Leicester win their first FA Cup, live! Follow the Foxes win over Chelsea in the FA Cup Final 2021

Line-ups

Leicester City team news

Leicester are matching Chelsea's back three with one of their own. Late doubt Johnny Evans starts.

Chelsea team news

The team news is in for Chelsea. It's Thomas Tuchel's customary back three for the Blues and Timo Werner leads the line. 

Thanks for joining FourFourTwo for full live coverage of Chelsea vs Leicester in the 2021 FA Cup Final this evening.

Kick-off is just under two hours away at Wembley, and we'll be bringing you all of the important news from the build-up, then all the action from the game itself.

Brendan Rodgers knows Chelsea very well. Rodgers was actually invited by Jose Mourinho to leave his role of academy director at Reading and join the Chelsea Academy as their head youth coach in 2004, after a recommendation from Mourinho's assistant Steve Clarke - who’s now the Scotland manager.

Last year’s final between Arsenal and Chelsea will unsurprisingly go down in history as the FA Cup final with the smallest attendance, given no fans were present. 

But with a max attendance of 21,000 today, this final will be the smallest attendance with fans since the 1900/01 season’s final replay between Tottenham and Sheffield United at Bolton’s Burnden Park, when just 20,470 turned up. Still, they're making themselves heard...

Kelechi Iheanacho and Tammy Abraham are currently joint-top scorers in this season’s FA Cup, with four goals each – a top spot they also share with Crawley Town’s Tom Nichols, Blackpool’s Gary Madine, Stockport’s John Rooney and Cheltenham’s Alfie May. Cosy.

Iheanacho starts today... Abraham doesn't make the squad.

Odds

How about some betting odds for the game? Bet365 has a Chelsea win at 10/11 and a Leicester victory at 16/5. 18+ only, and gamble responsibly.

Prematch quotes

Johnny Evans: “I was speaking to Kasper, Kasper’s been playing many, many years and not been involved in a cup final so it’ll be a great experience and you don’t get much bigger than the FA Cup final. Obviously a lot of the stuff around that semi-final, was when a lot of the Super League stuff was being announced. So that probably gave a little bit of distraction for us, which is good!”

Thomas Tuchel: “These are two finals [Chelsea play Leicester again midweek]. There’s a final in the Cup and a final for the top four. We have to show a reaction at Wembley to have the upper hand on Tuesday. Every win gives you a good feeling and a momentum you work hard for. It’s curious that we play our two finals against the same team but we feel ready for it.”

Our man on the scene, Mark White, took this pic on his walk up Wembley Way earlier. We're not crying; you're crying.

Gary Lineker’s just been interviewed. He’s refused to be drawn into whether he’ll present MOTD in his pants again if Leicester win today. Coward.

Twenty minutes until kick-off now, so let's do a formal introduction, fitting of the occasion: 

Welcome to the FA Cup final! It’s the 140th edition of the oldest football tournament in the world, with Chelsea and Leicester going head-to-head for the famous trophy.

Chelsea are the designated home side for today’s game, so we’re expecting to see them trot out in their, er, snazzy new blue home shirt. Leicester, meanwhile, will likely be in their classy all-white away strip.

How to watch

We’ll be covering the whole match, including build-up, right here – but if you’re looking to watch the 5.15pm kick-off with a live stream or on TV, then we’ve got your covered too: here’s how to watch Chelsea vs Leicester in the FA Cup final today.

Time for 'Abide With Me'. This will be the first song on the stereo when we're back in the FourFourTwo offices. A banger!

Being a Leicester fan must be pretty bonkers, right? Our deputy editor Joe Brewin has written on just what a wild ride these last few years have been – and put it in a context other football fans might recognise.

Here's the national anthem. Last chance to get your first-half drinks lined up.

Kepa Arrizabalaga has played in every FA Cup game for Chelsea this season, despite being a £71 million second-choice goalkeeper under Thomas Tuchel. Richard Jolly wrote ahead of the game on what the future holds for him, and whether he can have a Wembley redemption after that Carabao Cup final.

Kepa actually has a 73% win record in goal for Chelsea this season. Compare that to Eduoard Mendy, who has only won 59% of his games between the Blues’ sticks. Maybe he is worth all that money after all.

KICK-OFF! Here we go – Chelsea open up with an attack down the right, but no trouble for Schmeichel. Could be an open game...

Chelsea have won eight FA Cups, including six since 2000. They first won it in 1970, having previously lost two finals – here's the current list of who's won it most.

Wild applause and cheering for a physical challenge by Fofana on Marcos Alonso. God, it's good to have fans back.

Corner for Chelsea. Reece James takes but cleared easily and out for a throw.

Today’s back three for Chelsea (Reece James, Thiago Silva and Antonio Rudiger) is Thomas Tuchel’s most-chosen defence since taking over - this is the eighth time they’ve been picked together and they have a 71% win ratio.

