Cup Competitions
Alongside the league, there are two knockout cups to chase. Both are single-elimination — win or go home.
The Challenge Cup
Section titled “The Challenge Cup”The Challenge Cup is a pre-season knockout tournament that runs before the regular season begins. It brings NSL clubs together with sides from outside the league in a straight bracket: Round of 16 → Quarterfinals → Semifinals → Final.
- It’s a great early test of your squad before the points start counting.
- The opening qualifying round is settled automatically — you enter once your club reaches the main bracket.
The Continental Champions Cup
Section titled “The Continental Champions Cup”The Continental Champions Cup is the big one, played after the Founders Cup. The NSL’s champion — the club that just lifted the Founders Cup — represents the entire league against top clubs from around the continent.
- It’s single-elimination: Quarterfinals → Semifinals → Final.
- Only the league champion takes part, so reaching it is a reward for winning it all at home.
Cup discipline is separate
Section titled “Cup discipline is separate”Cups keep their own books:
- Yellow cards picked up in a cup are tracked separately from your league totals — a booking in the Challenge Cup won’t push you toward a league suspension.
- Any cup suspensions or knocks tied to a competition are cleared when that cup ends, so you head into (or back to) the league with a clean slate.
You can review past winners and cup records any time from the Cup History and Cup Stats screens.