The 2022 Australia Cup preliminary rounds were the qualifying competition to decide 24 of the 32 teams to take part in the 2022 Australia Cup. The competition commenced in February and was completed in October.

Initially known during the planning of the preliminary rounds as the FFA Cup, the renaming of the competition was announced during the 2021 FFA Cup Final.

Schedule The fixtures for the competition are as follows.

Round Number of fixtures Clubs ACT NSW NNSW NT QLD SA TAS VIC WA First round 52 750 → 698 – – – – 11–13 Feb – Second round 152 + 70 byes 698 → 546 – – 6–22 Mar 19 Feb–20 Mar 11–25 Feb 18–20 Feb 25–27 Feb Third round 190 + 10 byes 546 → 356 – 26 Feb–6 Mar 22 Mar–7 Apr 26 Feb–29 Mar 18 Feb–26 Mar 18–29 Mar 11–16 Mar 4–11 Mar 19 Mar–14 Apr Fourth round 168 + 6 byes 356 → 188 – 19–23 Mar 13 Apr–12 May 12 Mar–4 May 29 Mar–30 Apr 26 Feb–6 Apr 15–17 Apr 16–18 Apr 22 Mar–5 Apr 23 April–4 May Fifth round 88 188 → 100 – 26 Apr–11 May 11–25 May 12 Mar–1 Jun 26 Apr–10 May 5 Mar–1 Jun 6–8 May 7–17 May 13–27 Apr 17–19 May Sixth round 44 100 → 56 – 17–18 May 31 May–7 Jun 11 Jun 17 May–4 Jun 21 May–15 Jun 24–31 May 28 May 10–18 May 7–8 Jun 22 – 4 Jun 14–16 Jun 22 Jun 14 Jun 21 Jun-2 Jul 21–22 Jun 13 Jun 7–15 Jun 21 Jun Play-off round 2 34 → 32 12–13 May – – – – – – – – – Some round dates in respective Federations overlap due to separate scheduling of zones.

Format The preliminary rounds structures are as follows, and refer to the different levels in the unofficial Australian soccer league system:

First round: 104 Victorian clubs level 8 and below entered this stage.

Second round: 120 New South Wales clubs level 6 and below entered this stage. 48 Northern New South Wales clubs level 4 and below entered this stage. 83 Queensland clubs (level 5 and below) entered this stage. 100 Victorian clubs (52 from the previous round and 48 teams from levels 5 and 6) entered this stage. 23 Western Australian clubs from level 5 and below, including from regional leagues, entered this stage.

Third round: 12 Australian Capital Territory clubs from level 3 and below entered this stage. 88 New South Wales Clubs (66 from the previous round and 22 teams from levels 4–5) entered this stage. 42 Northern New South Wales clubs (33 from the previous round and 11 level 3) entered this stage. 83 Queensland clubs (50 from the previous round and 33 teams from level 4 and below) entered this stage. 40 South Australian clubs from level 3 and below entered this stage. 10 Tasmanian clubs from level 3 and below entered this stage. 79 Victorian clubs (55 from the previous round and 24 teams from level 5) entered this stage. 42 Western Australian clubs (18 from the previous round and 24 teams from levels 3 and 4) entered this stage.

Fourth round: 16 Australian Capital Territory clubs (4 from the previous round and 12 teams from levels 2–3) entered this stage. 64 New South Wales Clubs (44 from the previous round and 20 teams from levels 2–3) entered this stage. 32 Northern New South Wales clubs (21 from the previous round and 11 level 2) entered this stage. 11 Northern Territory clubs (7 from Norzone (Darwin) and 4 from FICA (Alice Springs)) from levels 2–3 entered this stage. 64 Queensland clubs (42 from the previous round and 22 teams from level 2 and 3) entered this stage. 32 South Australian clubs (21 from the previous round and 11 teams from level 2) entered this stage. 16 Tasmanian clubs (6 from the previous round and 10 teams from level 2 and 3) entered this stage. 75 Victorian clubs (40 from the previous round and 35 teams from levels 2–4) entered this stage. 32 Western Australian clubs (21 from the previous round and 11 teams from level 2) entered this stage.

Fifth round: 8 Australian Capital Territory clubs progressed to this stage. 32 New South Wales clubs progressed to this stage. 16 Northern New South Wales clubs progressed to this stage. 8 Northern Territory clubs (6 from the previous round and 2 Norzone (Darwin) teams from level 2) entered this stage. 32 Queensland clubs progressed to this stage. 16 South Australian clubs progressed to this stage. 8 Tasmanian clubs progressed to this stage. 40 Victorian clubs progressed to this stage. 16 Western Australian clubs progressed to this stage.

Sixth round: 4 Australian Capital Territory clubs progressed to this stage. 16 New South Wales clubs progressed to this stage. 8 Northern New South Wales clubs progressed to this stage. 4 Northern Territory clubs progressed to this stage. 16 Queensland clubs progressed to this stage. 8 South Australian clubs progressed to this stage. 4 Tasmanian clubs progressed to this stage. 20 Victorian clubs progressed to this stage. 8 Western Australian clubs progressed to this stage.

