2025–26 Ukrainian Cup
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Country | Ukraine |
| Dates | 9 August 2025–May 2026 9 August 2025 (qualification round) August 2025–May 2026 (main event) |
| Teams | 68 |
| Defending champions | Shakhtar Donetsk |
The 2025–26 Ukrainian Cup is the 34th annual season of Ukraine's football knockout competition. The competition started on 9 August 2025 and will be concluded in May of 2026. Champions qualify for the First qualifying round 2026-27 UEFA Europa League.
All competition rounds consisted of a single game with a home field advantage granted to a team from lower league. Draw for all the rounds was blind.
Changes to the format
Changes to the competition format were announced during the last season. It was announced an intention to allow more amateur-level teams to participate in competitions.[1] The major change of this season is that teams from the regional associations (in addition to AAFU members) are participating for the first time since 1996.
Four teams will represent the Ukrainian Association of Amateur Football, the Ukrainian Amateur Cup's better performers (all semifinalists), instead of two.
On 7 May 2025,[2] the Ukrainian Association of Football agreed with the Ukrainian Premier League teams on their participation in this season's competition in a new format.[3]
Among other changes, there is expected to be no extra time after a match is tied; instead, the only tiebreaker is a penalty shootout.
Team allocation and schedule
The competition includes all professional first teams from the Premier League (16/16 teams of the league), First League (16/16), Second League (16/23) as well as 20 amateur teams including 4 best performer from the previous year's Amateur Cup and 16 from regional associations.
| Distribution | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Teams entering this round | Teams advancing from the previous round | ||
| Qualification round (16 teams) |
16 entrants from regional associations[4] | ||
| Round of 64 (56 teams) |
12 entrants of the Second League[4] 16 entrants of the First League[4] 16 entrants of the Second League[4] 4 entrants of the 2024–25 Amateur Cup[4] |
8 winners from the Qualification round | |
| Round of 32 (16 teams) |
4 entrants from the Premier League[4] | 28 winners from the Round of 64 | |
Rounds schedule
| Phase | Round | Number of fixtures |
Clubs remaining |
Draw date | Game date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qualification | 8 | 16 → 8 | 17 July 2025[4][5] | 9-10 August 2025[6] | |
| Main event | Round of 64 | 28 | 56 → 28 | 23-24 August 2025[7] | |
| Round of 32 | 16 | 32 → 16 | |||
| Round of 16 | 8 | 16 → 8 | |||
| Quarter-finals | 4 | 8 → 4 | |||
| Semi-finals | 2 | 4 → 2 | |||
| Final | 1 | 2 → 1 | |||
Teams
| Enter in Qualification | Enter in Round of 64 | Enter in Round of 32 | |||
| Regional associations 16 teams[4] |
AAFU 4 teams[4] |
PFL League 2 16/23 teams[4] |
PFL League 1 16/16 teams[4] |
UPL 12/16 teams[4] |
UPL 4/16 teams[4] |
|
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Notes:
- With the asterisk (*) are noted the Second League teams that were recently admitted to the league from amateurs and the AAFU (amateur) team(s) that qualified in addition to the Amateur Cup finalist(s).
- Seven reserve teams from the PFL League 2 were not eligible to participate.
See also
- 2025–26 Ukrainian Premier League
- 2025–26 Ukrainian First League
- 2025–26 Ukrainian Second League
- 2025–26 Ukrainian Amateur Cup
References
- ^ "Німецька модель": у Кубку України з футболу плануються кардинальні зміни формату. sportnews.24tv.ua. 4 April 2025
- ^ Клуби УПЛ та УАФ узгодили новий формат Кубку України: які зміни очікуються. champion.com.ua. 7 May 2025
- ^ Кубок України 2025/26: формати зрозумілі, етапи визначено. terrikon.com. 8 May 2025
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Кваліфікація та 68 команд. Відомі перші деталі оновленого Кубка України. sport.ua. 4 July 2025
- ^ Відомі перші деталі формату Кубка України в сезоні 2025/2026: що змінилося. ukrfootball.ua. 4 July 2025
- ^ Нафтовик, Легія, ще одні Металург (Запоріжжя) і Полісся та інші: відомі учасники кваліфікаційного раунду КУ. www.ua-football.com. 4 July 2025
- ^ Структура змагання та учасники 1/32 фіналу: деталі старту нового розіграшу КУ. www.ua-football.com. 4 July 2025
External links
- КУБОК УКРАЇНИ 2025\2026 .НОВЕ ЖИТТЯ ТУРНІРУ. ua.tribuna.com. 4 July 2025
- Акценти. Про плюси та мінуси нового формату Кубка України. www.ua-football.com. 21 May 2025