches were played at stadiums of lower-ranked teams. A total of 16 games were played from 3 to 5 January 2023.
Stadium: Nuevo Pepico Amat Attendance: 5,700 Referee: Javier Alberola Rojas
Notes
^Intercity did not play the match in their main stadium Antonio Solana, Alicante, as it did not meet the broadcasting requirements.[37]
Round of 16
Draw
The draw was held on 7 January 2023 in the RFEF headquarters in Las Rozas. The qualified teams were split up into three groups based on their division in the 2022–23 season. When possible, matches were played at the stadiums of the lower-ranked teams, otherwise the first team drawn played at home. A total of eight games were played from 17 to 19 January 2023.
The draw was held on 20 January 2023 in the RFEF headquarters in Las Rozas. As there were no teams from the lower divisions, home teams were determined by luck of the draw.
