Israel State Cup
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| Founded | 1928 |
|---|---|
| Region |
 Israel (IFA) |
| Current champions |
Maccabi Haifa (6th title) |
| Most successful club(s) |
Maccabi Tel Aviv (23 titles) |
| Website | State Cup |
 2016–17 Israel State Cup
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The State Cup (Hebrew: גביע המדינה, Gvia HaMedina), is a knockout cup competition in Israeli football, run by the Israeli Football Association.
The State Cup was first held in 1928 as the People's Cup. Because it involves clubs of all standards playing against each other, there is the possibility for "minnows" from the lower divisions to become "giant-killers" by eliminating top clubs from the tournament, although lower division teams rarely reach the final. The holders of the State Cup are the Israeli Premier League side Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona, who beat Maccabi Netanya in the 2014 final on 7 May 2014.
Maccabi Tel Aviv have 23 titles, having the record for most titles won. Hapoel Tel Aviv in 1937–1939 and 2010–2012 are the only club to have retained the State Cup for three consecutive seasons.
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. which are contested by the lowest-ranked clubs. Clubs playing in the Liga Alef are given exemption to the Fifth Round, and Liga Leumit teams are given exemption to the Eighth Round. The 18 winners from that round join the 14 clubs from the Israeli Premier League, at which point there are 32 teams remaining in the competition.
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