The 1986 Chatham Cup was the 59th annual nationwide knockout football competition in New Zealand. Up to the last 16 of the competition, the cup was run in three regions (northern, central, and southern). In a change to previous years, National League teams received a bye until Round Three (the final 64 stage) of the competition, one round earlier than previously. In all, 143 teams took part in the competition. Note: Different sources give different numberings for the rounds of the competition: some start round one with the beginning of the regional qualifications; others start numbering from the first national knock-out stage. The former numbering scheme is used in this article.