2018 Copa Paulino Alcantara


The 2018 Copa Paulino Alcantara was the first edition of the Copa Paulino Alcantara, the domestic football cup competition of the Philippines. The competition started on September 1, 2018 and concluded on October 27, 2018, with Kaya–Iloilo winning the inaugural tournament after defeating Davao Aguilas 1–0 in extra time.
The winners qualified for the 2019 AFC Cup.

Participating clubs

All six clubs of the 2018 Philippines Football League are eligible to participate in the tournament. On July 15, 2018 during the PFL Fans Day, it was announced that non-franchise clubs will also be allowed to join the cup competition provided that they will satisfy minimum licensing requirements which will be set for the competition. But only clubs in the PFL joined the tournament.
Philippines Football League
the 6 teams of the 2018 season

Format

Competition

The Copa Paulino Alcantara will commence on September 1, 2018 with a group phase of two groups with three teams each. A round robin format with home and away legs will be used for this phase. The top two teams advance to the semifinals with the group winners facing the runner-up team from the other group. The higher seeded teams will host the one-off semifinals. The final will consist of a single match as well.

Draw

A draw to determine the composition of the groupings for the group phase will be held on August 26, 2018.

Group stage

Group A

Group B

Knock-out stage

Bracket

Semi-finals

Final