Cup Competitions

Alongside the league, there are two knockout cups to chase. Both are single-elimination — win or go home.

The Challenge Cup

The Challenge Cup begins the year before the regular season. It brings NSL clubs together with sides from outside the league in a straight bracket: Round of 16 → Quarterfinals → Semifinals → Final. The qualifying round is resolved before you enter the main bracket.

It’s a great early test of your squad before the points start counting.
Cup rounds can sit alongside league dates later in the year, so always use your next-match card rather than assuming the next game is a league fixture.
When a cup tie has a calendar date, its schedule card also shows a local kickoff window. It is for matchday flavor only and does not affect availability or simulation.

The NoZo Cup

The NoZo 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 Northern Zone.

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

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.