Manchester United’s last five FA Cup final wins, including Eric Cantona’s heroics

United were beaten finalists in 2023, 2018 and 2005 and hope the 2024 final will not add to that list of near misses.

Instead, Manchester United hope that the last final against City at Wembley can add to the list of successes…

When Manchester United last won the FA Cup

The last time Manchester United won the FA Cup was in 2016 when Louis van Gaal was manager. It was his last game in charge.

Below is a look at the last five occasions Manchester United have won the FA Cup…

2016: Manchester United 2-1 Crystal Palace

Alan Pardew danced too early. The Crystal Palace manager was seen doing a jig on the touchline after Palace took the lead as the Eagles sought revenge for 1990.

Great work from Wayne Rooney saw Juan Mata score his most important goal for the club to force extra time.

With the game heading towards the threat of penalties, Jesse Lingard scored a stunner to fulfill his dream rise to stardom. From United’s academy, to scoring the winner in the FA Cup final, simply incredible.

This 2016 team was soon taken over by Jose Mourinho, who added two more trophies the following year before the success petered out.

2004: Manchester United 3-0 Millwall

• Ronaldo (44), Van Nistelrooy (65, 81)

In 2004, Sir Alex Ferguson’s side were going through a testing period, with Arsenal on course for an unbeaten season in the Premier League.

They were not unbeaten in the FA Cup, where for many, the real final came in the semi-finals at Villa Park between the two teams. Paul Scholes scored the winner in a 1-0 win for United.

This set up a final in Cardiff against Millwall, where United were favourites, and where the ‘neutrals’ were dreaming of an epic upset.

A young Cristiano Ronaldo broke his resolve with United’s opener on his way to winning his first trophy for the club. Ruud van Nistelrooy added a brace in the second half to put the result beyond doubt.

1999: Manchester United 2-0 Newcastle United

• Sheringham (11), Scholes (53)

The 1999 final was the second leg of Manchester United’s famous Treble, recently detailed in the Amazon documentary ’99’.

Ferguson had decided to change his squad a bit, with the Champions League final against Bayern Munich coming up a few days later.

United suffered an early blow when Roy Keane was ruled off injured but nothing could stop the Red Devils that season with Teddy Sheringham scoring the opener.

Paul Scholes doubled United’s lead in the second half to secure a comfortable, largely risk-free victory that eased his personal pain of missing the European final through suspension.

1996: Manchester United 1-0 Liverpool

A day to remember for the whites of Liverpool, Manchester United relied on a moment of genius from Eric Cantona to win the ‘Double’ for the second time in three years.

Cantona left it late, curling a half-volley through a crowded box with pinpoint accuracy to score a remarkable winning goal.

It was a huge moment for the Frenchman, who had returned earlier in the season from an eight-month suspension and ended up having the last laugh.

United fielded a young squad with the class of ’92, and just days after winning the Premier League title, it was the perfect retort to Liverpool legends Alan Hansen, “You’ll never win anything with child’s play.”

1994: Manchester United 4-0 Chelsea

• Cantona (60, 66), Hughes (69), McClair (90)

On a rainy day at Wembley, Chelsea fans were sent home unhappy as Manchester United completed the first double.

A tense first hour saw the game balanced before a 10-minute United blitz killed the game.

Two of the first three goals were penalties, with Eric Cantona heading in twice and sending Dmitri Kharin the wrong way both times.

Mark Hughes added another, coming shortly after his semi-final heroics against Oldham, before Brian McClair scored a fourth tap-in after a selfish pass from Paul Ince.

How many times Manchester United won the FA Cup

Manchester United have won the FA Cup 12 times in total. The 13th was hard to find, but hopefully it’s not too far away.

Below is a complete list of every Manchester United FA Cup win going back more than 100 years…

• 1908/09
• 1947/48
• 1962/63
• 1976/77
• 1982/83
• 1984/85
• 1989/90
• 1993/94
• 1995/96
• 1998/99
• 2003/04
• 2015/16

Similar topics