Tournament Format
The current format of the Turkish Cup consists of 156 clubs from the top four leagues of the Turkish football league system and the Turkish Regional Amateur League. The first round consists of 86 clubs from the TFF Third League and Turkish Regional Amateur League. The second round consists of winners from the first round alongside clubs from the Süper Lig, TFF First League and TFF Second League. Teams playing in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League enter at the fourth round. After the fifth round, 8 winners are drawn into two groups of four teams and play in a round-robin tournament. Winners and runners-up of the groups play in semi-finals as two-legged ties. Winners of the semi-finals play the final match in a neutral ground.
The final consists of a single match that takes place in a neutral setting. The winner of the cup earns a spot in the play-off round of the UEFA Europa League, and also plays in the Turkish Super Cup against the Süper Lig champions. If the winner of the cup has already secured a spot in a European competition because of their league finish, the runners-up are sent to compete. Because of this, Kayseri Erciyesspor competed in the 2007–08 UEFA Cup despite being relegated to the TFF First League that season.
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