Scotland's European places for 2025/26: Hearts & Hibs routes, prize money, Celtic, Rangers, Aberdeen & others

March and April often determine who will and won’t have a successful season in the Scottish Premiership. The current league table shows potentially nine clubs chasing European football in what promises to be an exciting climax to the 2024/25 campaign. The scrap for points is intensifying with four UEFA spots available in the top flight, although that may increase to five.

Fans of Hearts and Hibs were debating the European issue before and after Sunday’s Edinburgh derby at Easter Road. They are both pursuing third spot, currently occupied by Hibs, and the substantial UEFA prize money which goes with it - but only if Celtic win the Scottish Cup. Aberdeen in fourth place, Dundee United in fifth, Motherwell in sixth and Hearts in seventh all want to usurp David Gray’s side come May. Below that, even Ross County and St Mirren cannot yet be totally discounted given they sit eight and nine points behind Hibs with nine league fixtures remaining.

Celtic are overwhelming favourites to retain the Premiership title and gain Champions League entry, but this year it won’t be a guaranteed league-phase place. Rangers are sitting second, 16 points adrift of Celtic, and if they finish there then they would play in the Champions League qualifying rounds.

European placings in the Scottish Premiership are explained below:

FIRST PLACE (currently Celtic)

The Premiership title winners earn a place in the 2025/26 Champions League play-off round in August. They would need to win that two-legged tie to reach the coveted league phase and guarantee more than £25m in prize money. Failure to do so would trigger an automatic parachute into the league phase of the Europa League.

SECOND PLACE (currently Rangers)

This secures a spot in the Champions League’s second qualifying round, starting in July. Scotland’s representatives would have to win that tie, and do the same in the third qualifying round and the play-off round to reach the league phase. Three two-legged games with no margin for error would be extremely tough. However, each round carries a parachute into the next round of the Europa League as a safety net.

SCOTTISH CUP WINNER (still to be decided)

The national cup competition carries a Europa League play-off tie as its European reward. So whoever wins at Hampden Park on Saturday, 24 May, is just one two-legged tie away from the league phase of the Europa League. UEFA’s prize money in the Europa League is upwards of £9m and hugely attractive to any Scottish club. The added bonus is the parachute into the league phase of the Conference League in the event of losing the Europa play-off. Conference League participation is worth upwards of £5m, as Hearts and Aberdeen have discovered in recent seasons.

Now, should Celtic win the Scottish Cup, they would not assume its European spot because they will take the more prestigious Champions League placing through their league position. In that event, the cup’s place goes to the club finishing third in the Premiership - hence the clamour to get there involving every team outside the Glasgow two.

THIRD PLACE (currently Hibs)

Entry into the second qualifying round of the Europa League is the prize on offer for finishing third in the Premiership this season. The club in question would be required to negotiate that tie, plus the third qualifying round and play-off round to reach the league phase. As mentioned above, the earnings for doing so are substantial. There are parachutes into the Conference League for defeat in Q2, Q3 and play-off of the Europa.

Third place becomes considerably more lucrative if Celtic win the Scottish Cup because that would mean the team in third taking the cup’s European spot in the Europa play-off. This is what guarantees league-stage football and rewards upwards of £5m because of the drop into the Conference League in the event of defeat.

FOURTH PLACE (currently Aberdeen)

A place in the Conference League’s second qualifying round comes with finishing fourth. Again, that means finding a way through three two-legged ties in order to take part in the competition’s league phase. Crucially, there is no parachute if any team suffers defeat in the Conference League qualifiers or play-off, so the club in question would be out of European competition.

However, if Celtic win the Scottish Cup, the team finishing fourth in the Premiership would assume the reward for finishing third [because the team in third would take the Scottish Cup’s European slot]. That is entry into the Europa League second qualifying round.

FIFTH PLACE (currently Dundee United)

Fifth place only gains European entry if Celtic lift the Scottish Cup. In that scenario, the club in fifth would assume the spot given to fourth spot, which is a berth in the Conference League’s second qualifying round.

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