For the purposes of this piece, a top-tier team losing to any side from a lower division is considered a 'cupset'. With that in mind, here is a look at some of the bigger shocks to happen in domestic cups across the continent last season.
Torreense v Sporting CP - Taca de Portugal final
We start with what has to be considered one of the biggest cup final upsets in quite some time. It is clear that Portuguese football has gotten used to the unexpected in their domestic cup. After all, one cupset was featured in our list last season. This campaign seldom disappointed either, as Rio Ave fell to third-tier Sintrense, and Estrela da Amadora were on the wrong side of a shocker to fourth division club Alpendorada.
Yet, the biggest upset of all came in the final. Liga Portugal runner-ups Sporting CP were in their 32nd Taca da Portugal final, and were overwhelming favourites to pick up silverware against second-tier Torreense.
Torreense, who enjoyed a fine season themselves, were playing in just their second showpiece in the competition, with the other appearance coming 70 years prior. Their run to the final only saw them beat one other top-flight team in Casa Pia. While it was still an impressive victory, it paled in comparison to what they accomplished in Leiria.
Even when Kevin Zohi put the underdogs in front less than five minutes in, few expected them to go 86 minutes without conceding to Sporting.
The capital club responded through Luis Suarez less than 10 minutes into the second half, seemingly restoring order. Surely they would run away with it from here, right? Well, not quite.
Instead, Torreense forced extra time and held off Sporting's attacks. Then, in the 109th minute, the moment came. Maximiliano Araujo was sent off for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity, giving the lower-tier side a penalty. Up stepped Stopira, who converted.
Remarkably, Torreense held on, becoming the first side from the second division to win the Taca. It was their first major silverware, and they qualified for Europe for the very first time. 'SCUT', as they are known, will play in the Europa League proper, a rare feat for a lower division team.
They were nearly promoted to the first division as well, but lost the two-legged playoff to none other than Casa Pia, who got their revenge to keep their top-flight status. Still, the 2025/26 season will be one that no Torreense fan will forget anytime soon.
ASK Voitsberg 3-2 Austria Wien - OFB Steigl, round one
From the end of the season to the very start. where Austrian football saw one of the most unbelievable scalps of the season.
ASK Voitsberg were coming off an awful 2024/25 campaign, which saw them get relegated to the Regionalliga - the third tier. And to kick things off for this campaign was an Austrian Cup first-round game at home to one of the country's most renowned teams, Austria Wien.
Die Veilchen are 24-time domestic champions, and the record OFB Steigl champions with 27 to their name. They also have a European final to their name. While they were only 10 years older than their opponent, the odds were expectedly in their favour.
The first sign of a potential shock came in the 23rd minute, when Voitsberg took the lead through Andreas Pfingster. It looked like they would go into the break in front, only for Noah Botic to respond for FAK.
Maurice Malone's goal saw the third-tier club fall behind, with Austria expected to run away with the game from there. That was not quite what happened, though, as Luka Zivanovic and Martin Krienzer scored less than two minutes apart to completely turn the match around.
Austria Wien spent the final quarter of the game trying to find a third goal. Yet, that alluded them as Voitsberg held on for the biggest cupset in the cup this term.
Voitsberg went on to lose in the next round to Admira, but it was still a very successful year for them. After all, they topped their Regionalliga group to make an immediate return to the 2. Liga for next term. Still, it will be difficult to forget how the early round cup game produced the most unlikely of shocks before their domestic joy.
Macclesfield FC 2-1 Crystal Palace - FA Cup, third round
Crystal Palace lifted the FA Cup to conclude the 2024/25 season for them, winning their maiden major trophy. It was truly a special moment for the club, who have become a regular fixture in the Premier League. They qualified for Europe for the first time as well, going on to win the Conference League to add further joy.
However, most fans of Palace persuasion will hope to sweep their attempt at a cup defence under the rug. They were drawn against sixth tier side Macclesfield FC, who are a phoenix club of the now-defunct Macclesfield Town.
For reference, the Silkmen had to get past five rounds in the FA Cup, starting in the second qualifying round, before they had the chance to draw Palace. They scored 15 times across those five matches, leading them to a meeting with Premier League opposition at home.
Despite being 117 places lower than Palace at the time of the match, Macclesfield gave a strong account of themselves in the first half and were rewarded just before the break when captain Paul Dawson put them in front. Unthinkably, the non-league team led against the holders.
Macclesfield were still mourning the loss of former player Ethan McLeod, which acted as more motivation for them. And at the hour mark, they doubled their lead through Isaac Buckley-Ricketts, sending the fans at Moss Rose into delirium.
For all of their possession, Palace still ended up being outshot 13-12 in the game. Yeremi Pino got one back for the Eagles just before stoppage time, but that was the closest they got.
Macclesfield held on for one of the most shocking results in FA Cup history. For reference, this was the first time since 1909 that a non-league team defeated an FA Cup holder.
