The 2019 Nigeria Federation Cup (officially known as the 2019 AITEO Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 73rd edition of the Nigerian Federation Cup. It was held from 3 May till 28 July 2019. The competition was contested by 74 teams, all which qualified via their state championships.

Kano Pillars Kano Pillars Football Club is a Nigerian professional football (soccer), football club based in Kano (city), Kano, northwestern Nigeria. They play in the Nigeria Professional Football League, the first-tier division in Nigerian football. They pl ...

defeated

Niger Tornadoes Niger Tornadoes Football Club is a soccer club based in Minna, Nigeria. They play in the Nigerian Professional Football League. Their home stadium is Bako Kontagora Stadium. They have also played their home games at Confluence Stadium in Lok ...

4–3 on penalties after the match ended goalless to win their second

AITEO Cup The Nigeria Federation Cup is the main football single-elimination tournament in Nigeria contested by 74 teams, representing the 36 states and the FCT of Nigeria. It is the Nigerian domestic cup and the Nigerian equivalent of the FA Cup, Emperor ...

title since 1953. As runners-up,

qualified for the

2019–20 CAF Confederation Cup The 2019–20 CAF Confederation Cup (officially the 2019–20 Total CAF Confederation Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 17th edition of Africa's secondary club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), under t ...

since

had qualified for the

2019–20 CAF Champions League The 2019–20 CAF Champions League (officially the 2019–20 Total CAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons) was the 56th edition of Africa's premier club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and the 24t ...

Format

The competition was a

single elimination A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

knockout tournament A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

, 74 teams qualified via their state championships as winners or runners-up. 54 teams qualified directly to the First Round while the 10 winners from the

Rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience, a rookie is typically considered needing more tra ...

stages joined them. All matches were held on neutral venues.

Schedule

The schedule of the competition was as follows.

Rookie play-offs

Matches were played on 3 May 2019. ''Club's

states State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

in brackets.''

First round

The 10 winners from the Rookie round joined the 54 teams already qualified for the main tournament. Matches were played between 25 May 2019 and 16 June 2019. ''Club's

in brackets.'' , colspan="3" style="background-color:green1", 25 May 2019 , - , colspan="3" style="background-color:green1", 26 May 2019 , - , colspan="3" style="background-color:green1", 27 May 2019 , - , colspan="3" style="background-color:green1", 28 May 2019 , - , colspan="3" style="background-color:green1", 12 June 2019 , - , colspan="3" style="background-color:green1", 15 June 2019 , - , colspan="3" style="background-color:green1", 16 June 2019

Second round

The 32 winners from the

First round First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

competed at this round. Matches were played on 19 and 20 June 2019. ''Club's

in brackets.'' , colspan="3" style="background-color:green1", 19 June 2019 , - , colspan="3" style="background-color:green1", 20 June 2019

Third round

Sixteen teams participated in this round. Matches were played on 23 and 24 June 2019. ''Club's

in brackets.'' , colspan="3" style="background-color:green1", 23 June 2019 , - , colspan="3" style="background-color:green1", 24 June 2019

Quarter-finals

Matches were played on 28 June 2019. ''Club's

in brackets.''

Semi-finals

Matches were played on 4 July 2019. ''Club's

in brackets.'' }

Final

The final was held on 28 July 2019 at the

Ahmadu Bello Stadium The Ahmadu Bello Stadium, simply referred to as ABS is a multi-purpose stadium in Kaduna (city), Kaduna City, Kaduna State, Nigeria. It was designed in 1965 by the English architects Jane Drew and Maxwell Fry. As of 2016, it is used mostly for fo ...

Kaduna Kaduna is the capital city of Kaduna State, and the former political capital of Northern Nigeria. It is located in north-western Nigeria, on the Kaduna River. It is a trade center and a major transportation hub as the gateway to northern state ...

after it was moved from the original date 24 July 2019. ''Club's

in brackets.''

Notes

References

External links

AITEO Cup 2019
at RSSSF.com {{Football in Nigeria 2018–19 in Nigerian football

Fa Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...