The 2024 Australia Cup preliminary rounds were the qualifying competition to decide 24 of the 32 teams to take part in the 2024 Australia Cup. The competition commenced in February.
Schedule The fixtures for the competition were as follows.
Round Number of fixtures Clubs A-League ACT NSW NNSW NT QLD SA TAS VIC WAFirst round 58 + 21 byes 759 → 701 — — — — — 10 Feb — — 9–12 Feb —Second round 136 + 44 byes 701 → 565 — — 9–10 Mar 17 Feb–17 Mar — 9–27 Feb — — 23–26 Feb 24–25 FebThird round 205 + 6 byes 565 → 360 — 13–24 Mar 19–21 Mar 24 Feb–17 Apr — 10 Feb–3 Apr 16–18 Feb 9–11 Mar 8–11 Mar 15–17 MarFourth round 173 + 1 bye 360 → 187 — 9–18 Apr 9–24 Apr 2 Mar–15 May 19 Mar–16 Apr 6–17 Apr 15–17 Mar 29 Mar–1 Apr 27 Mar–10 Apr 25–28 AprFifth round 87 + 1 bye 187 → 100 — 30 Apr–14 May 23 Apr–8 May 10 Mar–22 May 16–23 Apr 30 Apr–18 May 13 Apr 27 Apr 22 Apr–1 May 11–12 MaySixth round 44 100 → 56 — 21–23 May 14–29 May 8 Jun 7–11 May 21 May–1 Jun 7–15 May 17–19 May 14–28 May 28 MaySeventh round 22 56 → 34 — 8 Jun 28 May–5 Jun 10–12 Jun 28 May 11–15 Jun 5–12 Jun 10 Jun 11–18 Jun 12 JunPlay-off round 2 34 → 32 23–24 Jul — — — — — — — — —
Format The preliminary rounds structures are as follows, and refer to the different levels in the unofficial Australian soccer league system:
First round: 2 Queensland clubs from Regional Queensland level 5 entered this stage. 135 Victorian clubs from level 7 and below entered this stage.
Second round: 117 New South Wales clubs level 5 and below entered this stage. 49 Northern New South Wales clubs level 4 and below entered this stage. 38 Queensland clubs (1 from the previous round and 37 teams from levels 5 and below) entered this stage. 78 Victorian clubs progressed to this stage. 34 Western Australian clubs from level 5 and below entered this stage.
Third round: 12 Australian Capital Territory clubs from level 3 and below entered this stage. 102 New South Wales clubs (73 from the previous round and 29 teams from levels 3–4) entered this stage. 40 Northern New South Wales clubs (31 from the previous round and 9 teams from level 3) entered this stage. 84 Queensland clubs (19 from the previous round and 65 teams from levels 4 and below) entered this stage. 41 South Australian clubs from level 3 and below entered this stage. 10 Tasmanian clubs from level 3 and below entered this stage. 86 Victorian clubs (39 from the previous round and 47 teams from levels 5 and 6) 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 (8 from the previous round and 8 teams from level 2) entered this stage. 64 New South Wales clubs (51 from the previous round and 13 teams from level 2) entered this stage. 32 Northern New South Wales clubs (20 from the previous round and 12 teams from level 2) entered this stage. 11 Northern Territory clubs from level 2 entered this stage. 64 Queensland clubs (42 from the previous round and 22 teams from levels 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, 2 league winners from level 3, and 8 teams from level 2) entered this stage. 80 Victorian clubs (43 from the previous round and 37 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. 7 Northern Territory clubs (6 from the previous round and 1 team 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. The 2 winners also qualified for the Final of the NNSWF State Cup. 2 Northern Territory clubs progressed to this stage, which doubled as the Final of the NT Australia Cup. 8 Queensland clubs will progress to this stage; 1 from Regional Queensland, and 7 from South East Queensland. The 4 winners also qualified for the semi-finals of the Kappa Queensland Cup. 4 South Australian clubs progressed to this stage. The 2 winners also qualified for the 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 2023–24 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 CC = Central Coast FNG = Far North and Gulf NTH = Northern REG = Regional Queensland SEQ = South East Queensland WB = Wide BayWC = Whitsunday Coast SA = South Australia TAS = Tasmania VIC = Victoria WA = Western Australia
