1999 FA Cup Final three league games all season. They had also qualified for the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final against Bayern Munich, due to be played four days later on 26 May, and were unbeaten in their previous 31 matches in all competitions. By contrast, Newcastle United had finished 13th out of the 20 teams in the Premier League, and had been knocked out of the Cup Winners' Cup in the first round and the League Cup in the fourth round. It was Newcastle's second consecutive appearance in the FA Cup Final – having lost 2–0 to Arsenal in 1998 – and their
2012 Football League Cup Final aggregate victory. Cardiff were appearing in their first League Cup final; they had previously reached the semi-final of the competition in the 1965–66 season, when they were beaten by West Ham United 5–1 on aggregate. They were also the first team from outside the Premier League to reach the final since 2001, when Birmingham City lost to Liverpool. Liverpool were appearing in their eleventh final; they had won seven (1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1995, 2001, 2003) and lost three (1978, 1987, 2005). The last meeting between the two teams was in the 2007–08 Football League Cup on 31 October 2007,