2025–26 Scottish Cup


The 2025–26 Scottish Cup is the 141st season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition.
Aberdeen are the defending champions after defeating Celtic in the 2025 final.

Calendar

The dates for the 2025–26 Scottish Cup were announced on 22 July 2025.
RoundOriginal dateNumber of fixturesClubsNew EntriesLeagues entering at this round
Preliminary round one9 August 20254132 → 12887 qualifiers and 1 licensed club
Preliminary round two30 August 202526128 → 1024848 licensed clubs
First round27 September 202530102 → 723418 Highland League teams
16 Lowland League teams
Second round25 October 20252072 → 521010 League Two teams
Third round29 November 20252052 → 322010 Championship teams
10 League One teams
Fourth round17 January 20261632 → 161212 Premiership teams
Fifth round7 February 2026816 → 8-
Quarter-finals7 March 202648 → 4-
Semi-finals18 & 19 April 202624 → 2-
Final23 May 202612 → 1-

Preliminary round one

The draw for preliminary round one was made on 23 July 2025. The seven teams without an SFA club licence were required to be included in the first preliminary round draw – namely Culter, Dundee North End, Invergordon, Johnstone Burgh, Lochar Thistle, Steins Thistle and Whitburn. They were drawn into four ties alongside one of the 49 licensed clubs. The remaining 48 licensed clubs received a bye to the second preliminary round.
Johnstone Burgh, Lochar Thistle, Steins Thistle and Whitburn are all taking part in the competition for the first time.

Preliminary round two

The draw for preliminary round two was made on 23 July 2025. St Cadoc's and Tweedmouth Rangers are taking part in the competition for the first time having gained their SFA club licence, along with Bo'ness Athletic who previously competed as a qualifier.
Teams in bold advanced to the first round.
East of Scotland LeagueWest of Scotland LeagueOthers

Premier Division
First Division
Second Division
Third Division
Premier Division
First Division
Second Division
Third Division
Fourth Division
Midlands League Prem Div
North Caledonian League
South of Scotland League

Matches

;Notes

First round

The draw for the first round was made on 31 August 2025 at 6pm live on the .
Teams in bold advanced to the second round.
Highland LeagueLowland LeagueEast of Scotland LeagueWest of Scotland LeagueOthers

  • Albion Rovers
  • Berwick Rangers
  • Bo'ness United
  • Bonnyrigg Rose
  • Broxburn Athletic
  • Caledonian Braves
  • Civil Service Strollers
  • Clydebank
  • Cowdenbeath
  • Cumbernauld Colts
  • East Stirlingshire
  • Gala Fairydean Rovers
  • Gretna 2008
  • Linlithgow Rose
  • Tranent
  • University of Stirling
    		• Premier Division
    Second Division
    		Premier Division
    First Division
    Second Division
    Third Division
    Fourth Division
    		Midlands League Prem Div
    North Caledonian League

    Second round

    The draw for the second round was made on 28 September 2025 at 5pm live on the Scottish Cup YouTube channel.
    Teams in Italics were not known at the time of the draw.
    Teams in bold advanced to the third round.
    League TwoHighland LeagueLowland LeagueEast of Scotland LeagueWest of Scotland LeagueOthers

  • Banks O' Dee
  • Brechin City
  • Buckie Thistle
  • Clachnacuddin
  • Deveronvale
  • Formartine United
  • Fraserburgh
  • Nairn County
  • Turriff United
  • Wick Academy
  • Bonnyrigg Rose
  • Caledonian Braves
  • Clydebank
  • Cumbernauld Colts
  • East Stirlingshire
  • Gretna 2008
  • Linlithgow Rose
  • Tranent
  • University of Stirling
    		• Premier Division
    		Premier Division
    First Division
    		Midlands League Prem Div

    Third round

    The draw for the third round was made on 26 October 2025 at 6pm live on the Scottish Cup YouTube channel.
    Teams in bold advanced to the fourth round.
    ChampionshipLeague OneLeague TwoTier 5Tier 6Tier 7

  • Alloa Athletic
  • Cove Rangers
  • East Fife
  • Hamilton Academical
  • Inverness Caledonian Thistle
  • Kelty Hearts
  • Montrose
  • Peterhead
  • Queen of the South
  • Stenhousemuir
  • Annan Athletic
  • Dumbarton
  • Edinburgh City
  • Elgin City
  • Forfar Athletic
  • Stirling Albion
  • Stranraer
  • The Spartans
    		• Highland League
    Lowland League
    		East of Scotland League
    Premier Division
    West of Scotland League
    Premier Division
    		West of Scotland League
    First Division

    Matches

    ;Notes

    Fourth round

    The draw for the fourth round was made on 30 November 2025 during Sportscene on BBC Scotland.
    Teams in Italics were not known at the time of the draw.
    Teams in bold advanced to the fifth round.
    PremiershipChampionshipLeague OneLeague TwoEast of Scotland Football LeagueWest of Scotland Football League

  • Airdrieonians
  • Arbroath
  • Ayr United
  • Dunfermline Athletic
  • Greenock Morton
  • Partick Thistle
  • Queen's Park
  • Raith Rovers
  • Ross County
  • Cove Rangers
  • Inverness Caledonian Thistle
  • Kelty Hearts
  • Montrose
  • Stenhousemuir
  • Annan Athletic
  • Elgin City
  • Stranraer
  • The Spartans
  • Camelon Juniors
  • Auchinleck Talbot

    • Matches

    ;Notes

    Fifth round

    The draw for the fifth round was made on 18 January 2026 following the Auchinleck Talbot v Celtic match live on Premier Sports 1 & the Premier Sports YouTube channel.
    Teams in Italics were not known at the time of the draw.
    PremiershipChampionshipLeague OneLeague Two

  • Airdrieonians
  • Dunfermline Athletic
  • Partick Thistle
  • Queen's Park
  • Kelty Hearts
  • Stenhousemuir
  • Elgin City
  • The Spartans

    • Broadcasting

    The Scottish Cup is broadcast by Premier Sports and BBC Scotland. Premier Sports has the first two picks and the fifth pick of the fourth and fifth rounds, 2 quarter-finals as well as first pick of one semi-final and airs the final non-exclusively. BBC Scotland broadcasts one match per round from the first round onwards and two matches per round from the fourth round to the quarter-finals, as well as one semi-final and the final.
    The following matches were selected for live coverage on UK television:
    RoundBBC ScotlandPremier Sports
    First roundAuchinleck Talbot v Cumnock Juniors
    Second roundFormartine United v Buckie Thistle
    Third roundLinlithgow Rose v Queen's Park
    Fourth roundDunfermline Athletic v Hibernian
    Aberdeen v Raith Rovers    		Rangers v Annan Athletic
    Heart of Midlothian v Falkirk
    Auchinleck Talbot v Celtic
    Fifth roundAirdrieonians v St Mirren
    Stenhousemuir v Falkirk    		Celtic v Dundee
    Aberdeen v Motherwell
    Rangers v Queen's Park
    Quarter-finals
    Semi-finals
    Final