The Silkmen gave a good account of themselves in the next round, but narrowly fell 1-0 to Brentford. Domestically, they also did well, finishing fourth in the National League North before losing to Kidderminster Harriers in the play-off semi-final. Nevertheless, the highlight of their season is undoubtedly their victory over Palace.
Krusevo 2-2 Borac Banja Luka, 2-0 on penalties - Bosnia and Herzegovina Cup, first round
Next, to Bosnia and Herzegovina, where Borac Banja Luka - who are celebrating their 100th year of existence this year - were on the wrong side of a huge cupset.
Borac, who reached the knockout rounds of the Conference League last term, had many expectations heading into 2025/26. Having won the Bosnian Cup just once in their history, Crveno-plavi were looking to add to that total.
Up first for them were third division club Krusevo, who had done well to reach the quarter-finals last term. That was an honourable showing for a team who had never won a major trophy in their existence. In fact, they have never played in Bosnia's top division either.
Understandably, many expected a comfortable win for Borac. That came even more apparent when they raced to a 2-0 lead in the first half via Cherif Atab Diouf and Ognjen Radosevic, who scored a minute apart.
They say two-goal leads are the most dangerous in football. Krusevo proved that point to a tee. In the second half, the home side got one back through Ivan Raguz, before Ivan Zelenika tied things up just after the hour mark.
Now Borac were in a tricky situation, having thrown away a 2-0 advantage away to a side two divisions below them. Nothing separated them after 90 minutes, meaning a penalty shootout was on the horizon.
From there, the team from Banja Luka completely capitulated. None of their four penalty takers managed to convert their chance. Krusevo scored two of their three, sending them through.
As has been the theme in this piece, the third-tier club would not last much longer in the cup. Radnik Bjieljina ended their run in the next round with a 5-1 result. It was a good run in the league as well for Krusevo, who finished third behind Capljina and Brotnjo.
Things did end well for Borac, as they won their fourth Bosnian domestic title to return to Champions League qualification next summer. With that said, it will be hard for them to forget their disappointing cup exit.
FC Breitenrain 1-0 FC Thun - Swiss Cup, first round
The last cupset in this piece is from Switzerland, where we witnessed one of the most remarkable seasons in the country's history. FC Thun did the unthinkable, winning their first-ever top-flight title just a year after they were playing in the Challenge League - the second division.
Like quite a few names mentioned in this piece, the club had never won a major trophy in their 128-year history. While they have participated in the Champions League group stage once before and have competed in the Swiss Super League fairly often, they rarely challenged for top spot, let alone a place on the podium.
There is no doubt that the 2025/26 campaign was something special for Thun. However, it did start with a cup setback. Their match-up in the opening round saw them head to third-tier team FC Breitenrain from the capital. A merger of two Bern-based teams, the club have regularly featured in the third tier for a decade and a half.
It was still early on in the season, meaning few knew what to expect from Thun in 2025/26. With that said, next to no one thought their tie against a third-tier team would end up being disastrous.
After keeping their more fancied opponents out in the opening half, Breitenrain took the lead in the second half, when Neto converted a penalty to put them ahead.
Thun spent the final half hour of the match trying to draw level, but unfortunately for them, they could not score on the day. The fans at Spitalacker ran onto the pitch to celebrate at full-time as their team pulled off an impressive scalp.
That proved to be the highlight of what became a rather quiet season for Breitenrain, who lost in the very next round to Zug. They also finished 12th out of 18 teams in the Promotion, some 38 points behind champions Kriens.
Perhaps that stunning cup elimination was what sparked Thun to pull off their finest achievement yet and win the Super League.
Honourable mentions
We conclude this first part of two parts with some honourable mentions. The FAI Cup, one of the domestic cup competitions that runs throughout the calendar year, saw an incredible result in 2025. Second-tier Kerry pulled off a stunning 4-3 win over Sligo Rovers in the quarter-finals as part of a remarkable run.
The most remarkable aspect of the result was the fact that they completed a three-goal comeback before netting a 117th-minute winner from Daniel Okwute to get the win. It was their second win over a top-tier side in the tournament, having beaten Athlone Town before that. They would go on to lose in the semi-finals to eventual domestic double winners Shamrock Rovers.
Also suffering an unexpected exit were former European Cup finalists Partizan Belgrade. Seven-time winners of the Serbian Cup, Crno-beli lost 2-0 at Macva Sabac. Goals in either half saw the second division side pull off the biggest upset in this term.
It was all part of a miserable 2025/26 campaign, where Partizan finished third in the league behind heated rivals Crvena zvezda, who completed the double, and Vojvodina.
Finally, Ahrotekh Tyshkivka managed a stunning result in the Ukrainian Cup. Hailing from the fifth division, they defeated Epitsentr 7-6 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in normal time.
After taking the lead shortly after the hour mark, Tyshkivka conceded eight minutes before the end to set up a nervy finish. Yet, they were able to get the job done in the shootout, as they converted seven of their nine spot kicks to prevail.
They got as far as the round of 16 before losing to Feniks-Mariupol in what was another penalty shootout.