2023 Australia Cup Preliminary Rounds

The 2023 Australia Cup preliminary rounds were the qualifying competition to decide 24 of the 32 teams to take part in the 2023 Australia Cup. The competition commenced in February and was completed in July.

Schedule

The fixtures for the competition were as follows.

* Some round dates in respective Federations overlap due to separate scheduling of Zones/Sub-Zones.

Format

The preliminary rounds structures were as follows, and refer to the different levels in the unofficial Australian soccer league system:

*First round:
:*133 Victorian clubs from level 7 and below entered this stage.

*Second round:
:*54 Northern New South Wales clubs from level 4 entered this stage.
:*81 Victorian clubs (57 from the previous round and 24 teams from level 6 and below) entered this stage.
:*30 Western Australian clubs from level 5 and below entered this stage.

*Third round:
:*12 Australian Capital Territory clubs from level 3 and below entered this stage.
:*88 New South Wales Clubs (66 from the previous round and 22 teams from levels 4–5) entered this stage.
:*42 Northern New South Wales clubs (33 from the previous round and 11 level 3) entered this stage.
:*83 Queensland clubs (50 from the previous round and 33 teams from level 4 and below) entered this stage.
:*36 South Australian clubs from level 3 and below entered this stage.
:*10 Tasmanian clubs from level 3 and below entered this stage.
:*86 Victorian clubs (38 from the previous round and 48 teams from level 3–4) entered this stage.
:*42 Western Australian clubs (18 from the previous round and 24 teams from levels 3 and 4) entered this stage.

*Fourth round:
:*16 Australian Capital Territory clubs (4 from the previous round and 12 teams from levels 2–3) entered this stage.
:*64 New South Wales Clubs (44 from the previous round and 20 teams from levels 2–3) entered this stage.
:*32 Northern New South Wales clubs (20 from the previous round and 12 teams from level 2) entered this stage.
:*11 Northern Territory clubs (7 from Norzone (Darwin) and 4 from FICA (Alice Springs)) from levels 2–3 entered this stage.
:*64 Queensland clubs (42 from the previous round and 22 teams from level 2 and 3) entered this stage.
:*32 South Australian clubs (21 from the previous round and 11 teams from level 2) entered this stage.
:*16 Tasmanian clubs (6 from the previous round and 10 teams from level 2 and 3) entered this stage.
:*78 Victorian clubs (43 from the previous round and 35 teams from levels 2–4) entered this stage.
:*32 Western Australian clubs (21 from the previous round and 11 teams from level 2) entered this stage.

*Fifth round:
:*8 Australian Capital Territory clubs progressed to this stage.
:*32 New South Wales clubs progressed to this stage.
:*16 Northern New South Wales clubs progressed to this stage.
:*8 Northern Territory clubs (6 from the previous round and 2 Norzone (Darwin) teams from level 2) entered this stage.
:*32 Queensland clubs progressed to this stage.
:*16 South Australian clubs progressed to this stage.
:*8 Tasmanian clubs progressed to this stage.
:*40 Victorian clubs progressed to this stage.
:*16 Western Australian clubs progressed to this stage.

*Sixth round:
:*4 Australian Capital Territory clubs progressed to this stage.
:*16 New South Wales clubs progressed to this stage.
:*8 Northern New South Wales clubs progressed to this stage.
:*4 Northern Territory clubs progressed to this stage.
:*16 Queensland clubs progressed to this stage.
:*8 South Australian clubs progressed to this stage.
:*4 Tasmanian clubs progressed to this stage.
:*20 Victorian clubs progressed to this stage.
:*8 Western Australian clubs progressed to this stage.

