5 of the worst cup final performances in football history

#3 Chelsea against Manchester United - 2007 FA Cup Final

The 2007 FA Cup final between Chelsea and Manchester United was dire

It seems odd to label the performance of both sides in a cup final bad, particularly the winners – in this case, Chelsea, who picked up the FA Cup following a Didier Drogba goal in extra time – but this was a truly dismal cup final, made even worse by the fact that it was the first to take place at the new Wembley Stadium.

It was also the first ever FA Cup final to be contested between the top two sides in the country – United had won the Premier League that season while Chelsea finished second – but despite being preceded by a lavish and somewhat pompous opening ceremony, the game was a total damp squib.

It took 20 minutes for either side to even register a shot, with Drogba pulling the ball wide, and a further 10 minutes before the next shot. In the end, both sides only managed 4 shots each, with Ryan Giggs seeing a chance cleared off the line and Drogba managing to score the only goal as penalties loomed.

The poor quality of the game could’ve been blamed on sheer fatigue – both sides had played at least 60 games in the season as they’d both reached the semi-finals of the Champions League – but the legions of fans who were bored to tears by the terrible showing from both sides probably didn’t feel a lot of sympathy.

Despite neither side capitulating like Arsenal did a few weeks ago, you could argue that both sides put in a worse performance simply because it didn’t look like they wanted to be there for the majority of the game. It was the worst cup final overall in recent memory.