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Manchester United last lifted the FA Cup trophy in 2016, after overcoming Crystal Palace 2-1 in extra time.
Jesse Lingard scored the 110th-minute winner for Louis van Gaal’s side, and secured the first Red Devils win in an FA Cup final for 12 years.
In the eight years since Man United’s success at Wembley, the players on the winning side have gone on to a varying path of careers across the world – and several are still going strong.
Here’s a quick glance at what happened to Manchester United’s FA Cup winners from 2016.
Manchester United won the 2016 FA Cup, beating Crystal Palace in extra-time in the final
The winning players that day have had varying degrees of success since their Wembley victory
David de Gea – the goalkeeper left Man United as a free agent last summer, but has not yet found a new club. He has been training at non-league grounds – in Red Devils gear – as he looks to secure a spot for the 2024-25 season.
Antonio Valencia – after 10 years with United, he moved back to Ecuador with LDU Quito in 2019, where he saw out his playing career and retired two years later. He now looks unrecognisable after undergoing a body transformation, and has won silverware in his homeland with his own team, Club Deportivo Tumbaco AV25.
Chris Smalling – became the fourth player sent off in an FA Cup final, and the first – and to date only – Englishman. Now the 34-year-old is at Roma, and won the Europa Conference League with the Italian side back in 2022, as well as reaching the Europa League final the following season.
Antonio Valencia (L) looked unrecognisable when posing with ex-player Juan Sebastian Veron
Chris Smalling became the first – and so far only – Englishman to be sent off in an FA Cup final
Daley Blind – the Dutchman spent four years at Old Trafford, before leaving for Ajax in 2018. The following year, he had a ‘small heart attack’, which threatened his playing career, but he found himself back to fitness, and after a brief spell with Bayern Munich, has been able to guide Girona to a Champions League place in Spain’s LaLiga.
Marcos Rojo – the first player to be taken off during the 2016 final, he fell out of favour at Man United, before making a permanent transfer to Boca Juniors in February 2021. He is now captain of the side, and has won the Primera Division, Copa Argentina, Copa de la Liga Professional and the Supercopa Argentina since arriving.
Michael Carrick – he saw out his playing career at Man United, two years after the success at Wembley with this Cup team. He was briefly caretaker manager at the Red Devils, between Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick, and has been boss at Championship side Middlesbrough since October 2022.
Wayne Rooney – Rooney captained Man United at Wembley, and remained with the club until 2017, when he joined Everton, and then D.C. United, and then Derby County. While his experiences as a manager have been questionable – including a disastrous spell with Birmingham City earlier this season – it now seems that he will take control of Plymouth Argyle for next season’s Championship campaign, as well as a BBC pundit for their Euro 2024 coverage this summer.
Wayne Rooney, the captain for the final, is now set to join Plymouth Argyle as their new boss
Juan Mata, who scored Man United’s equaliser, is now a free agent after leaving Vissel Kobe
Juan Mata – the former Chelsea man scored Man United’s equaliser before he was subbed off at 90 minutes at Wembley. Since leaving Man United in 2022, he had a short stint in Turkey with Galatasaray, and another with Japanese side Vissel Kobe. Like fellow Spaniard de Gea, he is also a free agent now.
Marouane Fellaini – in February, he announced his retirement from football at the age of 36, after seeing out his career with Chinese club Shandong Taishan. The Belgian joined them after leaving Manchester United in 2019, after making 119 appearances for the Red Devils.
Anthony Martial – the Frenchman has remained at Man United since his move from Monaco in 2015 – although he did have a brief loan spell at Sevilla in 2022. The club expected him to be available for the 2024 final against Manchester City – but reports suggested he did not travel with his teammates to London. If he does not play, his last game in a Man United shirt was against Bournemouth on December 9 2023.
Marouane Fellaini retired from the game after five years with Chinese club Shandong Taishan
Anthony Martial has not played for Man United since the Bournemouth game in December
Marcus Rashford – another name who has stayed at the club, after being taken off during the FA Cup final in 2016. In recent months, Rashford has struggled to find his form, and was left out of Gareth Southgate’s England squad for Euro 2024.
Substitutes
Matteo Darmian – came on for Rojo. The Italian stayed at Man United until 2019, when he moved to Parma, and then Inter Milan, where he was won two Serie A titles, and finished as part of the runners-up in the 2023 Champions League – losing to Man City in the showpiece finale.
Ashley Young – came on for Rashford. He was part of the Man United set-up until 2020, then joined Inter Milan where he won Serie A, and then Aston Villa. Now 38, he’s still playing at Everton.
Jesse Lingard – replaced Mata at 90 minutes – but came on to score the winner with ten minutes of extra-time left. He was on the books at Man United until 2022, playing out on loan at West Ham at one point, before spending the 2022-23 season with newly-promoted Nottingham Forest. Now plying his trade in South Korea, he showed remarkable recovery to return to playing for FC Seoul 12 days after surgery.
Jesse Lingard scored the winner at Wembley eight years ago, and now plays in South Korea
Louis van Gaal was fired shortly after the final, but led the Netherlands at the 2022 World Cup
Manager
Louis van Gaal – the Dutchman was fired two days after their FA Cup success, his only trophy with Man United. He took a five-year hiatus from the touchline, before managing The Netherlands at the 2022 World Cup, before revealing he had been receiving treatment for prostate cancer, and retiring from football.