Reece James versus Jamie Vardy is shaping up to be a good battle. The Chelsea defender uses his strength to guide a long ball out for a Blues goal kick. Vardy won't stand for that for long.

Thomas Tuchel presides over his 27th Chelsea game today, and his record so far is impressive: 17 wins, six draws and just 12 goals conceded so far (and five of those inexplicably came in one match against Sam Allardyce’s West Brom). Not to mention getting the Blues into the top four, and guiding them to that other final they’ll play in two weeks’ time.

How’s he done it? Here’s five ways he’s made his stamp at Stamford Bridge so far.

In fact, we’ve had our eye on him since he started. Back when Tuchel first took over in January, Alex Keble wrote that the German was a tactical upgrade on Frank Lampard.

Then in March, Ewan Lury examined how Tuchel’s ‘double six’ approach has been perfect for getting the best out of N’Golo Kante.

Fifteen minutes gone, and neither team on top so far. No clear cut chances, and both have had spells of possession – though Chelsea more so, with about 70%, as you'd expect. Leicester look set up to counter-attack as normal.

Some probing going on, let's say.

Free-kick for Leicester in a good spot just to the right of the Chelsea box after a Thiago Silva handball.

Soyuncu's header from the free-kick goes well over the bar, but he had the space to do a bit better with it.

Word from Wembley: "Leicester fans 'ooh' at Soyuncu's chance. Chelsea fans break out into a chorus of 'We forgot that you were here'. You don’t get that on BT Sport’s fake crowd noises."

Funny, as the impression from home is that Leicester are much the louder set of fans...

Mason Mount has a run at the Leicester defence, who – perhaps foolishly – back off. His left-footed shot from outside the area deflects out for a corner, though that is comfortably collected by Schmeichel.

Jorginho and Kante have only won four games out of 10 that they’ve played as a midfield pairing this season. Kovacic - who’s out today - has won 10 out of 13 alongside Jorginho.

Timo Werner turns into plenty of space with the ball, sets himself up and let's fly from just outside the box... Then completely fluffs it, and it careers off into the Leicester end.

28 mins: CHANCE! The first big chance of the game, and it's huge.

In the Leicester box, the ball is fed to Mason Mount, who dinks it over towards the back post, where Azpilicueta lies in wait to nod it into an empty goal.

But the slightest of touches from Timo Werner just takes it away from him. 0-0 it remains.

More from Mark White at Wembley: "If you can hear booing on the telly, it’s not actually booing - Oli 'Girooooooooud' has come to warm up by the Chelsea fans. 

"Who probably wishes he was on after that recent Werner miss."

33 mins: SUBSTITUTION: Jonny Evans is limping off. It was touch-and-go for him to be included after coming back from injury, but he's looked uncomfortable throughout the first half hour, and now can't continue.

Marc Albrighton comes on to replace him.

35 min: YELLOW CARD: Wesley Fofana is booked for a late challenge.

Here's that Azpilicueta chance (28 mins). Excruciatingly close for Chelsea.

40 min: YELLOW: Now Chelsea's Timo Werner is booked for clattering into Luke Thomas.

The rain is driving down at Wembley, causing very slippy conditions. But that challenge was about a day late.

Another Soyuncu attempt from a free-kick. Cross comes in deep from the left, and he tries to keep the pace on it and send it towards the near corner – but gets far too much on it, and it goes wide.

Timo Werner again driving forward, running left to right, and has a shot that cuts back across his body. Going well wide but a touch from from Fofana takes it for a corner.

Werner getting involved plenty, but really not looking sharp.

45 min: CHANCE: Leicester's best chance of the game, though only a half chance. Lovely ball from deep from Tielemans and a clever run forward, timed well, from Jamie Vardy. Still left with a lot to do, he gets the header but can only send it safely wide.

HALF-TIME: 0-0.

Not a single shot on target, and not much in the ways of chances – that Azpilicueta near-miss was the best of the lot.

Chelsea have had the lions' share of possession, but it's certainly not a one-sided game; most of their attempts have been slightly hopeful long-range efforts that haven't looked too dangerous.

For Leicester, Jamie Vardy looks like he only needs one good chance to score, and Youri Tielemans certainly looks like he could provide that at some point.

Wondering what to do at half-time? Here's our mega 50-question FA Cup quiz: see how many you can get right in 10 minutes.

Probably the right moment to mention that it's less than a month until Euro 2020, and our special double issue previewing the tournament – with a 116-page full tournament guide – is on sale now.

Get it with an England cover, Scotland cover or a Wales cover – all with free delivery, natch.

SECOND HALF KICK-OFF: We're back! And hoping for a better second half, if we're honest.

Snippet for you, while we wait for anything to happen: Jamie Vardy is the first player to play all 14 rounds of the FA Cup today, from the preliminary to the final. Great one for Zoom quizzes for the next pandemic.

