# 1996–97 Greek Football Cup

The 1996–97 Greek Football Cup was the 55th edition of the Greek Football Cup.

## Tournament details

Totally 72 teams participated, 18 from Alpha Ethniki, 18 from Beta, and 36 from Gamma. It was held in 7 rounds, included final. After 8 years the phase of groups was suppressed, while the teams of Alpha Ethniki would enter in the competition in the round of 32.
The round of 16 was very interesting, as Olympiacos eliminated PAOK and Panathinaikos eliminated Iraklis. Also, Ionikos tipped OFI with 7 goals. For third time in the 4 last years AEK Athens and Panathinaikos were pondered over in the final, held in Karaiskakis Stadium. AEK Athens won on the penalty shoot-out.
The loss of Cup for Panathinaikos, in combination with their mediocre course in the championship, meant the unique time at the last 25 years that the club did not participate in any European competition.

## Calendar

| Round | Date(s) | Fixtures | Clubs | New entries | Leagues entering |
| First Round | 18, 25 August 1996 | 54 | 72 → 45 | 54 | Beta Ethniki & Gamma Ethniki |
| Second Round | 4, 5, 25 September & 9 October 1996 | 26 | 45 → 32 | none | none |
| Round of 32 | 2, 3, 23 October & 13, 14 November 1996 | 32 | 32 → 16 | 18 | Alpha Ethniki |
| Round of 16 | 27, 28 November & 11, 12 December 1996 | 16 | 16 → 8 | none | none |
| Quarter-finals | 8, 29 January 1997 | 8 | 8 → 4 | none | none |
| Semi-finals | 12, 26 February 1997 | 4 | 4 → 2 | none | none |
| Final | 16 April 1997 | 1 | 2 → 1 | none | none |

## Knockout phase

Each tie in the knockout phase, apart from the final, was played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The team that scored more goals on aggregate over the two legs advanced to the next round. If the aggregate score was level, the away goals rule was applied, i.e. the team that scored more goals away from home over the two legs advanced. If away goals were also equal, then extra time was played. The away goals rule was again applied after extra time, i.e. if there were goals scored during extra time and the aggregate score was still level, the visiting team advanced by virtue of more away goals scored. If no goals were scored during extra time, the winners were decided by a penalty shoot-out. In the final, which were played as a single match, if the score was level at the end of normal time, extra time was played, followed by a penalty shoot-out if the score was still level. The mechanism of the draws for each round is as follows:
* There are no seedings, and teams from the same group can be drawn against each other.

## First round

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Atromitos | 0–4 | Anagennisi Karditsa | 0–3 | 0–1 |
| Varvasiakos | 1–2 | Agios Nikolaos | 1–1 | 0–1 |
| Tyrnavos | 0–1 | Doxa Drama | 0–1 | 0–0 |
| Proodeftiki | 0–1 | Panegialios | 0–0 | 0–1 |
| Ilisiakos | 5–3 | Anagennisi Kolindros | 4–2 | 1–1 |
| Trikala | 1–1 (a) | Naoussa | 1–1 | 0–0 |
| Orestis Orestiada | 2–5 | Panionios | 1–1 | 1–4 |
| Niki Volos | 1–3 | Doxa Vyronas | 1–1 | 0–2 |
| AEL | 6–2 | Poseidon Michaniona | 2–0 | 4–2 |
| Ethnikos Asteras | 2–1 | Aetos Skydra | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Egaleo | 4–6 | Iraklis Ptolemaida | 1–1 | 3–5 |
| Kallithea | 1–0 | Apollon Kalamarias | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Lamia | 3–4 | Ergotelis | 0–1 | 3–3 |
| Korinthos | 1–5 | Nafpaktiakos Asteras | 0–1 | 1–4 |
| Panetolikos | 5–1 | Marko | 1–0 | 4–1 |
| Nigrita | 1–6 | AO Pyrgos | 1–1 | 0–5 |
| Almopos Aridea | 0–2 | ILTEX Lykoi | 0–0 | 0–2 |
| Ethnikos Piraeus | (a) 4–4 | PAS Giannina | 2–1 | 2–3 |
| A.F.C. Patra | 3–5 | EAR | 1–0 | 2–5 |
| Anagennisi Arta | 6–2 | Irodotos | 4–1 | 2–1 |
| Panserraikos | 3–1 | Panargiakos | 3–1 | 0–0 |
| Aiolikos | 1–1 (a) | Levadiakos | 1–1 | 0–0 |
| Apollon Larissa | 0–3 | Panelefsiniakos | 0–0 | 0–3 |
| Agrotikos Asteras | 0–2 | Ambelokipoi Thessaloniki | 0–1 | 0–1 |
| Kerkyra | 3–3 (a) | Ialysos | 3–1 | 0–2 |
| Pierikos | 2–1 | Anagennisi Giannitsa | 0–0 | 2–1 |
| Olympiacos Volos | 2–1 | Diagoras – Rodos Enosis | 2–0 | 0–1 |

