The 1996–97 Greek Football Cup was the 55th edition of the Greek Football Cup.
Tournament details
Totally 72 teams participated, 18 from Alpha Ethniki, 18 from Beta, and 36 from Gamma. It was held in 7 rounds, included final. After 8 years the phase of groups was suppressed, while the teams of Alpha Ethniki would enter in the competition in the round of 32.
The loss of Cup for Panathinaikos, in combination with their mediocre course in the championship, meant the unique time at the last 25 years that the club did not participate in any European competition.
Each tie in the knockout phase, apart from the final, was played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The team that scored more goals on aggregate over the two legs advanced to the next round. If the aggregate score was level, the away goals rule was applied, i.e. the team that scored more goals away from home over the two legs advanced. If away goals were also equal, then extra time was played. The away goals rule was again applied after extra time, i.e. if there were goals scored during extra time and the aggregate score was still level, the visiting team advanced by virtue of more away goals scored. If no goals were scored during extra time, the winners were decided by a penalty shoot-out. In the final, which were played as a single match, if the score was level at the end of normal time, extra time was played, followed by a penalty shoot-out if the score was still level. The mechanism of the draws for each round is as follows:
There are no seedings, and teams from the same group can be drawn against each other.
