2025–26 Scottish Cup
The 2025–26 Scottish Cup (known as the Scottish Gas Men's Scottish Cup for sponsorship reasons) is the 141st season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition.
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2025–26 Scottish Cup
The 2025–26 Scottish Cup (known as the Scottish Gas Men's Scottish Cup for sponsorship reasons) is the 141st season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition.
Aberdeen were the defending champions after defeating Celtic in the 2025 final. They were defeated in the quarter-finals by Dunfermline Athletic.
Calendar
2025–26 Scottish Cup
The dates for the 2025–26 Scottish Cup were announced on 22 July 2025.
<table><thead><tr><th>Round</th><th>Original date</th><th>Number of fixtures</th><th>Clubs</th><th>New Entries</th><th>Leagues entering at this round</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Preliminary round one</td><td>9 August 2025</td><td>4</td><td>132 → 128</td><td>8</td><td>7 qualifiers and 1 licensed club</td></tr><tr><td>Preliminary round two</td><td>30 August 2025</td><td>26</td><td>128 → 102</td><td>48</td><td>48 licensed clubs</td></tr><tr><td>First round</td><td>27 September 2025</td><td>30</td><td>102 → 72</td><td>34</td><td>18 Highland League teams 16 Lowland League teams</td></tr><tr><td>Second round</td><td>25 October 2025</td><td>20</td><td>72 → 52</td><td>10</td><td>10 League Two teams</td></tr><tr><td>Third round</td><td>29 November 2025</td><td>20</td><td>52 → 32</td><td>20</td><td>10 Championship teams 10 League One teams</td></tr><tr><td>Fourth round</td><td>17 January 2026</td><td>16</td><td>32 → 16</td><td>12</td><td>12 Premiership teams</td></tr><tr><td>Fifth round</td><td>7 February 2026</td><td>8</td><td>16 → 8</td><td>None</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Quarter-finals</td><td>7 March 2026</td><td>4</td><td>8 → 4</td><td>None</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Semi-finals</td><td>18 & 19 April 2026</td><td>2</td><td>4 → 2</td><td>None</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Final</td><td>23 May 2026</td><td>1</td><td>2 → 1</td><td>None</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>
Preliminary round one
2025–26 Scottish Cup
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 (North Region Juniors champions), Dundee North End (Midlands League champions), Invergordon (North Caledonian League champions), Johnstone Burgh (Junior Cup winners), Lochar Thistle (South of Scotland League champions), Steins Thistle (Amateur Cup winners) and Whitburn (Cup Winners' Shield winners). 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
2025–26 Scottish Cup
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.
<table><thead><tr><th>East of Scotland League</th><th>West of Scotland League</th><th>Others</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Premier Division First Division Second Division Third Division</td><td>Premier Division First Division Second Division Third Division Fourth Division</td><td>Midlands League Prem Div North Caledonian League South of Scotland League</td></tr></tbody></table>
First round
2025–26 Scottish Cup
The draw for the first round was made on 31 August 2025 at 6pm live on the Scottish Cup YouTube channel.
<table><thead><tr><th>Highland League</th><th>Lowland League</th><th>East of Scotland League</th><th>West of Scotland League</th><th>Others</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td></td><td></td><td>Premier Division Second Division</td><td>Premier Division First Division Second Division Third Division Fourth Division</td><td>Midlands League Prem Div North Caledonian League</td></tr></tbody></table>
Second round
2025–26 Scottish Cup
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.
<table><thead><tr><th>League Two</th><th>Highland League</th><th>Lowland League</th><th>East of Scotland League</th><th>West of Scotland League</th><th>Others</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>Premier Division</td><td>Premier Division First Division</td><td>Midlands League Prem Div</td></tr></tbody></table>
Third round
2025–26 Scottish Cup
The draw for the third round was made on 26 October 2025 at 6pm live on the Scottish Cup YouTube channel.
<table><thead><tr><th>Championship</th><th>League One</th><th>League Two</th><th>Tier 5</th><th>Tier 6</th><th>Tier 7</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>Highland League Lowland League</td><td>East of Scotland League Premier Division West of Scotland League Premier Division</td><td>West of Scotland League First Division</td></tr></tbody></table>
Fourth round
2025–26 Scottish Cup
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.
Fifth round
2025–26 Scottish Cup
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.
Quarter-finals
2025–26 Scottish Cup
The draw for the quarter-finals was made on 8 February 2026 following the Stenhousemuir v Falkirk match live on BBC Scotland. The fixture between Rangers and Celtic made headline news as fans clashed on the pitch following the full time whistle.
Teams in italics were not known at the time of the draw.
Semi-finals
2025–26 Scottish Cup
The draw for the semi-finals was made on 8 March 2026 following the St Mirren v Partick Thistle match live on BBC Scotland.
Broadcasting
2025–26 Scottish Cup
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:
<table><thead><tr><th>Round</th><th>BBC Scotland</th><th>Premier Sports</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>First round</td><td>Auchinleck Talbot v Cumnock Juniors</td><td>Does not appear</td></tr><tr><td>Second round</td><td>Formartine United v Buckie Thistle</td><td>Does not appear</td></tr><tr><td>Third round</td><td>Linlithgow Rose v Queen's Park</td><td>Does not appear</td></tr><tr><td>Fourth round</td><td>Dunfermline Athletic v Hibernian Aberdeen v Raith Rovers</td><td>Rangers v Annan Athletic Heart of Midlothian v Falkirk Auchinleck Talbot v Celtic</td></tr><tr><td>Fifth round</td><td>Airdrieonians v St Mirren Stenhousemuir v Falkirk</td><td>Celtic v Dundee Aberdeen v Motherwell Rangers v Queen's Park</td></tr><tr><td>Quarter-finals</td><td>Falkirk v Dundee United St Mirren v Partick Thistle</td><td>Dunfermline Athletic v Aberdeen Rangers v Celtic</td></tr><tr><td>Semi-finals</td><td>Dunfermline Athletic v Falkirk</td><td>Dunfermline Athletic v Falkirk Celtic v St Mirren</td></tr><tr><td>Final</td><td></td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>