The 1936 FA Cup final was a football match between Arsenal and Sheffield United on 25 April 1936 at Wembley. The showpiece match of English football's primary cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup (better known as the FA Cup), it was the 61st Cup final, and the fourteenth at the national stadium.

Each team received a bye to the third round of the tournament, and then progressed through five rounds before reaching the final. Arsenal were in a successful phase, with this final following recent First Division titles, while Sheffield United were attempting to emulate the success of their rivals Sheffield Wednesday in the tournament the year before. A closely fought first half was followed by a dominant second half by Arsenal, who won by a single goal, scored by Ted Drake in the 74th minute. A media ban by the stadium's bosses caused reporters to fly above the stadium in autogyros to see the match and the BBC experimented with sports commentators for the first time during its live broadcast of the final.

Being from the First and Second Divisions respectively, both Arsenal and Sheffield United were seeded into the third round of the FA Cup. In the third round itself, Arsenal were drawn away against Third Division South team Bristol Rovers. Arsenal missed a penalty, and the Third Division team went a goal up in the first half; Arsenal were playing so poorly that it seemed they would struggle even for a draw. The turnaround in the match occurred when Cliff Bastin took over from Bobby Davidson at the inside left position. Arsenal equalised in the 65th minute, and scored further four times over the course of the following fourteen minutes to win the game by five goals to one, with a single goal from Bowden and two each from Drake and Bastin.

They followed this in the fourth round with a 2–0 victory over Liverpool at Anfield. The match was played seven days after the death of King George V, with both teams wearing black armbands. The crowd of 60,000 stood to sing Abide with Me and God Save the King before the kickoff. In the fifth round they were drawn against Newcastle United, in a rematch of the 1932 final. Newcastle had already knocked out the current cup holders, Sheffield Wednesday, in an earlier round. On the day, the gates to St James' Park needed to be closed before the match started to keep additional spectators out, some 64,484 fans already being inside the ground. The match resulted in a 3–3 draw, Arsenal having gone a goal ahead each time, but Newcastle coming back and equalising. The reason being according to the report in The Times was because "Whenever the lead was gained, the side concentrated entirely on defence." In the replay at home, Arsenal won the game 3–0. They had gone a goal up in the first half from a penalty scored by Bastin after the Newcastle centre half David Davidson handled the ball in the box. Newcastle were unlucky not to draw level, and only Eddie Hapgood clearing a shot off the line prevented the scoreline being equal once more. The second goal came during an advance by Arsenal, where the Newcastle goalkeeper, Norman Tapken, cleared the ball directly to Arsenal midfielder Pat Beasley, who shot the ball into the back of an empty net. The final goal was another penalty, caused when Bastin was brought down in the box, who then promptly took and scored the shot himself.

In their quarter final, they defeated Second Division Barnsley 4–1, having outplayed them right from the start, the first goal coming in the fourth minute from Beasley in an attacking move. Bowden scored the second goal, and the third came from a penalty scored by Bastin. The fourth and final Arsenal goal was Beasley's second, with Barnsley's consolation goal coming a couple of minutes from the end of the match. In the semi-final, played at Huddersfield Town's ground, Arsenal beat Grimsby Town 1–0 in a match that was described by reporters as completely one-sided, with the goal coming from Bastin five minutes before half-time.

Meanwhile, Sheffield United's third round match at Burnley ended in a 0–0 draw, before winning 2–1 in the replay at home on a snow-covered pitch in a game that was marred by heavy fog at the start. Harold Barton scored for United, before Ted Hancock equalized for Burnley. Bobby Barclay scored United's second goal before the break. An additional goal by Jock Dodds for United was disallowed in the second half due to the player being ruled offside.

The fourth round saw them drawn away again, this time at Preston North End again drawing 0–0 in the initial match, the return match at home on 30 January this time resulting in a 2–0 victory after playing the entire second half with only ten men in front of a crowd of 34,259 supporters. In comparison, a record crowd of 68,287 at Bramall Lane saw Sheffield United defeat Leeds United 3–1, the first time in the tournament they won without going to a replay. They repeated that scoreline against Tottenham Hotspur in the quarter-final on a marshy pitch in driving snow. United were up by half time thanks to a goal by Barclay. In the second half, Spurs came back strongly, but two goals from Dodds won the game for United, with Tottenham scoring a consolation goal late on.

Sheffield United were drawn against Fulham in the semi-final, which guaranteed that a Second Division team would make it through to the final. The match was held at Wolverhampton Wanderers' Molineux Stadium on 21 March, where United won 2–1. The two teams faced each other again a week later in a league match, where Fulham won 1–0 thanks to a penalty, ending an unbeaten run of 22 games for United.