Scottish football teams in Europe: What awaits Celtic, Rangers, Aberdeen, Hibs and Dundee United

At the end of a dramatic and entertaining Scottish football season, we now know the European representatives for the 2025/26 campaign.

Five teams from Scotland will fly the flag across three different competitions, with adventure starting in late July.

Here are all the details for Celtic, Rangers, Aberdeen, Dundee United and Hibs fans as they start to plan out their trips abroad.

Celtic won the Scottish Premiership once again. | SNS Group

Celtic - Champions League

Unlike the 2024/25 season, Celtic have not directly qualified for the main phase of the Champions League. Instead, they will have to navigate a two-legged play-off to rub shoulders with the high rollers of European football.

The good news for Celtic is that they are seeded for that tie thanks to Rijeka pipping Dinamo Zagreb to the Croatian league title. Because they won the Premiership, Brendan Rodgers’ men sit in the ‘champions’ path of the qualifiers. The full make-up of the seedings won’t be known until we get closer to the August 4 draw date, but some of the teams Celtic may face include Basel (Switzerland), Sturm Graz (Austria), Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia), FCSB (Romania) and Lech Poznan (Poland).

The play-off tie is scheduled for August 19/20 and August 26/27. Should Celtic lose, they would drop into the Europa League.

Rangers will have to navigate three qualifiers to reach the Champions League. | SNS Group

Rangers - Champions League

Rangers finished second in the Premiership and as a result are in the Champions League qualifiers in a similar set-up to the season just past. However, they enter one round earlier, giving the new Ibrox hierarchy and manager - whoever that may be - less time to prepare.

Rangers are in the ‘league’ section of the qualifiers and come in at the second round. They are seeded and know that they will face either Servette (Switzerland), Panathinaikos (Greece) or Brann (Norway). The draw takes place on June 18, with the tie to be played on July 22/23 and July 29/30.

A defeat would put Rangers into the Europa League third qualifying round but if they prevail, they will move on to the third qualifying round of the Champions League, where again they would be seeded and would face either Nice (France), Fenerbahce (Turkey), the winner of second qualifying round tie involving Red Bull Salzburg (Austria) or the winner of the tie involving Viktoria Plzen (Czech Republic).

The draw for this round takes place on July 21, with the matches due to be played across August 5-6 and August 12.

Rangers would drop into Europa League play-offs if they were to lose in the third qualifying round, while a victory puts them into the Champions League play-offs on August 19/20 and August 26/27. Rangers would be unseeded, however, and would face the winner of the ties involving Benfica (Portugal) or Club Brugge (Belgium), who they are playing in a friendly in July.

The draw for the play-off round takes place on August 4. Rangers would advance to the main phase of the Champions League with a win, or drop into the Europa League with a defeat, where they are projected to be in pot one.

Aberdeen won the Scottish Cup. | SNS Group

Aberdeen - Europa League

Aberdeen finished fifth in the Premiership, but take the highest-ranked Europa League spot by virtue of their Scottish Cup triumph over Celtic. They will enter that tournament at the play-off round, with matches taking place on August 21 and August 28.

Aberdeen will be unseeded for the draw on August 4 and could face some heavyweight opposition, including six drop-downs from the Champions League. The full list of teams will become clearer as we get closer to the draw date.

The Dons would progress to the main phase of the Europa League should they win, while a defeat would mean dropping into the Conference League, where they are projected to be in pot four. Manager Jimmy Thelin will take comfort from being guaranteed European football until at least Christmas.

Hibs finished third in the Premiership. | SNS Group

Hibs - Europa League

Hibs finished third in the Premiership but as a result of Aberdeen winning the Scottish Cup, they will enter that tournament in the second qualifying round.

David Gray’s men will be unseeded for the June 18 draw and could face a number of big names. While the list will not be definitive until the end of this month, potential opponents include Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine), Legia Warsaw (Poland), FC Midtjylland (Denmark), Sheriff Tiraspol (Moldova), Anderlecht (Belgium), Partizan Belgrade (Serbia) or Braga (Portugal). The ties are due to be played on July 24 and July 31.

Hibs will remain in Europe regardless of the outcome. Victory would take them to the third qualifying round (draw on July 21) although their seeding is unknown. A defeat would drop them into the Conference League third qualifying round, where they are guaranteed to be unseeded. That draw is also on July 21 and the ties across both competitions take place on August 7 and 14.

Hibs would advance to the play-off round of either competition if they were to prevail in the third qualifying round. The draws are on August 4 and the play-offs take place on August 21 and August 28. If Hibs make it to the Europa League play-off, then like Aberdeen, they have the parachute of the Conference League.

Dundee United will be in Conference League next season. | SNS Group

Dundee United - Conference League

Dundee United finished fourth in the Premiership, but were demoted to the Conference League after Aberdeen’s Scottish Cup win. They therefore enter Europe’s third-tier event at the second qualifying round.

Dundee United will be seeded for the draw on June 18 and could face a wide variety of teams on July 24 and July 31. If they win, they would move to the third round of qualifying on August 7 and August 14, but are guaranteed to be unseeded. The draw is on July 21 and if they lose, they are out of Europe altogether.

A win in the third qualifying round would take Jim Goodwin’s men to the play-offs on August 21 and August 28. Dundee United would be unseeded for the August 4 draw and could face some of the Europa League drop downs and a number of big clubs who are already in the play-offs, including Nottingham Forest (England), Rayo Vallecano (Spain), Strasbourg (France), Mainz (Germany) and Fiorentina (Italy).