# 2017–18 Ukrainian Cup

The 2017–18 Ukrainian Cup was the 27th annual season of Ukraine's football knockout competition. The competition started on 9 July 2017 and concluded on 9 May 2018.
This season the competition's administration was passed on to the Football Federation of Ukraine that previously was conducted by both the Premier League and Professional Football League. The number of participants has increased to 52 and is the biggest in the last five years. The FFU also promised to introduce a system of bonuses for this season's competition, yet did not disclosed them.
All competition rounds consisted of a single game with a home field advantage granted to a team from lower league. Qualification for the competition is granted to all professional clubs and finalists of the Ukrainian Amateur Cup as long as those clubs were able to pass the season's attestation (licensing).
FC Shakhtar Donetsk was the defending winner for the last two seasons. The Donetsk club has reached the competition finals in the last seven years winning five of them. There were around 300 clubs over the history of competition and it is a debut season for seven of them, Dnipro-1, Ahrobiznes, Metalist 1925, Polissya, Tavriya Simferopol, Sudnobudivnyk, and Prykarpattia. Both qualified amateur clubs have already participated in the competition before. It should be mentioned that only 10 clubs participated in every season of the tournament.

## Team allocation and schedule
### Distribution

| First round (26 teams) | First round (26 teams) | 3 entrants from the First League 21 entrants from the Second League 2 entrants from the Amateur Cup | |
| Second round (28 teams) | Second round (28 teams) | 15 entrants from the First League | 13 winners from the First round |
| Third round (20 teams) | Third round (20 teams) | 6 entrants from the Premier League | 14 winners from the Second round |
| Round of 16 (16 teams) | Round of 16 (16 teams) | 6 entrants from the Premier League | 10 winners from the Round of 20 |

### Rounds schedule

| Phase | Round | Fractional | Draw date | Game date |
| Preliminary | Round 1 | 1⁄64 finals | 30 June 2017 | 9 July 2017 |
| Preliminary | Round 2 | 1⁄32 finals | 13 July 2017 | 26 July 2017 |
| Preliminary | Round 3 | 1⁄16 finals | 4 August 2017 | 20 September 2017 |
| Main event | Round of 16 | 1⁄8 finals | 27 September 2017 | 25 October 2017 |
| Main event | Quarter-finals | 1⁄4 finals | 31 October 2017 | 29 November 2017 |
| Main event | Semi-finals | 1⁄2 finals | 2 March 2018 | 18 April 2018 |
| Main event | Final | Final | 9 May 2018 | 9 May 2018 |

### Teams

| Enter in First Round | Enter in First Round | Enter in Second Round | Enter in Third Round | Enter in Fourth Round |
| AAFU 2 teams | PFL League 1/League 2 3 teams/21 teams | PFL League 1 15 teams | UPL 6 teams | UPL 6 teams |
| Chaika P/B SCC Demnya | PFL League 1 Balkany Zorya Kremin Kremenchuk Rukh Vynnyky PFL League 2 Ahrobiznes Volochysk Arsenal-Kyivshchyna Bukovyna Chernivtsi FC Dnipro SC Dnipro-1 Enerhiya Nova Kakhovka FC Lviv Metalist 1925 Kharkiv Metalurh Zaporizhia Myr Hornostayivka FC Nikopol Nyva Ternopil Nyva-V Vinnytsia Podillya Khmelnytskyi Polissya Zhytomyr Prykarpattia Ivano-Frankivsk Real Pharma Odesa Skala Stryi Sudnobudivnyk Mykolaiv Tavriya Simferopol FC Ternopil | PFL League 1 Arsenal Kyiv Avanhard Kramatorsk Cherkaskyi Dnipro Desna Chernihiv Helios Kharkiv Hirnyk-Sport Inhulets Petrove Kolos Kovalivka MFC Mykolaiv Naftovyk-Ukrnafta Obolon-Brovar Kyiv FC Poltava PFC Sumy Volyn Lutsk Zhemchuzhyna Odesa | Karpaty Lviv FC Mariupol Stal Kamianske Veres Rivne Vorskla Poltava Zirka Kropyvnytskyi | Chornomorets Odesa Dynamo Kyiv FC Oleksandriya Olimpik Donetsk Shakhtar Donetsk Zorya Luhansk |
Only few days before the start of the competition, on 6 July 2017 number of clubs announced that they have various major issues in taking part of the competition, among which are FC Arsenal-Kyivshchyna Bila Tserkva, FC Metalurh Zaporizhia, FC Sudnobudivnyk Mykolaiv (the last two, because of problems with their stadiums). On the other hand, both FC Ternopil and FC Lviv confirmed that they are ready for the competition. FC Lviv announced that it will play its first game of Ukrainian Cup competition in Rava-Ruska. Earlier on 5 July 2017 it was announced that Metalist 1925 answered to the call of Nyva Ternopil to switch the draw arrangement and agreed to play the game in Kharkiv. Nyva was not able to find consensus to play at the Ternopil city stadium (Miskyi) as FC Ternopil was scheduled to play at the stadium that day as well. Related documents were sent up to the Football Federation of Ukraine. On 7 July 2017 the Football Federation of Ukraine approved to conduct the game between Metalurh and Polissya at Kolos Stadium in Chkalove, Nikopol Raion as well as the game between Sudnobudivnyk and Balkany that took place on 10 July 2017 at Ivan Stadium in Odesa. Also the match arrangements between Metalist 1925 and Nyva to play in Kharkiv instead of Ternopil was approved and Metalist 1925 hosted Nyva at Sonyachny Training Center.

