The FA Cup can be an underdog story this season unless Man City spoils the party

Manchester City is the only thing standing in the way of a soccer fairy tale in the FA Cup.

Take away City — the behemoth of the English game over the past decade — and the clubs remaining in the famous old competition heading into this weekend's quarterfinals have not won a major trophy between them this century.

Heck, four of them have never won any major silverware.

What a chance, then, for Fulham, Crystal Palace, Brighton, Nottingham Forest, Preston, Aston Villa and Bournemouth to create some history and spark some more life into English soccer.

In the modern-day English game, trophies and titles are typically concentrated in the hands of a few clubs. Leicester (2016) is the only team outside a group of five — Man City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United — to have won the Premier League since Blackburn in 1995. Only three teams outside that star quintet have won the FA Cup this century — Portsmouth (2008), Wigan (2013) and Leicester (2021).

This season might prove an outlier.

Newcastle upset Liverpool in the English League Cup final at Wembley Stadium this month to capture its first major domestic trophy in 70 years.

“Almost every fan I looked up at in Wembley was crying," Newcastle striker Alexander Isak said about the club's biggest moment in a generation.

Imagine how fans of Fulham, Palace, Brighton and Bournemouth — clubs now firmly in the Premier League's middle class — would feel if they were to win the FA Cup for the first time and guarantee a place in the Europa League?

It could be on, too.

City might be the bookmakers' favorites but Pep Guardiola's team has been a shadow of its former self this season and is playing away to Bournemouth, where it has already lost in the league.

City has only won four of its last 10 games in all competitions — and two of those victories were against lower-league opposition in the FA Cup.

Here's a look at the lineup for the quarterfinals:

Both teams are established members of the Premier League and, sitting in mid-table, are safe from relegation this season. That means they are free to throw all their focus into the FA Cup.

Fulham, which ousted Man United in the last 16, has had two runs to cup finals — in the FA Cup in 1975 and the Europa League in 2010 — but lost them both.

Palace was a finalist in the FA Cup in 1990 and 2016, losing both times to Man United.

Both of these clubs have more than the FA Cup on their minds.

Forest, a back-to-back European champion in 1979 and ‘80, is in third place in a remarkable Premier League campaign and could be returning to Europe’s top competition again. No stranger to silverware, Forest has won the English top-flight title, two FA Cups and four League Cups — but none of them have come since 1990.

Brighton, meanwhile, is in seventh place in the league and — lying just one point behind fifth-place Man City — has a realistic shot of qualifying for the Champions League for the first time. What would fans prefer, though — Champions League qualification or winning the FA Cup for a first major trophy?

Brighton was the FA Cup runner-up in 1983 — also to Man United.

Two historic clubs in their own right find themselves in very different positions.

Villa — the European champion in 1982 and a seven-time winner of both the league and the FA Cup — is back in the big time under Spanish manager Unai Emery and has reached the Champions League quarterfinals this season. Still, the club hasn't won a trophy since the League Cup in 1996.

Preston was a founder member of the Football League in England, winning the first two league titles in 1889 and '90, and also won the FA Cup in 1938. The team was last in the top flight in 1961 and is the only non-Premier League club in the quarterfinals.

Those seeking some romance in the FA Cup will no doubt be behind Bournemouth, which has never been in a cup final and hasn't finished higher than ninth place in England's top flight.

Indeed, Bournemouth had never played in the top division before 2015 but is now regarded as a forward-thinking club with a highly rated manager, Andoni Iraola — all while playing in its cozy 11,300-capacity Vitality Stadium. It has already beaten City, Arsenal, Tottenham and Forest there this season.

City is looking at the FA Cup to save its disappointing season, after effectively relinquishing the Premier League following four straight titles and not even reaching the Champions League's last 16.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Manchester City's head coach Pep Guardiola gives instructions from the side line during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and Brighton and Hove Albion at Etihad stadium in Manchester, England, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Ian Hodgson)

Manchester City's Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring his side's opening goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and Brighton and Hove Albion at Etihad stadium in Manchester, England, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Ian Hodgson)

FILE - Opening ceremony prior to the soccer Europa League final between Atletico Madrid and FC Fulham in the arena in Hamburg, Germany, on Wednesday, May 12, 2010. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn, file)

FILE - Manchester City's Ilkay Gundogan, center, holds up the winners trophy as he celebrates with teammates winning the English FA Cup final soccer match between Manchester City and Manchester United at Wembley Stadium in London, Saturday, June 3, 2023. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson, file)

FILE - Nottingham Forest's John Robertson, left, Ian Bowyer, center, and Kenny Burns, right, carry the European Cup in triumph after their 1-0 win against Malmo FF in Munich, Germany, May 30, 1979. (AP Photo, File)

Iran's top judge hinted at fast trials and executions for those who were detained in nationwide protests against the country's theocracy, even as activists said Wednesday that the death toll rose to levels unseen in decades, with at least 2,571 people killed so far.

Iran’s judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, made the comments about trials and executions in a video Tuesday, despite a warning from U.S. President Donald Trump that he would “take very strong action” if executions take place.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said the number of dead climbed to at least 2,571 early Wednesday. The figure dwarfs the death toll from any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos surrounding the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

After Trump was informed of the number of deaths, he warned Iran's leaders that he was terminating any negotiations and would “act accordingly.”

Details of the crackdown began emerging Tuesday as Iranians made phone calls abroad for the first time in days after authorities severed communications countrywide when the protests broke out.

Here is the latest:

SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service dropped its fees to allow more people to circumvent the Tehran government’s strongest attempt ever to prevent information from spilling outside its borders, activists said Wednesday.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has not officially announced the decision and did not respond to a request for comment, but activists told The Associated Press that Starlink has been available for free to anyone in Iran with the receivers since Tuesday.

