Chelsea are heading back to Wembley Stadium.
The Blues made the most of a plum draw in the FA Cup quarter-finals, demolishing a Port Vale side battling relegation from League One by a 7-0 scoreline.
Seven different scorers found the net, with Estevao – who scored and assisted another – standing out as one of the key Chelsea players.
The Blues will now take on their old rivals, Leeds United, in the semi-final at Wembley – meaning that Chelsea, curiously, have now played a showpiece game at the famous stadium in every even-numbered year dating back to 2016.
The revamped Wembley opened its doors for the first time in March 2007 following extensive renovation work that took nearly seven years to complete.
Chelsea played in the FA Cup final at the iconic venue that same year, setting off a chain of consistent success for the Blues at the ‘new’ Wembley.
However, since 2019, things have been going very badly wrong for the Londoners at the capital’s main footballing landmark…
A Fresh Start
| Date | Competition | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 19 2007 | FA Cup Final | Manchester Utd | 1-0 Win AET |
| Feb 24 2008 | League Cup Final | Tottenham | 2-1 Loss AET |
| May 30 2009 | FA Cup Final | Everton | 2-1 Win |
| May 15 2010 | FA Cup Final | Portsmouth | 1-0 Win |
| May 5 2012 | FA Cup Final | Liverpool | 2-1 Win |
| Mar 1 2015 | League Cup Final | Tottenham | 2-0 Win |
| May 27 2017 | FA Cup Final | Arsenal | 2-1 Loss |
| May 19 2018 | FA Cup Final | Manchester Utd | 1-0 Win |
In those early years at the reimagined Wembley Stadium, things went rather nicely for Chelsea.
In just the third game played on the hallowed turf after the reopening, Chelsea met Manchester United in the FA Cup – ironically, a repeat of one of the last games played at the ‘old’ Wembley in the Charity Shield.
And it was the Blues of London that downed the Reds of Manchester: Didier Drogba netting the winning goal in a 1-0 victory that came after extra time.
Defeat in the League Cup final against Tottenham a year later then gave way to four consecutive Chelsea triumphs at Wembley.
The Blues prevailed in a quartet of domestic cup finals, with John Terry and Guus Hiddink hoisting the FA Cup after success in 2009: goals from Drogba and Frank Lampard cancelling out Louis Saha’s first minute opener for Everton.
Chelsea successfully defended their FA Cup title in 2010, with that man Drogba once again coming up with the goods by netting the winner against Portsmouth.
The Blues won their seventh FA Cup in 2012, besting Liverpool in a thrilling final – Ramires and Drogba putting Chelsea ahead, before Andy Carroll pulled one back for the Reds to set up a thrilling finale.
Chelsea’s next trip to Wembley came in 2015 for the League Cup final. Goals from Terry and Diego Costa either side of half time were enough to dispense with Tottenham in front of a crowd of 89,294.
The Blues would contest two more FA Cup finals in 2017 and 2018. They lost the first to Arsenal, but secured redemption 12 months later by defeating Manchester United – Eden Hazard notching the only goal of the game from the penalty spot.
But since then, it’s been six Wembley finals for Chelsea… and six defeats.
Six of the Worst
| Date | Competition | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 24 2019 | League Cup Final | Manchester City | 0-0, 4-3 Loss (Pens) |
| Aug 1 2020 | FA Cup Final | Arsenal | 2-1 Loss |
| May 15 2021 | FA Cup Final | Leicester | 1-0 Loss |
| Feb 27 2022 | League Cup Final | Liverpool | 0-0, 11-10 Loss (Pens) |
| May 14 2022 | FA Cup Final | Liverpool | 0-0, 6-5 Loss (Pens) |
| Feb 25 2024 | League Cup | Liverpool | 1-0 Loss AET |
The bad times began in 2019, when Manchester City defeated Maurizio Sarri’s Blues on penalties in the League Cup final.
Chelsea reached at least one Wembley showpiece game in each of the next three seasons… losing them all.
Arsenal won the 2020 FA Cup final behind closed doors, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s brace cancelling out Christian Pulisic’s opener for the Blues.
Leicester were considerable underdogs against Chelsea in the 2021 FA Cup final, but nevertheless came out on top thanks to a goal from Youri Tielemans.
Chelsea reached the final of both the League Cup and the FA Cup in 2022… you can probably guess the rest.
A staggering League Cup final against Liverpool went to extra time, where Chelsea had not one but two goals disallowed for offside. Kepa Arrizabalaga, a specialist penalty saver, came on as a substitute in extra time, but was unable to stop any of the Reds’ eleven spot kicks – including one from opposition goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher.
And, irony of ironies, Kepa then blazed his own penalty over the bar to hand Liverpool victory.
Three months later, Chelsea were back at Wembley for the FA Cup final. And, déjà vu all over again, they were beaten by Liverpool on penalties once again – this time, Kepa was an unused substitute as Cesar Azpilicueta and Mason Mount missed their decisive spot kicks.
The Blues’ most recent Wembley date came in the League Cup final of 2024. Once again Liverpool were the opponents. And, once again, it was the Merseysiders that came out on top thanks to Virgil van Dijk’s injury time header.
Can Chelsea finally end their new Wembley hoodoo in 2026?