The 2023 Scottish Cup final was the final match of the 2022–23 Scottish Cup, the 138th edition of Scotland's most prestigious knockout football competition. It was contested by Celtic and Inverness Caledonian Thistle at Hampden Park, Glasgow, on 3 June 2023.[1]
 The match took place at Hampden Park | |||||||
| Event | 2022–23 Scottish Cup | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Date | 3 June 2023 | ||||||
| Venue | Hampden Park, Glasgow | ||||||
| Man of the Match | Jota | ||||||
| Referee | John Beaton | ||||||
| Attendance | 47,247 | ||||||
Background
editThe 2023 final was a record 60th Scottish Cup final appearance for Celtic, while it was only Inverness Caledonian Thistle's second final appearance, having won the cup in 2015.[2] It was the first time that the clubs had met in the final, but the eighth time they had met at any stage of the competition, the most recent meeting taking place in the fifth round in the 2016–17 season. It was also the first time since 2015 that teams in different divisions had contested the final, not including the 2020 final, where Heart of Midlothian were in the unique position of being a Premiership side when the competition was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but a Championship side when it resumed midway through the 2020–21 season.
The winners were due to enter the 2023–24 UEFA Europa League play-off round, however, as Celtic had already qualified for the 2023–24 UEFA Champions League, the team placed third in the Premiership (Aberdeen) entered the Europa League instead.[3]
Road to the final
edit| Celtic | Round | Inverness Caledonian Thistle | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opposition | Score | Opposition | Score | |
| N/A | 3rd | Stirling Albion (H) | 3–2 | |
| Greenock Morton (H) | 5–0 | 4th | Queen's Park (H) | 0–2[4] |
| St Mirren (H) | 5–1 | 5th | Livingston (A) | 3–0 |
| Heart of Midlothian (A) | 3–0 | QF | Kilmarnock (H) | 2–1 |
| Rangers (N) | 1–0 | SF | Falkirk (N) | 3–0 |
| Key: (H) = Home venue; (A) = Away venue; (N) = Neutral venue | ||||
Inverness Caledonian Thistle entered the Scottish Cup at the third round, securing their place in the fourth round by defeating Stirling Albion 3–2 at Caledonian Stadium.[5] Celtic entered at the fourth round, with a 5–0 home victory over Greenock Morton ensuring their progression to the fifth round.[6] Inverness Caledonian Thistle were eliminated from the competition after a 2–0 defeat to Queen's Park in their rescheduled tie,[7] however, they were reinstated after Queen's Park were found to have fielded an ineligible player.[8] In the fifth round, Celtic beat St Mirren 5–1 in Glasgow, with a flurry of late goals in the match,[9] while Inverness Caledonian Thistle defeated Premiership side Livingston 3–0 at Almondvale Stadium.[10]
Caley Thistle also faced Premiership opposition in the quarter-finals, beating Kilmarnock 2–1 in Inverness,[11] while Celtic travelled to Tynecastle Park to face Heart of Midlothian, where they ran out 3–0 winners.[12] The semi-finals were both played at Hampden Park, with Inverness Caledonian Thistle facing Falkirk on 29 April and Celtic taking on holders Rangers the next day. In a repeat of the 2015 final, Caley Thistle defeated Falkirk, with goals from Billy Mckay and Daniel MacKay taking the club to only the second Scottish Cup final in its history.[13] They would also become the first and only team to have made the final, having been eliminated from the competition in the same season. On 30 April, Celtic beat Rangers, with Jota scoring the only goal of the game.[14]
Match
editDetails
edit
          Celtic
|
    Inverness Caledonian Thistle
|
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:
|
Match rules[16]
|
Media coverage
editBBC Scotland and Viaplay Sports broadcast the final; this was the fifth season of a six-year deal in the United Kingdom to broadcast Scottish Cup matches.[17]
References
edit- ^ "Scottish Cup dates and Preliminary Round draw confirmed for season 2022/23". www.scottishfa.co.uk. Scottish Football Association. 29 July 2022. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
- ^ "Weekend in Numbers". SPFL. 1 May 2023. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
- ^ "Access list 2021–24" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 December 2018. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
- ^ As Queen's Park fielded an ineligible player, they were ejected from the Scottish Cup and Inverness Caledonian Thistle were reinstated.
- ^ "Inverness Caledonian Thistle 3–2 Stirling Albion". BBC Sport. 26 November 2022. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
- ^ Campbell, Andy (21 January 2023). "Celtic 5–0 Greenock Morton". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
- ^ McLauchlin, Brian (31 January 2023). "Inverness Caledonian Thistle 0–2 Queen's Park". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
- ^ "Queen's Park out of Scottish Cup over ineligible player, Inverness to face Livingston". BBC Sport. 3 February 2023. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
- ^ Murray, Keir (11 February 2023). "Celtic 5–1 St Mirren". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
- ^ Petrie, Andrew (11 February 2023). "Livingston 0–3 Inverness Caledonian Thistle". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
- ^ McGill, Sean (10 March 2023). "Inverness Caledonian Thistle 2–1 Kilmarnock". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
- ^ "Heart of Midlothian 0–3 Celtic". BBC Sport. 11 March 2023. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
- ^ McPheat, Nick (29 April 2023). "Falkirk 0–3 Inverness Caledonian Thistle". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
- ^ Moffat, Colin (30 April 2023). "Rangers 0–1 Celtic". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
- ^ @ScottishCup (3 June 2023). "Congratulations to today's Player of the Match: Jota 👏👏 #ScottishCupFinal" (Tweet). Retrieved 3 June 2023 – via Twitter.
- ^ "Format & Rules". The Scottish FA. Archived from the original on 16 February 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
- ^ "Scottish FA Announce Scottish Cup Broadcasting Deals". Scottish Football Association. 12 November 2018. Archived from the original on 26 April 2019. Retrieved 24 March 2022.