2005–06 Cypriot Cup

The 2005–06 Cypriot Cup was the 64th edition of the Cypriot Cup. A total of 54 clubs entered the competition. It began on 10 September 2005 with the first round and concluded on 13 May 2006 with the final which was held at GSZ Stadium. APOEL won their 18th Cypriot Cup trophy after beating AEK 3–2 (aet) in the final.

Format
In the 2005–06 Cypriot Cup, participated all the teams of the Cypriot First Division, the Cypriot Second Division, the Cypriot Third Division and 12 of the 14 teams of the Cypriot Fourth Division.

The competition consisted of seven rounds. In the first and in the second round each tie was played as a single leg and was held at the home ground of one of the two teams, according to the draw results. Each tie winner was qualifying to the next round. If a match was drawn, extra time was following. If extra time was drawn, the winner was decided by penalty shoot-out.

The third round was played in a two-legged format, each team playing a home and an away match against their opponent. The team which scored more goals on aggregate, was qualifying to the next round. If the two teams scored the same number of goals on aggregate, then the team which scored more goals away from home was advancing to the next round.

If both teams had scored the same number of home and away goals, then extra time was following after the end of the second leg match. If during the extra thirty minutes both teams had managed to score, but they had scored the same number of goals, then the team who scored the away goals was advancing to the next round (i.e. the team which was playing away). If there weren't scored any goals during extra time, the qualifying team was determined by penalty shoot-out.

In the next round, the teams were drawn into four groups of four. The teams of each group played against each other twice, once at their home and once away. The group winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the next round.

The quarter-finals and semi-finals were played over two legs and the same format as in the third round was applied. The final was a single match.

The cup winner secured a place in the 2006–07 UEFA Cup.

First round
In the first round participated all the teams of the Cypriot Second Division and the Cypriot Third Division and 12 of the 14 teams of the Cypriot Fourth Division. The two fourth division teams which were promoted from the 2005 STOK promotion play-offs to the 2005–06 Cypriot Fourth Division after finishing to the third and fourth place (APEP Pelendriou and Anagennisi Trachoni) did not participate in the Cypriot Cup. FC Episkopi and Kissos Kissonerga which finished first and second in the 2005 STOK promotion play-offs, participated in the Cypriot Cup.

Second round
In the second round participated the winners of the first round ties.

Third round
In the third round participated the winners of the second round ties and six teams of the Cypriot First Division (the teams which finished 9th, 10th, 11th in the 2004–05 Cypriot First Division and the three teams which promoted from the 2004–05 Cypriot Second Division). The first eight teams of the 2004-05 Cypriot First Division did not participate in this round.

Group stage
In the group stage participated the eight winners of the third round ties and the eight teams of the 2005–06 Cypriot First Division which did not participated in the third round, that were the teams which finished in the first eight places in the 2004–05 Cypriot First Division. The first four teams of the 2004–05 Cypriot First Division (Anorthosis, APOEL, Omonia, Olympiakos) were set heads of each group and the 5th–8th placed teams (Digenis, Nea Salamina, Apollon and Enosis Neon Paralimni) were drawn one per group. The eight teams which advanced from the third round were drawn without limitations.

The teams of each group played against each other twice, once at their home and once away. The group winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the next round.

Quarter-finals
In the quarter-finals participated all the teams which qualified from the group stage. The group winners were drawn against the runners-up, with the group winners hosting the second leg. Teams from the same group could not be drawn against each other.

The first legs were played on 7 and 8 March. The second legs were played on 31 March, 1 April and 2 April. The second leg match between Anorthosis and AEK was abandoned in the 55th minute due to floodlight failure and was replayed on 19 April.

Semi-finals
The first legs were played on 26 April. The second legs were played on 3 May.

Final
MATCH OFFICIALS
 * Assistant referees:
 * Aristidis Christou
 * Stefanos Grigoriades

MATCH RULES
 * 90 minutes.
 * 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary.
 * Penalty shoot-out if scores still level.
 * Five named substitutes.
 * Maximum of three substitutions.