## Second round

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| AEL | 0–0 (3–5 p) | Kallithea | 0–0 | 0–0 (a.e.t.) |
| Panelefsiniakos | 1–0 | Doxa Vyronas | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| Panionios | 5–0 | EAR | 2–0 | 3–0 |
| Panetolikos | 0–1 | Ethnikos Piraeus | 0–0 | 0–1 (a.e.t.) |
| Ambelokipoi Thessaloniki | 2–2 (a) | Panserraikos | 2–1 | 0–1 |
| Naoussa | 4–1 | Pierikos | 2–0 | 2–1 |
| Pyrgos | 2–0 | Agios Nikolaos | 2–0 | 0–0 |
| Ilisiakos | 4–5 | Ialysos | 2–2 | 2–3 |
| ILTEX Lykoi | 4–0 | Anagennisi Karditsa | 3–0 | 1–0 |
| Olympiacos Volos | 3–2 | Anagennisi Arta | 2–0 | 1–2 |
| Doxa Drama | 2–6 | Ethnikos Asteras | 1–2 | 1–4 |
| Iraklis Ptolemaida | 1–5 | Levadiakos | 1–0 | 0–5 |
| Ergotelis | 2–4 | Panegialios | 1–0 | 1–4 (a.e.t.) |
| Nafpaktiakos Asteras | bye | | | |

## Bracket

| Round of 32 | Round of 32 | Round of 32 | Round of 32 | Round of 16 | Round of 16 | Round of 16 | Round of 16 | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| AEK Athens | 5 | 3 | 8 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Skoda Xanthi | 0 | 3 | 3 | AEK Athens | 3 | 3 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Nafpaktiakos Asteras | 1 | 2 | 3 | ILTEX Lykoi | 1 | 0 | 1 | | | | | | | | | | |
| ILTEX Lykoi | 1 | 3 | 4 | | | | | AEK Athens | 3 | 2 | 5 | | | | | | |
| Kastoria | 1 | 1 | 2 | | | | | Paniliakos | 1 | 0 | 1 | | | | | | |
| Ethnikos Asteras | 0 | 4 | 4 | Ethnikos Asteras | 0 | 2 | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Paniliakos | 4 | 2 | 6 | Paniliakos | 5 | 3 | 8 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Panegialios | 0 | 1 | 1 | | | | | | | | | AEK Athens | 2 | 1 | 3 | | |
| Veria | 4 | 1 | 5 | | | | | | | | | Olympiacos | 1 | 0 | 1 | | |
| Kavala | 0 | 1 | 1 | Veria | 1 | 0 | 1 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Apollon Athens | 3 | 1 | 4 | Apollon Athens | 0 | 2 | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Edessaikos | 1 | 0 | 1 | | | | | Apollon Athens | 1 | 0 | 1 | | | | | | |
| PAOK | 4 | 3 | 7 | | | | | Olympiacos | 1 | 1 | 2 | | | | | | |
| Panionios | 0 | 2 | 2 | PAOK | 1 | 1 | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Olympiacos | 4 | 3 | 7 | Olympiacos | 2 | 2 | 4 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Kalamata | 1 | 1 | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | AEK Athens (p) | 0(5) |
| AO Pyrgos | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | | Panathinaikos | 0(3) |
| Iraklis | 0 | 4 | 4 | Iraklis | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Panathinaikos | 3 | 3 | 6 | Panathinaikos | 1 | 3 | 4 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Athinaikos | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | Panathinaikos | 2 | 1 | 3 | | | | | | |
| Ialysos | 1 | 2 | 3 | | | | | Ialysos | 0 | 1 | 1 | | | | | | |
| Levadiakos | 0 | 1 | 1 | Ialysos | 4 | 2 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Ethnikos Piraeus (p) | 0 | 1 | 1(2) | Ethnikos Piraeus | 1 | 2 | 3 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Kallithea | 1 | 0 | 1(0) | | | | | | | | | Panathinaikos | 3 | 4 | 7 | | |
| Naoussa | 1 | 1 | 2 | | | | | | | | | Panachaiki | 0 | 0 | 0 | | |
| Ionikos | 2 | 3 | 5 | Ionikos | 7 | 0 | 7 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Panserraikos | 2 | 0 | 2 | OFI | 2 | 2 | 4 | | | | | | | | | | |
| OFI | 3 | 6 | 9 | | | | | Ionikos | 3 | 0 | 3 | | | | | | |
| Aris | 2 | 1 | 3 | | | | | Panachaiki (a) | 1 | 2 | 3 | | | | | | |
| Panelefsiniakos | 1 | 0 | 1 | Aris | 1 | 0 | 1 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Olympiacos Volos | 0 | 2 | 2 | Panachaiki | 2 | 2 | 4 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Panachaiki | 2 | 2 | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

