The 2026–27 Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the 81st season of Scotland's second-most prestigious football knockout competition.
Schedule Round First match date Fixtures ClubsGroup stage 11 July 2026 80 45 → 16Second round 15 August 2026 8 16 → 8Quarter-finals 12 September 2026 4 8 → 4Semi-finals 31 October 2026 2 4 → 2Final 13 December 2026 1 2 → 1
Format The competition begins with eight groups of five teams. The five clubs initially competing in the UEFA Champions League (Celtic and Heart of Midlothian), Europa League (Rangers) and Conference League (Motherwell and Hibernian) receive a bye to the second round. The group stage consists of 40 teams: all remaining teams that competed across the SPFL in 2025–26, the 2025–26 Highland Football League champions (Brora Rangers) and runners-up (Brechin City), and the 2025–26 Lowland Football League champions (Linlithgow Rose).
The winners of each of the eight groups, as well as the three best runners-up, progress to the second round, where they are joined by the five teams given byes (last 16; 8 + 3 + 5). At this stage, the competition reverts to the traditional knock-out format. The three group winners with the highest points total and the European entrants are seeded.
Bonus point system Three points are awarded for a win and one point for a draw. In each group stage match that finishes in a draw, there is a penalty shoot-out, with the winner being awarded a bonus point.
Group stage
The teams were seeded according to their final league positions in 2025–26 and drawn into eight groups, with each group comprising one team from each pot. The draw for the group stage took place on 27 May 2026 and was broadcast live on the Premier Sports Player and SPFL YouTube channel.
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Group E
Group F
Group G
Group H
Knockout phase Second round Draw and seeding Celtic, Heart of Midlothian, Rangers, Motherwell and Hibernian enter the competition at this stage, due to their participation in UEFA club competitions. The draw for the second round took place on 26 July 2026 broadcast live on Premier Sports 1 following the St Mirren v Dunfermline Athletic match.
Teams in bold advanced to the quarter-finals.
SeededUnseededAberdeen Ayr United Celtic Heart of Midlothian Hibernian Motherwell Rangers Ross CountyDundee Dundee United Dunfermline Athletic Inverness Caledonian Thistle Kilmarnock Partick Thistle Stenhousemuir St Mirren
Matches
Quarter-finals Draw and seeding The draw for the quarter-finals took place on 16 August 2026 broadcast live on Premier Sports 1 following the Rangers v St Mirren match.
Teams in bold advanced to the semi-finals.
PremiershipChampionshipLeague OneAberdeen Celtic Heart of Midlothian Hibernian Kilmarnock RangersStenhousemuirRoss County
Matches
Semi-finals Draw and seeding The draw for the semi-finals took place on 13 September 2026 broadcast live on Premier Sports 1 following the Rangers v Celtic match.
Aberdeen Heart of Midlothian Hibernian Rangers
Matches
Media coverage The domestic broadcasting rights for the competition are held exclusively by Premier Sports, who broadcast between 12 and 16 live matches per season, as well as highlights.
The following matches will be broadcast live: Round Date Match Group stage 11 July 2026(Matchday 1) Dumbarton v St Mirren (streamed)Dundee v Airdrieonians (streamed)East Kilbride v Dunfermline Athletic (streamed)Edinburgh City v Falkirk (streamed)Stirling Albion v Dundee United 14 July 2026(Matchday 2) Annan Athletic v DundeeBrora Rangers v AberdeenFalkirk v Ayr UnitedKilmarnock v Raith RoversLinlithgow Rose v St JohnstoneMontrose v Dundee United (all streamed) 18 July 2026(Matchday 3) Cove Rangers v St Mirren (streamed)Elgin City v Kilmarnock (streamed)Livingston v Partick Thistle (streamed)St Johnstone v Greenock Morton (streamed)Aberdeen v Queen's ParkDundee United v Arbroath 21 July 202622 July 2026(Matchday 4) Alloa Athletic v Falkirk (streamed)Dundee United v The Spartans (streamed)Inverness Caledonian Thistle v St Johnstone (streamed)Kilmarnock v Hamilton Academical (streamed)Ross County v Dundee (streamed)St Mirren v East Kilbride (streamed)Queen of the South v Aberdeen(streamed matches 21 July 2026, Queen of the South v Aberdeen 22 July 2026) 25 July 202626 July 2026(Matchday 5) Aberdeen v Kelty Hearts (streamed)Dundee v Clyde (streamed)Falkirk v Stranraer (streamed)Peterhead v Kilmarnock (streamed)St Johnstone v East Fife (streamed)St Mirren v Dunfermline Athletic(streamed matches 25 July 2026, St Mirren v Dunfermline Athletic 26 July 2026)Second round14 August 2026 Kilmarnock v Ayr United 15 August 2026 Aberdeen v Dundee (streamed)Dunfermline Athletic v Ross County (streamed)Dundee United v Celtic 16 August 2026 Heart of Midlothian v Inverness Caledonian Thistle (streamed)Hibernian v Partick Thistle (streamed)Stenhousemuir v Motherwell (streamed)Rangers v St MirrenQuarter-finals11 September 2026 Stenhousemuir v Heart of Midlothian 12 September 2026 Ross County v Hibernian (streamed)Kilmarnock v Aberdeen 13 September 2026 Rangers v CelticSemi-finals31 October 2026 Rangers v Aberdeen 1 November 2026 Heart of Midlothian v Hibernian Final
References