Who will win the FA Cup final on the basis of that first half? Leicester, according to our Twitter followers, by 57% to 43% – which is, interestingly*, almost exactly what the possession stats currently are in Chelsea's favour.

_{*Measures of 'interesting' may vary}

Brendan Rodgers deep in conversation with James Maddison, who looks likely to replace Ayoze Perez shortly. He wasn't quite recovered enough to start, but will get over half an hour – plus potentially another 30 minutes of extra time.

A good passage of play from Chelsea sees Kante get the ball on the right flank and cut back a cross from the touchline, which finds Marcos Alonson in plenty of space. His header, though on target, doesn't have enough power on it, and once again, it's easy for Schmeichel.

This is Thomas Tuchel's 27th Chelsea game today, and his record so far is impressive: 17 wins, six draws and just 12 goals conceded so far (and five of those inexplicably came in one match against Sam Allardyce’s West Brom). Not to mention getting the Blues into the top four, and guiding them to that other final they’ll play in two weeks’ time.

How’s he done it? Here’s five ways he’s made his stamp at Stamford Bridge so far.

In fact, we’ve had our eye on him since he started. Back when Tuchel first took over in January, Alex Keble wrote that the German was a tactical upgrade on Frank Lampard.

Then in March, Ewan Lury examined how Tuchel’s ‘double six’ approach has been perfect for getting the best out of N’Golo Kante.

A little spell of Leicester pressure here: a corner, a throw-in, a couple of crosses, and closing Chelsea's defence down to the extent they are left with booting the ball upfield and surrendering possession.

This spell of Leicester pressure is continuing, though nothing clear-cut has come of it. The Foxes seem buoyed by the noise from their fans.

Which, sniff, is what football's all about, right? Give us a hug. I love you.

63 mins: GOOOOOOOOOAL!!!! IT'S 1-0 TO LEICESTER!

What. A. Goal.

Youri Tielemans picks a spot in the top corner from 25 yards out, and hits it so, so sweetly. Kepa never had a chance. Leicester lead, and how.

Have a look at this, though.

Here's a small selection of responses to that Youri Tielemans goal, including your faithful liveblog scribes Conor Pope and Mark White today:

Ben Chilwell gets exactly the reception you’d expect him to get. Leicester fans booed him when he name was read out as being on the bench before the game and unsurprisingly, they’re livid that he has the audacity to play against them today.

As if anyone needs reminding, Leicester have not only not won the FA Cup, they have played in the most FA Cup finals without winning, and are the only team to have won the league and not won the FA Cup.

Seventeen minutes to go.

Chelsea have made four changes now: Chilwell on for Alonso in defence, Pulisic on for Ziyech, Havertz on for Jorginho and Callum Hudson-Odoi on for Azpilicueta. The Blues are going attacking...

"WHAT A GOAL" is trending on Twitter.

Olivier Giroud is now on for Timo Werner, who's not looked up to it today.

Leicester have made two more changes: Wes Morgan and Hamza Choudhury on, Thomas and Perez off. Morgan is 37-years-old.

Maddison's earlier arrival was at the expense of Iheanacho, who'd been poor, rather than Perez.

86 mins: CHANCE! Mason Mount reacts first to a loose ball, hitting it perfectly on the bounce with his left foot towards the bottom corner and surely equalising... but Kasper Schmeichel somehow gets his left hand to it and turns it around the post. Wonderful save.

89 mins: GOOOOOOOALLL!! 1-1!

89 min: VAR SAYS NO GOAL!

That had been a Wes Morgan own goal – a slap in the face of romance – until the VAR adjudged Ben Chilwell to be slightly offside in the build up. The drama here is unreal.

Five minutes of injury time.

Former Leicester man, Ben Chilwell, no less.

Leicester corner, 90 seconds to go. Are they keeping it in the corner? You bet they are.

FULL TIME: LEICESTER HAVE WON THE FA CUP!

That's Leicester's first ever FA Cup win, in their fifth final!

A huge second-half performance from Brendan Rodgers' side delivers a deserved win, and in the most dramatic fashion.

The sight of VAR ruling out a last-minute own goal from veteran captain Wes Morgan due to the most marginal of offside calls against ex-Leicester player Ben Chilwell in one of the most incredible ends to a final we've seen in years and years.

We've got two must-read pieces on this Leicester City journey for you, from our in-house Foxes fan Joe Brewin, who's presumably crying with happiness somewhere in Wembley right now.

Last night, he wrote about the wild ride of being a Leicester fan over the last 10 years  – from League One promotion, near-misses and relegation scares, to a Premier League title, and then on to this.

And last year, he spoke to Brendan Rodgers about what kind of project he wants to build at Leicester – and how managing Celtic gave him a taste of what winning silverware is like.

We'll leave you with this, and fold the liveblog up here.

Congratulations, Leicester.