The competition is a
knockout tournament which includes all of the Israeli
league clubs with pairings for each round drawn at random – there are no
seeds, and the draw for each round is not made until after the scheduled dates for the previous round. The draw also determines which teams will play at home. Each tie is played as a single leg. If a match is drawn, the game is settled with
extra time and
penalty shootouts, though until 1964 replays would be played until one team was victorious. Some ties took as many as three matches to settle. There are a total of 13 rounds in the competition—nine rounds, followed by quarter-finals, semi-finals, and the final. The competition begins in September with the preliminary rounds which are contested by the lowest-ranked clubs.
Liga Bet and
Liga Gimel clubs compete in their own division for the divisional cup, with the two finalists in each Liga Bet division (8 teams) and the winner of each Liga Gimel division (8 teams) qualify to the sixth round. Clubs playing in the
Liga Alef play in the Fifth Round, from which 16 clubs (8 from each Liga Alef division) qualify to the sixth round.
Liga Leumit teams are given exemption to the Seventh Round. The 18 teams (14 winners and 4 byes) from that round join the 14 clubs from the
Israeli Premier League, at which point there are 32 teams remaining in the competition. As well as being presented with the trophy, the winning team also qualifies for the
UEFA Europa League. If the winners have already qualified for the
UEFA Champions League via the Israeli Premier League, the UEFA Europa League place goes to the State Cup runners-up. If they also have qualified for the UEFA Champions League, the place goes to the next highest placed finisher in the league table.
The draw The draw for each round, performed by drawing the clubs name from a jar, is a source of great interest to clubs and their supporters, and is broadcast live on the internet. Sometimes two top clubs may be drawn against each other in the early rounds, removing the possibility of them meeting in the final. Lower-ranked clubs with reputations as 'giant-killers' look forward to meeting a top team at home, although in some cases the expense of providing policing for a game can outweigh any financial windfall from larger crowds. Mid-ranked teams hope for a draw against a peer to improve their chances of reaching future rounds. Top-ranked teams look for easy opposition, but have to be on their guard against 'giant-killers' and lower teams with ambition. The balls are being drawn by the officials of the Israel Football Association. ==Semifinal and final==