2024 Belgian Cup final

Last updated
2024 Belgian Cup Final
Event 2023–24 Belgian Cup
Date9 May 2024
Venue King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels
Referee Erik Lambrechts
Weathersunny
2023
2025

The 2024 Belgian Cup Final, named Croky Cup after the sponsor, will be the 69th Belgian Cup final and is scheduled to be played on 9 May 2024. Union SG qualified on 28 February for its third ever Cup final, 110 years after last reaching it in 1914. One day later, current cup holders Antwerp became their opponent, qualifying for its sixth final. Antwerp would be the first club to defend its title since Club Brugge won the 1996 Belgian Cup final after having already won the 1995 Belgian Cup final.

Contents

Route to the final

Union SGAntwerp
OpponentResultLegsScorersRoundOpponentResultLegsScorers
Meux (IV)2–12–1 home Leysen, Rasmussen Seventh round Lierse Kempenzonen (II)4–14–1 away Alderweireld, Ilenikhena, De Laet, Oularé ( o.g. )
Beveren (II)2–02–0 away Bateau ( o.g. ), Koyalipou ( o.g. ) Eighth round Charleroi (I)5–25–2 home Ejuke, Boukamir ( o.g. ), Janssen (2), Ilenikhena
Anderlecht (I)2–12–1 home Lapoussin, Rodríguez (pen.) Quarter-finals OH Leuven (I)3–23–2 away Janssen (2 of which 1 pen. ), Van Den Bosch
Club Brugge (I)3–21–2 away; 2–0 home Machida; Amoura, Sykes Semi-finals Oostende (II)4–11–1 away; 3–0 home Doumbia; Ilenikhena (2), Van Den Bosch

Pre-match

Going into the match, both teams were struggling: Antwerp had a difficult season as defending league and cup champions and despite playing in the UEFA Champions League during the season, the club had ups and downs throughout the season and was currently only in 6th in the league, which would mean they were not going to qualify for European football. Meanwhile, Union SG had dominated the regular season, but had been struggling since the playoffs (starting with four losses) and had dropped from first to third place, with three matches to go however, they could still win the title.

The winner of the match qualifies for the 2024–25 UEFA Europa League Play-off round. If Union SG were to win but also finish in the top two of the league, they would instead qualify for the qualifying rounds of the 2024–25 UEFA Champions League, with the ticket for the 2024–25 UEFA Europa League Play-off round, in that case, being passed along to the third-place finisher in the league.

Match

Summary

Both teams started the match in no-risk mode, with lots of duels for the ball, but without any major chances. Union SG had most possession (about 75%). First excitement came when Jurgen Ekkelenkamp hit the outside of the post from a long range kick over the ground from outside of the penalty area, about midway through the first half. In the added time of the first half, Zeno Van Den Bosch headed-on a corner kick which ended up with Kōki Machida who reacted fasted to open the scoring. During the second half Antwerp tried to equalize, but no chances came from it until 10 minutes from time when Christian Burgess lost the ball to Ekkelenkamp whose shot went straight at Anthony Moris. It would turn out to be the only big chance for Antwerp, after that on multiple occasions Union SG came close to extending the lead on counter-attacks, with both Cameron Puertas and Mohamed Amoura missing big chances in the final minutes to leave the score at 1–0.

Details

Union SG 1–0 Antwerp
  • Machida Soccerball shade.svg45+1'
Report
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Union SG
Kit left arm antwerp2324h.png
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Antwerp
GK49 Flag of Luxembourg.svg Anthony Moris Yellow card.svg 90+1'
LB5 Flag of Argentina.svg Kevin Mac Allister
CB16 Flag of England.svg Christian Burgess Yellow card.svg 68'
CB28 Flag of Japan.svg Kōki Machida
CB21 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Alessio Castro-Montes Yellow card.svg 90'
RB24 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Charles Vanhoutte
MF23 Flag of Spain.svg Cameron Puertas
MF4 Flag of Norway.svg Mathias Rasmussen Sub off.svg 84'
MF10 Flag of Madagascar.svg Loïc Lapoussin Sub off.svg 81'
CF47 Flag of Algeria.svg Mohamed Amoura Yellow card.svg 24'Sub off.svg 90+6'
CF29 Flag of Sweden.svg Gustaf Nilsson Sub off.svg 81'
Substitutes:
FW7 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Elton Kabangu
MF8 Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg Jean Thierry Lazare Sub on.svg 90+6'
FW11 Flag of Germany.svg Henok Teklab
GK12 Flag of Austria.svg Heinz Lindner
FW13 Flag of Ecuador.svg Kevin Rodríguez Sub on.svg 81'
DF26 Flag of England.svg Ross Sykes Sub on.svg 81'
DF27 Flag of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.svg Noah Sadiki Sub on.svg 84'
Manager:
Flag of Germany.svg Alexander Blessin
GK91 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Senne Lammens
RB2 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Ritchie De Laet Sub off.svg 73'
CB23 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Toby Alderweireld
CB33 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Zeno Van Den Bosch Yellow card.svg 88'
LB5 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Owen Wijndal Sub off.svg 86'
RW7 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Gyrano Kerk Sub off.svg 73'
MF27 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Mandela Keita
MF24 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Jurgen Ekkelenkamp Sub off.svg 86'
LW6 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Eliot Matazo Yellow card.svg 30'Sub off.svg 73'
FW10 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Michel-Ange Balikwisha
FW18 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Vincent Janssen Yellow card.svg 55'
Substitutes:
MF8 Flag of Nigeria.svg Alhassan Yusuf Sub on.svg 73'
FW9 Flag of Nigeria.svg George Ilenikhena Sub on.svg 86'
FW19 Flag of Nigeria.svg Chidera Ejuke Sub on.svg 73'
DF34 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Jelle Bataille Sub on.svg 73'
DF44 Flag of France.svg Soumaïla Coulibaly Sub on.svg 86'
FW60 Flag of Nigeria.svg Victor Udoh
GK81 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Niels Devalckeneer
Manager:
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Mark van Bommel

Match rules

  • 90 minutes.
  • 30 minutes of extra time if necessary.
  • Penalty shoot-out if scores still level.
  • Seven named substitutes.
  • Maximum of five substitutions.

Notes

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    References