## Competition schedule

Legends: AM – AAFU (amateur) competitions (IV tier), 2L – Second League (III tier), 1L – First League (II tier), PL – Premier League (I tier)

### First Preliminary round (1/64)

In this round entered three representatives from the First League, 21 clubs from the Second League, two representatives from the Amateur Cup. The draw for this round that took place 30 June 2017 at the House of Football in Kyiv was announced on 27 June 2017. The round matches were played on 9 July 2017.
Notes:
* On 5 July 2017 the club director of Skala Stryi confirmed that the club will not show up for the cup game against Tavriya as they pressed for time to gather a team. On 24 July 2017 it was announced that the FFU Control and Disciplinary Committee awarded a technical loss to Skala (0:3) and fined it for 5,000 hryvnias.

### Second Preliminary round (1/32)

In this round will include 15 more representatives from the First League in addition to the two that advanced from the previous round as well as 10 clubs from the Second League and one representatives from the Amateur Cup. The draw for this round that took place on 13 July 2017 at the House of Football in Kyiv was announced on 11 July 2017. Later (21 July 2017) it was confirmed that the date for the game Tavriya – Nyva-V should be 27 July 2017.

### Third Preliminary round (1/16)

In this round the first 6 representatives from the Premier League will enter the competition along with the 14 teams that advanced from the previous round including 8 clubs from the First League, 5 clubs from the Second League, and one representatives from the Amateur Cup. The draw for this round was held on 4 August 2017 at the House of Football in Kyiv and was announced on 1 August 2017. The round matches were played on 20 September 2017.

### Round of 16 (1/8)

In this round the final 6 representatives from the Premier League will enter the competition along with the 10 teams that advanced from the previous round including 4 teams from the Premier League, 2 teams from the First League and 4 teams from the Second League. The draw was without seeds and was held on 27 September 2017. The round matches were played on 25 October 2017.

### Quarterfinals (1/4)

In this round advanced 5 representatives from the Premier League, a team from the First League and 2 teams from the Second League. The draw was without seeds and was held on 31 October 2017 in the House of Football, Kyiv. The round matches were played on 29 November 2017.

### Semifinals (1/2)

In this round advanced 3 representatives from the Premier League and a team from the Second League. The draw was without seeds and was held on 2 March 2018. SC Dnipro-1 will play its semifinal game at home as being from the lowest league. The round matches are scheduled to be played on 18 April 2018.

### Final
## Bracket

The following is the bracket which the Ukrainian Cup resembled. Numbers in parentheses next to the match score represent the results of a penalty shoot-out.
| Round of 16 25 October 2017 | Round of 16 25 October 2017 | Quarter-finals 29 November 2017 | Quarter-finals 29 November 2017 | Semi-finals 18 April 2018 | Semi-finals 18 April 2018 | Final 9 May 2018 | Final 9 May 2018 |
| Arsenal–Kyiv | 0 | | | | |
| Veres Rivne | 1 | | | | |
| Veres Rivne | 1 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 4 | | |
| | | Veres Rivne | 0 | | |
| Zorya Luhansk | 3 | Veres Rivne | 0 | | |
| Shakhtar Donetsk (a.e.t.) | 4 | | | | |
| Shakhtar Donetsk (a.e.t.) | 4 | | | Shakhtar Donetsk | 5 |
| | | | | FC Mariupol | 1 |
| Tavriya Simferopol | 0 | | | FC Mariupol | 1 |
| FC Mariupol | 5 | | | | |
| FC Mariupol | 5 | Vorskla Poltava | 1 | | |
| | | FC Mariupol | 2 | | |
| Vorskla Poltava (a.e.t.) | 2 | FC Mariupol | 2 | | |
| Olimpik Donetsk | 0 | | | | | | |
| Olimpik Donetsk | 0 | | | | | Dynamo Kyiv | 0 |
| | | | | | | Shakhtar Donetsk | 2 |
| Prykarpattia Ivano-Frankivsk | 0 | | | | | Shakhtar Donetsk | 2 |
| Desna Chernihiv | 2 | | | | | | |
| Desna Chernihiv | 2 | Desna Chernihiv | 0 | | | | |
| | | Dynamo Kyiv | 2 | | | | |
| FC Oleksandriya | 2 | Dynamo Kyiv | 2 | | | | |
| Dynamo Kyiv (a.e.t.) | 3 | | | | | | |
| Dynamo Kyiv (a.e.t.) | 3 | | | SC Dnipro-1 | 1 | | |
| | | | | Dynamo Kyiv | 4 |
| SC Dnipro-1 (p) | 0 (8) | | | Dynamo Kyiv | 4 |
| FC Chornomorets Odesa | 0 (7) | | | | |
| FC Chornomorets Odesa | 0 (7) | FC Lviv | 1 | | |
| | | SC Dnipro-1 (a.e.t.) | 2 | | |
| FC Lviv (p) | 1 (5) | SC Dnipro-1 (a.e.t.) | 2 | | |
| Stal Kamianske | 1 (3) | | | | |

## Top goalscorers

The competition's top ten goalscorers including qualification rounds. As of 9 May 2018
| Rank | Scorer | Team | Goals (Pen.) |
| 1 | Serhiy Kyslenko | FC Lviv | 5 |
| 2 | Facundo Ferreyra | Shakhtar Donetsk | 4 |
| 3 | Andriy Boryachuk | FC Mariupol | 3 |
| 3 | Andriy Shevchuk | Hirnyk-Sport Horishni Plavni | 3 |
| 5 | 14 players | 14 players | 2 |
| 19 | 99 players | 99 players | 1 |
Notes:
* there were 2 own goals scored during the first round, 2 own goals during the second round, one in the third round.