*Seventh round:
:*2 Australian Capital Territory clubs progressed to this stage, which doubled as the Final of the Federation Cup.
:*8 New South Wales clubs progressed to this stage. The 4 winners also qualified for the final rounds of the Waratah Cup.
:*4 Northern New South Wales clubs progressed to this stage. The 2 winners also qualified for the Final of the NNSWF State Cup.
:*2 Northern Territory clubs progressed to this stage, which doubled as the NT Australia Cup Final.
:*8 Queensland clubs progressed to this stage; 1 from Central and North Queensland, and 7 from South East Queensland.
:*4 South Australian clubs progressed to this stage. The 2 winners also qualified for the Final of the Federation Cup.
:*2 Tasmanian clubs progressed to this stage, which doubled as the Grand Final of the Milan Lakoseljac Cup.
:*10 Victorian clubs progressed to this stage. The 5 winners also qualified for the final rounds of the Dockerty Cup.
:*4 Western Australian clubs progressed to this stage. The 2 winners also qualified for the Final of the Football West State Cup.

*Play-off round:
:* The four lowest-ranked teams in the 2022–23 A-League Men played-off for two spots in the Round of 32.

Key to abbreviations

Preliminary round

;Notes:
*QLD Byes: Brothers Townsville (5), Estates FC (5), MA Olympic (5), Rebels FC (5), Riverway JCU (5), Saints Eagles Souths (5), Townsville Warriors (5).

First round

;Notes:
*w/o = Walkover
*† = After Extra Time
*QLD Byes: Bluebirds FC (5), Capricorn Coast (5), Central FC (5).
*VIC Byes: Asburton United (7), Barwon (8), Bell Park (8), Border Raiders (11), Casey Panthers (9), Chisholm United (7), Elwood City (7), Hampton Park United Sparrows (9), Heidelberg Eagles (7), Mount Eliza (9), Noble Park United (7), Rosebud (9), Sale United (10), Shepparton United (10), Somerville Eagles (8), St Kevins Old Boys (9), Surfside Waves (9), Western Eagles (7), Westside Strikers Caroline Springs (7).

Second round

;Notes:
*w/o = Walkover
*† = After Extra Time
* NSW Byes: Lithgow Workmens (–).
* NNSW Byes: Armidale City Westside (–), Hillvue Rovers (–), Kempsey Saints (–), Lambton Jaffas Junior (6), Newcastle University (5), South Maitland (5), Tamworth (–), Westlakes Wildcats (4).
* QLD Byes: Acacia Ridge (–), ACU (–), Annerley FC (–), Bardon Latrobe (–), Beerwah Glasshouse (–), Bethania Rams (–), Bilambil Terranora (–), Burleigh Bulldogs (–), Caloundra (–), AC Carina (–), Centenary Stormers (–), Coomera Colts (–), Deception Bay (–), Doon Villa (–), Highfields FC (–), Kangaroo Point Rovers (–), Legends FC (-), Logan Roos (–), Mackay Lions (–), Moggill FC (–), Murwillumbah FC (–), Nambour Yandina (–), Narangba Eagles (-), Nerang (-), Newmarket (-), North Brisbane (-), North Pine (-), FC Oldbridge (-), ParkRidge (–), Pine Rivers Athletic (–), Redcliffe Dolphins (–), Ridge Hills (–), Ripley Valley (–), Robina City (–), Runaway Bay (–), St. Albans FC (–), UQFC (–), Virginia United (–), Westside Grovely (–), Whitsunday United (–), Willowburn (-).
* WA Byes : Ballajura AFC (7), Busselton City (–), Eaton Dardanup (–), Football Margaret River (–), Noranda City (8), Peel United (5).

Third round

;Notes:
*w/o = Walkover
*† = After Extra Time
*ACT Byes: Canberra Juventus (3), Wagga City Wanderers (3)
*SA Byes: Adelaide Croatia Raiders (3), Elizabeth Downs (–), Elizabeth Grove (–), Noarlunga United (4), Pontian Eagles (4), Salisbury United (4), Tea Tree Gully City (–).

Fourth round

;Notes:
* w/o = Walkover
* † = After Extra Time

Fifth round

;Notes:

* † = After Extra Time
* NT Byes: Hellenic Athletic (2).

Sixth round

;Notes:

* † = After Extra Time

Seventh round

;Notes:
* † = After Extra Time

A-League Men play-offs

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See also

* 2023 FSA Federation Cup

References

{{2023–24 in Asian football (AFC)

Preliminary rounds
Australia Cup preliminary rounds