The 2025–26 Scottish League Cup group stage was played from 11 July to 27 July 2025.
Format The competition began with eight groups of five teams; each team played one match against each other team in their group, either home or away, for a total of two home and two away matches. The five clubs initially competing in the UEFA Champions League (Celtic and Rangers), Europa League (Aberdeen and Hibernian) and Conference League (Dundee United) received a bye to the second round. The group stage consisted of 40 teams: all remaining teams that competed across the SPFL in 2024–25, the 2024–25 Highland Football League champions (Brora Rangers) and runners-up (Brechin City), and the 2024–25 Lowland Football League champions (East Kilbride).
The winners of each of the eight groups, as well as the three best runners-up, progressed to the second round (last 16). 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 were seeded.
The traditional point system of awarding three points for a win and one point for a draw was used. In addition, for each group stage match that finished in a draw, a penalty shoot-out took place, with the winner being awarded a bonus point.
The draw for the group stage took place on 28 May 2025 and was broadcast live on the Premier Sports and SPFL YouTube channels.
Teams The teams were seeded according to their final league positions in 2024–25 and drawn into eight groups, with each group comprising one team from each pot.
Seeding
Teams in Bold qualified for the second round.
Pot 1Pot 2Pot 3Pot 4Pot 501. St Mirren 02. Heart of Midlothian 03. Motherwell 04. Kilmarnock 05. Dundee 06. Ross County 07. St Johnstone 08. Falkirk09. Livingston 10. Ayr United 11. Partick Thistle 12. Raith Rovers 13. Greenock Morton 14. Dunfermline Athletic 15. Queen's Park 16. Airdrieonians17. Hamilton Academical 18. Arbroath 19. Cove Rangers 20. Queen of the South 21. Stenhousemuir 22. Alloa Athletic 23. Kelty Hearts 24. Inverness Caledonian Thistle25. Montrose 26. Annan Athletic 27. Dumbarton 28. Peterhead 29. East Fife 30. Edinburgh City 31. Elgin City 32. The Spartans33. Stirling Albion 34. Clyde 35. Stranraer 36. Forfar Athletic 37. Bonnyrigg Rose 38. East Kilbride 39. Brora Rangers 40. Brechin City
Source:
Group stage All times are BST (UTC +1).
Group A
Matches
Group B
Matches
Group C
Matches
Group D
Matches
Group E
Matches
Group F
Matches
Group G
Matches
Group H
Matches
Best runners-up
References