The 2024 Scottish League Cup final was an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

match took place at

Hampden Park Hampden Park ( ; Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden'') is a association football, football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the national stadium of football in Scotland and home of the Scotland national football ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

on 15 December 2024. It was the culmination of the

2024–25 Scottish League Cup The 2024–25 Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the 79th season of Scotland's second-most prestigious football knockout competition. Rangers were the defending champions, but they lost 4–5 o ...

, the 79th season of the

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...

(known as the

Premier Sports Premier Sports is a group of pay sports television channels owned by SSBL Limited that are available in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Premier Sports holds exclusive live rights to La Liga, Scottish League Cup, Elite Ice Hockey League, NHL a ...

Cup for sponsorship reasons), a competition for the 42 teams in the

Scottish Professional Football League The Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) is the national men's association football league in Scotland. The league was formed in June 2013 following a merger between the Scottish Premier League and the Scottish Football League. As well ...

(SPFL). It was played between

Old Firm The Old Firm is a collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply embedded i ...

rivals

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

(21-time winners, including in seven of the previous ten editions) and

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

(title holders and record 28-time winners). It was the 17th Scottish League Cup final between the sides and the 443rd meeting overall in major competitions. After the match finished in a 3–3 draw at the end of normal time and the same scoreline after

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

, Celtic won 5–4 in a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

to claim the trophy.

Route to the final

As both clubs participated in European competitions, they both received a bye through the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

Celtic

Rangers

Match

Build-up

This was the second final between the clubs in the calendar year, after the

2024 Scottish Cup final The 2024 Scottish Cup final was the final match of the 2023–24 Scottish Cup, the 139th edition of Scotland's most prestigious knockout football competition. It was contested by Celtic and Rangers at Hampden Park, Glasgow, on 25 May 2024. Back ...

in May which brought the previous domestic season to a close. Celtic went into the final as favourites owing to their position of dominance in Scottish football over the preceding dozen years since the events of 2012 involving Rangers, and in recent seasons (they had won seven of the nine trophies on offer since 2021–22, with Rangers winning the other two). Celtic had also made a stronger start to the

2024–25 Scottish Premiership The 2024–25 Scottish Premiership (known as the William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the twelfth season of the Scottish Premiership, the highest division of Scottish football, and the 128th edition overall of the top national ...

, including a 3–0 win over Rangers, and held an 11-point lead over their old rivals in the league table; Rangers also trailed

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

, whom Celtic had defeated 6–0 in their League Cup semi-final meeting. Both clubs had performed credibly in Europe, each recording draws in the days leading up to the final: Celtic returned from a goalless Champions League fixture away to

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb (), commonly referred to as simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo play their home matches at Stadion Maksimir. They are the most successful club in Cr ...

, and Rangers shared the points at home to

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

in the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

, with defender

John Souttar John Francis Souttar (born 25 September 1996) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays for Scottish Premiership club Rangers and the Scotland national team. He previously played for Dundee United and Heart of Midlothian before joining ...

substituted due to an injury which caused him to miss the Hampden showpiece. In the hours prior to the match there were incidents of disorder in

Glasgow city centre Glasgow city centre is the central business district of Glasgow, Scotland. It is bordered by the Saltmarket, High Street and Castle Street to the east, the River Clyde to the south, and the M8 motorway to the west and north. It is made up of t ...

, as the clubs' '

ultras Ultras are a type of association football fans who are known for their fanatical support. The term originated in Italy, but is used worldwide to describe predominantly organised fans of association football teams. The behavioural tendency ...

' groups confronted one another, smashed shop windows and threw missiles at police. Within the stadium,

pyrotechnics Pyrotechnics is the science and craft of creating fireworks, but also includes safety matches, oxygen candles, Pyrotechnic fastener, explosive bolts (and other fasteners), parts of automotive airbags, as well as gas-pressure blasting in mining, q ...

were ignited at both ends on a large scale, a common occurrence in Scottish football in the 2020s, despite warnings from governing bodies over their misuse and both Celtic and Rangers (as well as

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

) facing fines for the same actions at Hampden in the competition's semi-finals. Kick-off was delayed slightly to allow smoke from the devices to clear.

Summary

Rangers took the lead in the first half when

Nedim Bajrami Nedim Bajrami (born 28 February 1999) is a footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for Scottish Premiership club Rangers. Born in Switzerland, he plays for the Albania national team. Club career Grasshoppers Born in Switzer ...

anticipated and intercepted a pass across midfield from Greg Taylor and fed

Hamza Igamane Hamza Igamane (; born 2 November 2002) is a Moroccan professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Rangers and the Morocco national team. Coming from the ASFAR Academy, he is the youngest player in the history of AS FAR to win the ...

