FA Cup 2025/26 Third Round opponents for Manchester United officially confirmed

The FA Cup is back for Manchester United.

After back-to-back final appearances in 2023 and 2024, with one winners medal to show for it, United suffered a somewhat early exit from last season’s competition.

A penalty shootout defeat at home to Fulham saw manager Ruben Amorim fail to repeat the heroics of predecessor Erik Ten Hag a season prior.

The tournament will present United with a lot more opportunities for games in one of their smallest seasons in terms of fixture total.

A lack of European football already presented United with a significantly smaller number of games this season, but a shock early exit in the Carabao Cup at the hands of Grimsby Town further put a stamp on their small list of fixtures.

United will be hoping to add a 14th FA Cup triumph to the club’s rich history.

They have officially learnt their fate in this evening’s FA Cup third round draw.

United will take on Brighton and Hove Albion at home. The games will take place on the weekend of January 10th.

Brighton have become a bogey team for United since their return to the top flight of English football in 2017.

In their 21 meetings that have taken place since across multiple competitions, United have won in 12 but only three times in their last nine games.

They did beat Brighton in the most important of settings, winning via a penalty shootout in the 2022/23 season at Wembley Stadium in the semi-final as they eventually lost to Manchester City in the final.

Brighton also have a former United man in Danny Welbeck, who has had no problem scoring against his former team, and ex-Liverpool vice captain James Milner who will be very keen to see his old team’s biggest rivals get an early exit out of the FA Cup.