First round
Fed. Zone Tie no Home team (Tier) Score Away team (Tier)Queensland QLD FNG 1Edge Hill United (5) 3–3† Leichhardt (5) Leichhardt advance 4–2 on penaltiesVictoriaVIC–2Bell Park (8) 2–0 Surfside Waves (9)VIC–3Epsom (10) w/o Maidstone United (9)VIC–4Melbourne City (8) 1–3 Altona North (7)VIC–5Mount Eliza (9) w/o South Yarra (7)VIC–6Portland Panthers (10) 0–7 Fawkner (8)VIC–7Spring Hills (9) 4–1 Tullamarine (9)VIC–8St Albans Gospic Bears (11) 0–6 Western Eagles (7)VIC–9Mount Waverley City (9) 2–1 Boronia (8)VIC–10Doreen United (9) 3–1 Whitehorse United (9)VIC–11Ballarat (9) w/o Keysborough (8)VIC–12East Bentleigh (9) 4–3 Surf Coast (8)VIC–13Heatherton United (7) 2–1 Old Trinity Grammarians (9)VIC–14Hampton Park United Sparrows (8) 12–0 Brighton (8)VIC–15Epping City (7) 4–0 Thornbury Athletic (8)VIC–16Noble Park United (7) 3–0 Docklands Athletic (8)VIC–17Sandringham (7) 3–3† Riversdale (8) Riversdale advance 7–6 on penaltiesVIC–18Spring Gully United (10) 1–0 Birrarung (9)VIC–19Moonee Ponds United (8) 9–1 Endeavour Hills (9)VIC–20ETA Buffalo Club of Victoria (9) 0–7 Templestowe Wolves (9)VIC–21Springvale City (8) 5–2 Lilydale Montrose United (9)VIC–22Shepparton (10) w/o Pakenham United (9)VIC–23Sebastopol Vikings (7) 2–2† Keilor Wolves (8)Sebastapol Vikings advance 5–4 on penaltiesVIC–24Watsonia Heights (8) 2–0 Moonee Valley Knights (8)VIC–25West Preston (8) 4–3 Middle Park (7)VIC–26Endeavour United (8) 10–0 Tarneit United (9)VIC–27Lara United (9) 1–4 Williamstown (7)
Fed. Zone Tie no Home team (Tier) Score Away team (Tier)VIC–28Laverton (7) 7–1 Monash University (8)VIC–29Westside Strikers Caroline Springs (8) 1–1† Mentone (8)Westside Strikers Caroline Springs advance 11–10 on penaltiesVIC–30Shepparton South (10) 0–1 Baxter (8)VIC–31Mitchell Rangers (9) 3–4 Sale United (10)VIC–32Lyndale United (8) 4–0 Mount Martha (9)VIC–33Sunbury United (7) 3–0 Gisborne (9)VIC–34Diamond Valley United (7) 3–1 Ringwood City (8)VIC–35Aspendale (9) 3–4† Knox United (8)VIC–36Wyndham (9) 1–2 Bendigo City (9)VIC–37Falcons 2000 (10) 0–12 Rowville Eagles (7)VIC–38Albert Park (8) 3–0 Meadow Park (9)VIC–39Rosebud (9) 0–2 Greenvale United (8)VIC–40Truganina (8) 1–5 Yarra Jets (8)VIC–41Noble Hurricanes (9) 0–2 Keon Park (9)VIC–42Noble Park (9) w/o Breakwater Eagles (10)VIC–43Plenty Valley Lions (8) 2–1 Moreland United (8)VIC–44Moreland Eagles (9) 2–10 Old Ivanhoe (9)VIC–45Brunswick Zebras (7) w/o Forest Rangers (10)VIC–46Heidelberg Eagles (7) 8–0 Casey Panthers (9)VIC–47Golden City (11) 2–10 Dandenong South (7)VIC–48Chelsea (8) 4–0 Alphington (9)VIC–49Barton United (9) 0–4 St Kilda (7)VIC–50Melbourne University (8) 1–3 Croydon City (8)VIC–51White Star Dandenong (7) 8–2 Castlemaine Goldfields (-)VIC–52Roxburgh Park United (9) 2–8 Glen Waverley (9)VIC–53Swinburne (-) 2–4 Fortuna 60 (10)VIC–54Melton Phoenix (8) 4–1 Elwood City (7)VIC–55Twin City Wanderers (-) 3–2† Leongatha Knights (-)VIC–56Waverley Wanderers (8) 7–1 Bunyip District (9)VIC–57East Kew (9) 8–1 Seaford United (9)VIC–58Cleeland United (9) 1–4 Manningham Juventus (8)
Notes w/o = Walkover † = After Extra Time VIC Byes: Ashburton United (7), Balmoral (8), Barnstoneworth United (8), Barwon (8), Bundoora United (7), Darebin United (8), Deakin Ducks (9), Frankston Pines (7), Glenroy Lions (8), Heidelberg Stars (9), Kings Domain (8), La Trobe University (9), Monash City Villarreal (8), Monbulk Rangers (8), Old Melburnians (9), Point Cook (7), Sandown Lions (8), Shepparton United (10), Somerville Eagles (8), St Kevin's Old Boys (9), West Point (8).
Second round