“Starlink has been crucial,” said Mehdi Yahyanejad, an Iranian whose nonprofit Net Freedom Pioneers has helped smuggle units into Iran, pointing to footage that emerged Sunday showing rows of bodies at a forensic medical center near Tehran.

“That showed a few hundred bodies on the ground, that came out because of Starlink,” he said in an interview from Los Angeles. “I think that those videos from the center pretty much changed everyone’s understanding of what’s happening because they saw it with their own eyes.”

Starlink is banned in Iran.

Tens of thousands of mourners thronged the streets near Tehran University for a mass funeral of security forces and civilians on Wednesday.

After Iranian state television reported that 300 coffins would be on display at Tehran University, Associated Press reporters there saw around 100. It wasn’t clear why there was a discrepancy.

Many held Iranian flags and identical photos of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and their relatives. The caskets, covered in Iranian flags, were stacked at least three high in the backs of trucks and covered with red and white roses and framed photographs of people who were killed. The crowd chanted and beat their chests in response to an emcee speaking from a stage.

One man in the crowd held up a photo of U.S. President Donald Trump during the Pennsylvania assassination attempt, emblazoned with: “The arrow doesn’t always miss!”

The presenter, his voice booming across the crowd, blamed the U.S. for the unrest. “All of our problems are because of America, today’s economic problems are because of American sanctions. Death to America!” he yelled, prompting the same chant from the tens of thousands of people, dressed mostly in black.

India's Embassy in Tehran urged Wednesday all Indian nationals to leave Iran, citing what it called an “evolving situation” in the Islamic Republic.

The statement, posted on X, also advised Indian citizens to remain highly vigilant and avoid areas where protests are taking place.

German police said Wednesday the two climbed over a fence into embassy grounds and tore down an Iranian flag. Both wanted to hoist two pre-Islamic Republic flags but failed, German news agency dpa reported.

They left the grounds when guards used pepper spray and were detained on the sidewalk outside.

The incident happened late Tuesday.

Major Middle East governments were discouraging the Trump administration from waging a war with Iran, fearing “unprecedented consequences” in the volatile region, an Arab Gulf diplomat said Wednesday.

The Cairo-based diplomat, who was given anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to the media, said major governments in the region, including Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, have been “in constant contact” with the U.S. administration over a potential American strike on Iran that could explode into a “full-blown war.”

Such a war will “certainly” have dire repercussions “not only on the Middle East but also on the global economy," he said.

Iranian state television said Wednesday’s mass funeral in Tehran would include 300 bodies of security force members and civilians. The funeral is expected to take place at Tehran University under heavy security.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said the crackdown killed at least 2,571 people. It said 2,403 of the dead were protesters and 147 were government-affiliated. Twelve children were killed, along with nine civilians it said were not taking part in protests. More than 18,100 people have been detained, the group said.

Gauging the demonstrations and the death toll from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll, given the communications being disrupted in the country.

Melanie Lidman contributed from Jerusalem.

Trump’s decision to impose a 25% tariff on countries that trade with Iran could impact India, an expert said, as New Delhi already faces existing 50% U.S. trade levies due to its purchases of Russian oil.

Abhijit Mukhopadhyay, a senior economist at the Chintan Research Foundation in New Delhi, said the bigger risk is not India-Iran trade, but India’s access to the U.S. market, as its exports to Iran are modest.

India mainly exports rice, tea, sugar, pharmaceuticals and electrical machinery to Iran, while importing dry fruits and chemical products. Textiles and garments, gems and jewelry and engineering goods are likely to be the most vulnerable sectors, he said.

Trump’s latest move also could affect India’s investments in Iran, including the strategically important Chabahar port, which gives India a trade route to Afghanistan, Central Asia and Europe while bypassing Pakistan, Mukhopadhyay said.

Iran’s judiciary chief signals fast trials and executions for those detained in nationwide protests.

Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei made the comment in a video shared by Iranian state television on Wednesday.

He emphasized the need for swift action, saying delays would lessen the impact.

His remarks challenge Trump, who warned Iran about executions in an interview aired Tuesday.

Trump stated the U.S. would take strong action if Iran proceeded with executions. The situation highlights escalating tensions between the two countries over the handling of the protests.

Dozens of Pakistani students studying in Iran have returned home through a remote southwestern border crossing, a Pakistani immigration official said Wednesday.

Federal Investigation Agency spokesperson in Quetta city, Samina Raisani, said about 60 students crossed into Pakistan on Tuesday through Gabd border in Balochistan province with valid travel documents.

More students were expected to return through the same crossing later Wednesday, she said.

Mudassir Tipu, Pakistan’s ambassador to Iran, said Tuesday that Iranian universities had rescheduled exams and permitted international students to leave the country.

The satellite internet provider Starlink now offers free service to people in Iran who have access to the company's receivers, activists said Wednesday.

Mehdi Yahyanejad, a Los Angeles-based activist who helped get the units into Iran, told The Associated Press that the free service had started. Other activists also confirmed in messages online that the service was free.

Starlink has been the only way for Iranians to communicate with the outside world since authorities shut down the internet Thursday night as nationwide protests swelled and they began a bloody crackdown against demonstrators.

Starlink did not immediately acknowledge the decision.

This frame grab from videos taken between Jan. 9 and Jan. 11, 2026, and circulating on social media purportedly shows images from a morgue with dozens of bodies and mourners after crackdown on the outskirts of Iran's capital, in Kahrizak, Tehran Province. (UGC via AP)