The 1926 FA Cup final was a football match between Bolton Wanderers and Manchester City on 24 April 1926 at Wembley Stadium in London. The showpiece match of English football's primary cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup (better known as the FA Cup), it was the 55th final, and the fourth at Wembley.

Each team progressed through five rounds to reach the final. Both teams were members of the Football League First Division, Bolton Wanderers occupying a position in upper-mid-table and Manchester City next to bottom. Consequently, Bolton entered the match as favourites and won with a single goal scored by David Jack.

Both teams entered the competition in the third round, the entry point for First Division clubs. Bolton Wanderers were drawn away at Accrington Stanley but, following a request to the FA, the match was switched to Bolton for crowd safety reasons. Bolton's David Jack scored the only goal of the game in a close contest. To the resentment of the Bolton crowd, Ted Vizard was sent off for the first time in his career, leading the referee to require a police escort to the railway station. In the fourth round Bolton were held to a surprise draw by Third Division Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic. The Wanderers lost Bill Cope to injury after fifteen minutes. A 1–0 half-time lead quickly turned into a 2–1 deficit early in the second half but, with five minutes remaining, Jack scored an equaliser.

Bolton's fifth round home tie against South Shields produced a straightforward 3–0 victory. The goals were scored by Joe Smith, Jack Smith and Jack, who maintained his record of scoring in every round. The quarter-final against Nottingham Forest required two replays to produce a winner. Following a 2–2 draw in Nottingham and a goalless game in Bolton, the Wanderers prevailed 1–0 in another close game held at Old Trafford. Bolton drew Swansea Town, the last remaining Second Division club, in the semi-finals, which meant they had not met a single First Division club in their path to the final. Three early goals gave Bolton a comfortable 3–0 win at White Hart Lane.

Manchester City's third round tie was against the amateur club Corinthians at Crystal Palace. The third round was the furthest Corinithians had ever progressed, though until 1923 the club never entered the cup due to club rules preventing them from entering any competition with a prize. Manchester City went behind and only equalised three minutes from time. The Corinthians goalkeeper, Benjamin Howard Baker collided with a teammate, causing him to take more than four steps with the ball. From the resulting free kick, Frank Roberts scored in a goalmouth melee to take the tie to a replay, held the following Wednesday. The rematch proved less even and Manchester City won 4–0 courtesy of goals by Austin (twice), Hicks and Johnson. After his goal, Hicks had to leave the field as he had sustained an injury while performing a celebratory somersault. In the fourth round, City faced the league champions Huddersfield Town and again won 4–0. The crowd of 74,799 was by far the highest of the round, and only 1,200 short of the club record.

Manchester City were drawn at home to Crystal Palace in the fifth round. A final score of 11–4 set a club record for the number of goals in a game and was City's biggest margin of victory since 1903. Frank Roberts scored five and Tommy Browell also scored a hat-trick. Another high scoring win was achieved in the quarter-final, when Clapton Orient were beaten 6–1. Johnson scored a hat-trick and Hicks scored for the fifth successive cup match.

In the semi-final, Manchester City faced their local rivals Manchester United in a derby match at Bramall Lane. Browell scored the opener from a Hicks corner amid vehement protests for handball from the United players. Later in the half, United's Frank Barson flattened Sam Cowan with an "ugly challenge" for which he later received a suspension. In the second half, Browell and Roberts each scored to make the final score 3–0.

Both teams had won the FA Cup on one previous occasion and had met in the 1904 FA Cup Final. In that match, Manchester City won 1–0 thanks to a Billy Meredith goal. The 1904 meeting was Manchester City's only previous final, whereas the 1926 tie was the fourth time Bolton had reached the final. They lost in 1894 and 1904, but won the competition for the first time in the "White Horse Final" of 1923, the first to be held at Wembley. The 1926 final was the first to be held since the change to the offside rule in 1925. It now required two defenders behind an attacker receiving the ball instead of three, a change which increased the average number of goals per match.