The 2018 Copa Paulino Alcantara was the first edition of the Copa Paulino Alcantara, the domestic football cup competition of the Philippines. The competition started on September 1, 2018 and concluded on October 27, 2018, with KayaâÂÂIloilo winning the inaugural tournament after defeating Davao Aguilas 1âÂÂ0 in extra time.
The winners qualified for the 2019 AFC Cup.
All six clubs of the 2018 Philippines Football League are eligible to participate in the tournament. On July 15, 2018, during the PFL Fans Day, it was announced that non-franchise clubs will also be allowed to join the cup competition provided that they satisfy minimum licensing requirements which will be set for the competition. But only clubs in the PFL joined the tournament.
The Copa Paulino Alcantara commenced on September 1, 2018, with a group phase of two groups with three teams each. A round robin format with home and away legs was used for this phase. The top two teams advance to the semifinals with the group winners facing the runner-up team from the other group. The higher seeded teams hosted the one-off semifinals. The final consisted of a single match as well.
A draw to determine the composition of the groupings for the group phase was held on August 26, 2018.