, whose shot was saved by

Kasper Schmeichel Kasper Peter Schmeichel (born 5 November 1986) is a Danish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Scottish Premiership club Celtic F.C., Celtic and the Denmark national footb ...

only for Bajrami to score from the rebound. Taylor redeemed his mistake early in the second half with the shot which brought the equaliser, although a deflection off

Nicolas Raskin Nicolas Raskin (born 23 February 2001) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Rangers and the Belgium national team. Raskin had spells in the youth academies of Standard Liège and Anderlecht, before joining Ge ...

took the ball past Rangers goalkeeper

Jack Butland Jack Butland (born 10 March 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Rangers. Butland began his career with Birmingham City, and made his debut in the Football League in September 2011 while on loan to Le ...

. Three minutes later Celtic took the lead when

Daizen Maeda is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a forward for side Celtic and the Japan national team. Club career Matsumoto Yamaga In 2016, Maeda joined Matsumoto Yamaga FC. He got his J-League debut on 28 February 2016. It was on ...

beat defender

Leon Balogun Leon Aderemi Balogun (born 28 June 1988) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back or right-back for club Aris Limassol. Balogun has previously played for Türkiyemspor Berlin, Hannover 96, Werder Bremen, Fortuna Düsseldorf, Darms ...

to a pass, raced forward and finished into the corner. The Rangers equaliser came from Mohamed Diomande who showed strength to turn inside the penalty area and score past Schmeichel. In the 87th minute, Celtic had what appeared to be a decisive goal when

Nicolas Kühn Nicolas-Gerrit Kühn (born 1 January 2000) is a German professional footballer who plays as a winger or forward for Italian club Como. Club career Early years Born in Wunstorf, Hanover Region, Kühn began playing football at TSV Klein Heido ...

dribbled upfield and had space to collect a return pass from

Arne Engels Arne Engels (born 8 September 2003) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder, right-back or right winger for Scottish Premiership club Celtic and the Belgium national team. Club career Club NXT Engels began his career at ...

after Diomande slipped while chasing back, placing the ball past Butland. However, Rangers hit back almost immediately,

Václav Černý Václav Černý may refer to: * Václav Černý (writer) (1905–1987), Czech writer * Václav Černý (footballer) (born 1997), Czech footballer {{hndis, Cerny, Vaclav ...

's cross met by a header from substitute

Danilo Danilo is a given name found in Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Serbian. Notable people with the name Danilo include: Athletes Footballers * Danilo (footballer, born 1979), Brazilian footballer Danilo de Andrade * Danilo (footballer, born ...

to take the match to extra time. Few chances were created in the additional 30 minutes, although Rangers had a claim for a penalty when Liam Scales could be seen holding Černý's shirt just inside the area. The outcome was therefore settled in a

, in which

Rıdvan Yılmaz Rıdvan Yılmaz (born 21 May 2001) is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as a left-back for club Rangers and the Turkey national team. Yılmaz is a graduate of the Beşiktaş youth academy. He made 62 first-team appearances for Beşi ...

of Rangers had his kick saved by Schmeichel. All other efforts (including one from Butland) were scored, with the winning penalty converted by Maeda.

Aftermath

Hundreds of celebrating Celtic supporters made their way onto the pitchside track in the minutes after the shootout, which delayed the trophy presentation and was reported could result in sanctions for the club. Celtic won the 119th major trophy in their history, moving them ahead of Rangers at the top of the all-time Scottish rankings. Their winger James Forrest claimed a 25th winner's medal with the club, equalling the record held by

Bobby Lennox Robert Lennox, MBE (born 30 August 1943) is a Scottish former footballer who played for Celtic and was a member of their 1967 European Cup-winning team, known as the Lisbon Lions. He earned ten international caps for Scotland. In 2002, Celtic ...

. For Rangers the outcome was very similar to their defeat in the 2022 UEFA Europa League final, with captain

James Tavernier James Henry Tavernier (; born 31 October 1991) is an English professional footballer who plays as a right-back and is club captain for club Rangers. After starting at the Leeds United Academy, he began his professional career at Newcastle U ...

commenting that it evoked 'flashbacks' of that disappointment. Rangers submitted an official request for clarification from the

Scottish Football Association The Scottish Football Association (; also known as the Scottish FA and the SFA) is the governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility for the control and development of football in Scotland. Members of the SFA incl ...

into the extra time penalty incident. The

Video Assistant Referee The video assistant referee (VAR) is a Assistant referee (association football), match official in association football who assists the referee by reviewing decisions using video footage and providing advice to the referee based on those revi ...

team had not intervened, with a reason initially provided that referee John Beaton had already blown his whistle to award a free kick for a trip by Scales on Černý outside the box, half a second before the jersey pull. However, analysts including current and former officials assessed that the foul was continuous and ended inside the area. Four days after the match, the SFA's head of referee operations Willie Collum stated that it was a "really, really poor" and "unacceptable" decision not to review the incident and award Rangers a penalty.

Details

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scottish League Cup Final 2024 Scottish League Cup finals, 2024 2024–25 Scottish League Cup, Final December 2024 sports events in the United Kingdom Celtic F.C. matches Rangers F.C. matches Old Firm matches 2020s in Glasgow