## Round of 32

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| AO Pyrgos | 0–4 | Iraklis | 0–0 | 0–4 |
| Olympiacos | 7–2 | Kalamata | 4–1 | 3–1 |
| AEK Athens | 8–3 | Skoda Xanthi | 5–0 | 3–3 |
| Nafpaktiakos Asteras | 3–4 | ILTEX Lykoi | 1–1 | 2–3 |
| Apollon Athens | 4–1 | Edessaikos | 3–1 | 1–0 |
| Naoussa | 2–5 | Ionikos | 1–2 | 1–3 |
| Paniliakos | 6–1 | Panegialios | 4–0 | 2–1 |
| PAOK | 7–2 | Panionios | 4–0 | 3–2 |
| Kastoria | 2–4 | Ethnikos Asteras | 1–0 | 1–4 |
| Panathinaikos | 6–0 | Athinaikos | 3–0 | 3–0 |
| Panserraikos | 2–9 | OFI | 2–3 | 0–6 |
| Ialysos | 3–1 | Levadiakos | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| Veria | 5–1 | Kavala | 4–0 | 1–1 |
| Aris | 3–1 | Panelefsiniakos | 2–1 | 1–0 |
| Olympiacos Volos | 2–4 | Panachaiki | 0–2 | 2–2 |
| Ethnikos Piraeus | 1–1 (2–0 p) | Kallithea | 0–1 | 1–0 (a.e.t.) |

## Round of 16
### Summary

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Ionikos | 7–4 | OFI | 7–2 | 0–2 |
| Aris | 1–4 | Panachaiki | 1–2 | 0–2 |
| Veria | 1–2 | Apollon Athens | 1–0 | 0–2 |
| Iraklis | 0–4 | Panathinaikos | 0–1 | 0–3 |
| Ialysos | 6–3 | Ethnikos Piraeus | 4–1 | 2–2 |
| AEK Athens | 6–1 | ILTEX Lykoi | 3–1 | 3–0 |
| PAOK | 2–4 | Olympiacos | 1–2 | 1–2 |
| Ethnikos Asteras | 2–8 | Paniliakos | 0–5 | 2–3 |

### Matches

Ionikos won 7–4 on aggregate.
Panachaiki won 4–1 on aggregate.
Apollon Athens won 2–1 on aggregate.
Panathinaikos won 4–0 on aggregate.
Ialysos won 6–3 on aggregate.
AEK Athens won 6–1 on aggregate.
Olympiacos won 4–2 on aggregate.
Paniliakos won 8–2 on aggregate.

## Quarter-finals
### Summary

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Ionikos | 3–3 (a) | Panachaiki | 3–1 | 0–2 |
| Apollon Athens | 1–2 | Olympiacos | 1–1 | 0–1 |
| Panathinaikos | 3–1 | Ialysos | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| AEK Athens | 5–1 | Paniliakos | 3–1 | 2–0 |

### Matches

Panachaiki won away goals.
Olympiacos won 2–1 on aggregate.
Panathinaikos won 3–1 on aggregate.
AEK Athens won 5–1 on aggregate.

## Semi-finals
### Summary

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| AEK Athens | 3–1 | Olympiacos | 2–1 | 1–0 |
| Panathinaikos | 7–0 | Panachaiki | 3–0 | 4–0 |

### Matches

AEK Athens won 3–1 on aggregate.
Panathinaikos won 7–0 on aggregate.