2024 Australia Cup Final

The 2024 Australia Cup Final was an association football match played between A-League Men sides Melbourne Victory and Macarthur FC at AAMI Park in Melbourne on 29 September 2024 to determine the winners of the 2024 Australia Cup. It was the ninth Australia Cup final and the 42nd final of Australian soccer's primary cup competitions. It was the first FFA Cup/Australia Cup final to be played in September.

The 2024 Australia Cup final's crowd of 13,289 is the lowest ever crowd for an Australia Cup final.

Teams

Route to the final

Melbourne Victory

Melbourne Victory began their Australia Cup run in the Round of 32 with an away match against the Lambon Jaffas. Victory won the match 4–1 through two goals by Nishan Velupillay and one each by Bruno Fornaroli and Alex Lee and qualifying for the Round of 16. Two weeks later, Victory began their Round of 16 match away against NWS Spirit winning 4–0 through another two goals by Nishan Velupillay, and further goals by Ryan Teague and Nikos Vergos. The quarter-final match away against Moreton City Excelsior saw Victory win 4–0; so far all three cup matches scoring four goals, as Nikos Vergos scored two goals, and Kasey Bos and Nishan Velupillay each scoring one. The semi-final against Adelaide United was Victory's first home tie in this Australia Cup run, which was won 1–0 through a late winner by Jordi Valadon.

Macarthur FC

Macarthur FC also began their Australia Cup run in the Round of 32 playing away against O'Connor Knights; despite conceding the opening goal, came back to win 2–1 through goals by Jake Hollman and Luke Brattan to qualify for the Round of 16. Macarthur versed A-League Men side away against the Newcastle Jets which was won 4–3 after falling behind twice as Valère Germain and Marin Jakoliš both scored two goals. Macarthur travelled to Melbourne for their quarter-final and semi-final match-ups. First Macarthur took on Oakleigh Cannons away and won 1–0 through an early goal by Valère Germain. The semi-final was up against South Melbourne away and also won 1–0 through a Valère Germain penalty in the 84th minute who was also sent off in the last minutes of the match.

Match

Background

Details

Post-match

Melbourne Victory manager Patrick Kisnorbo stated he omitted star player Daniel Arzani from both the starting lineup and the substitute bench due to experimentation with the squad as a result of Arzani's eventual suspension from the first match of the regular season for yellow card accumulation. Arzani played a key role in leading Victory to the final, having played in all four matches leading up to the final and contributing two assists in the quarter-final match against Moreton City Excelsior. After the loss in the final, Kisnorbo stated he stood by his decision. However, it was also reported a day after the match that the main reason Arzani was excluded from the matchday squad for the final was rumored to be for the anger he expressed towards Kisnorbo at training during the week, with speculation variously suggesting this was due to him discovering he wouldn't be in the starting team, while also being reported it was due to him being offered to other clubs during the offseason. Days following the final, Arzani was included in Tony Popovic's inaugural Australia squad for World Cup qualifiers against China and Japan, but was not named in the matchday squad against China and was an unused substitute against Japan. After returning to Melbourne from international duty, Arzani was replaced in Victory's starting lineup by Kisnorbo for Reno Piscopo in the ensuing matches, and was not called up by Popovic for the next set of World Cup qualifying matches in November.

Macarthur's Australia Cup triumph was their second silverware in club history following their 2022 Australia Cup win.

References

{{Macarthur FC matches

Final
Melbourne Victory FC matches
Macarthur FC matches
Australia Cup finals
Australia Cup final
Australia Cup final