Seventh round: 2 Australian Capital Territory clubs progressed to this stage, which doubled as the Final of the Federation Cup. 8 New South Wales clubs progressed to this stage. The 4 winners also qualified for the final rounds of the Waratah Cup. 4 Northern New South Wales clubs progressed to this stage. 2 Northern Territory clubs progressed to this stage, which doubled as the Final of the NT Australia Cup. 8 Queensland clubs progressed to this stage; 2 from Central and North Queensland, and 6 from South East Queensland. 4 South Australian clubs progressed to this stage. The 2 winners qualified for the Grand Final of the Federation Cup. 2 Tasmanian clubs progressed to this stage, which doubled as the Grand Final of the Milan Lakoseljac Cup. 10 Victorian clubs progressed to this stage. The 5 winners also qualified for the final rounds of the Dockerty Cup. 4 Western Australian clubs progressed to this stage. The 2 winners also qualified for the Final of the Football West State Cup.

Play-off round: The four lowest-ranked teams in the 2021–22 A-League Men played-off for two spots in the Round of 32.

Key to abbreviations FederationZone ACT = Australian Capital Territory NSW = New South Wales NNSW = Northern New South Wales NTH = NorthSTH = South NT = Northern Territory ASP = Alice Springs DAR = Darwin QLD = Queensland CQ = Central Queensland FNQ = Far North Queensland MR = Mackay Region NQ = North Queensland SEQ = South East Queensland WB = Wide Bay SA = South Australia TAS = Tasmania VIC = Victoria WA = Western Australia

First round

Fed. Zone Tie no Home team (Tier) Score Away team (Tier) VIC – 1 Brunswick Zebras (8) 3–2† Greenvale United (8) VIC – 2 North Melbourne Athletic (8) 3–10 Swinburne FC (10) VIC – 3 Endeavour United (8) 5–3 Lyndale United (8) VIC – 4 Meadow Park Eagles (9) 3–0 Macedon Blues United (9) VIC – 5 Dandenong South (8) 0–2 Hampton Park United Sparrows (9) VIC – 6 Maribyrnong Greens (9) 1–7 Plenty Valley Lions (8) VIC – 7 Watsonia Heights (8) 4–2† Bendigo City (9) VIC – 8 Chelsea (8) 2–0 St Kilda SC (9) VIC – 9 FC Noble Hurricanes (8) 0–3 West Point (9) VIC – 10 Alphington (9) w/o Old Xaverians (8) VIC – 11 Mildura City (10) w/o Bell Park (8) VIC – 12 Lara United (9) 4–0 Kings Domain (8) VIC – 13 Thornbury Athletic (8) 2–6 Sandringham (8) VIC – 14 Surf Coast (8) 7–1 Rosebud (9) VIC – 15 FC Tullamarine (9) 3–1 Somerville Eagles (8) VIC – 16 Casey Panthers (9) 2–6 Melton Phoenix (9) VIC – 17 Glenroy Lions (9) 2–0 Spring Gully United (10) VIC – 18 Melbourne University (8) w/o South East United (9) VIC – 19 Manningham Juventus (8) 0–0† West Preston (8)Manningham Juventus advance 5–3 on penalties VIC – 20 White Star Dandenong (9) 4–2 St Kevin's Old Boys (9) VIC – 21 Lilydale Montrose United (9) 0–7 Shepparton South (10) VIC – 22 Surfside Waves (9) w/o Balmoral (9) VIC – 23 Roxburgh Park United (9) 1–10 Keilor Wolves (8) VIC – 24 Mount Martha SC (9) 0–3 Glen Waverley (9) VIC – 25 Baxter (8) 1–2 Mount Waverley City (9) VIC – 26 Maidstone United (9) w/o Moonee Valley Knights (9)

Fed. Zone Tie no Home team (Tier) Score Away team (Tier) VIC – 27 East Bentleigh Strikers (8) w/o Tatura (10) VIC – 28 Chisholm United (8) 9–0 Wyndham (9) VIC – 29 Croydon City Arrows (8) 1–2 East Kew (9) VIC – 30 Bunyip District (9) w/o Sandown Lions (8) VIC – 31 Westside Strikers Caroline Springs (8) w/o Seaford United (8) VIC – 32 Truganina Hornets (8) 1–0 Yarra Jets (9) VIC – 33 Keysborough (8) 1–3 Monash City Villarreal (8) VIC – 34 Darebin United (8) 2–1 Spring Hills (8) VIC – 35 Uni Hill Eagles (8) 4–2 Old Ivanhoe (9) VIC – 36 Springvale City (8) 8–0 Warrnambool Wolves (10) VIC – 37 Keon Park (9) w/o Riversdale (8) VIC – 38 Mitchell Rangers (9) w/o FC Eaglehawk (10) VIC – 39 Aspendale (9) 5–0 Deakin Ducks (9) VIC – 40 La Trobe University (8) w/o Old Trinity Grammarians (9) VIC – 41 Endeavour Hills (9) w/o Golden Plains (8) VIC – 42 Bundoora United (9) 2–1 Melbourne City FC (8) VIC – 43 Barton United (9) 0–3 Northern Falcons (8) VIC – 44 Ballarat SC (9) 0–1 Old Melburnians (9) VIC – 45 Noble Park (8) w/o Barnstoneworth United (8) VIC – 46 Gisborne (8) 10–1 Doreen United (10) VIC – 47 Knox United (9) 3–5 Barwon (9) VIC – 48 Waverley Wanderers (8) 1–0† Boronia (9) VIC – 49 Albert Park (9) 1–6 Ringwood City (9) VIC – 50 Epsom (10) 1–2 Mentone SC (9) VIC – 51 Glen Eira (10) 1–8 Laverton (8) VIC – 52 Pakenham United (9) 3–1 Breakwater Eagles SC (10)

Notes w/o = Walkover † = After Extra Time

Second round