| Duration | 9 Rounds |
|---|---|
| Number of teams | 85 |
| Highest attendance | 50,672  Catalans Dragons v  Warrington Wolves (Final, 25 August) |
| Lowest attendance | 115  Hemel Stags v  Newcastle Thunder (25 February) |
| Aggregate attendance | 162,075 |
| Broadcast partners | BBC Sport Sky Sports |
| Winners | Catalans Dragons |
| Runners-up | Warrington Wolves |
| Biggest home win |  Widnes Vikings 90–0  Coventry Bears (21 April) |
| Biggest away win | Hemel Stags 0–74 Newcastle Thunder (25 February) |
| Lance Todd Trophy | Tony Gigot |
| Top point-scorer(s) | Josh Drinkwater (50) |
| Top try-scorer(s) | Josh Charnley (9) |
The 2018 Challenge Cup, also known as the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup[1] for sponsorship reasons, was the 117th staging of the Challenge Cup, the main rugby league knockout tournament for teams in the Super League, the British National Leagues and a number of invited amateur clubs.
The cup was won by Catalans Dragons, who beat Warrington Wolves 20–14 at Wembley on 25 August 2018 to become the first non-British team to win the challenge cup in its 117-year history.[2][3] The defending champions, Hull F.C., went out at the quarter-final stage.
The Catalans fullback, Tony Gigot, was voted the winner of the Lance Todd Trophy, becoming the first Frenchman to win the trophy since it was first awarded in 1946.[4]
The format of the competition was eight knock-out rounds followed by a final. The first two rounds were composed entirely of 48 amateur teams. The 12 winners of the second round ties were joined in round three by the 14 League 1 teams. For the fourth round, the 13 winners from round 3 were joined by 11 of the 12 Championship teams (Toulouse Olympique. who play in the Championship, chose not to enter the 2018 cup competition).[5] Round five saw four Super League teams entering the competition, namely those that finished in the top four positions of the 2017 Qualifiers—Warrington Wolves, Widnes Vikings, Hull Kingston Rovers and Catalans Dragons. The remaining eight Super League teams joined in round six.
- ^ "Challenge Cup: Ladbrokes replace Tetley's as title sponsor". BBC Sport. 6 January 2015. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
- ^ "Ladbrokes Challenge Cup Final; Catalans become first French team in 117 years, to win challenge cup". BBC Sport. 25 August 2018.
- ^ "Catalans Dragons beat Warrington in Challenge Cup final to make history". Guardian. 25 August 2018. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
- ^ "Catalans Dragons 20 Warrington Wolves 14: French side make history to become first non-English Challenge Cup winners". Daily Telegraph. 25 August 2018. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
- ^ "Ladbrokes Challenge Cup first round draw". Rugby Football League. 12 December 2017. Retrieved 30 November 2023.