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2023 Belgian Cup final

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2023 Belgian Cup final
Event2022–23 Belgian Cup
Date30 April 2023
VenueKing Baudouin Stadium, Brussels
RefereeJonathan Lardot
Attendance41,500
Weathersunny
2022
2024

The 2023 Belgian Cup final, named Croky Cup after the sponsor, was the 68th Belgian Cup final which took place on 30 April 2023. The match was contested by KV Mechelen and Antwerp.

Mechelen had qualified for its seventh Belgian Cup Final on 28 February 2023, and already won the tournament twice, first in 1987 and more recently in 2019. Two days later, Antwerp qualified as well, making this their fifth appearance in the final, having already won the cup three times, most notably in 1992 when they also met KV Mechelen and a penalty shoot-out ended in their favor.

Antwerp won the match 2–0.[1]

Route to the final

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Mechelen Antwerp
Opponent Result Legs Scorers Round Opponent Result Legs Scorers
Lokeren-Temse (IV) 5–0 5–0 away Schoofs, Malede (2), Da Cruz, Van Hoorenbeeck Sixth round Beveren (II) 2–2 2–2 away (a.e.t.) (4–2 p) Stengs, Tshimanga (o.g.)
Seraing (I) 1–0 1–0 home Mrabti Seventh round Standard Liège (I) 4–0 4–0 home Bataille, Frey, Muja, Stengs
Kortrijk (I) 1–0 1–0 away Walsh Quarter-finals Genk (I) 3–0 3–0 away Janssen, De Laet, Balikwisha
Zulte Waregem (I) 3–1 2–1 away; 1–0 home Storm, Mrabti; Bates Semi-finals Union SG (I) 1–1 0–1 away; 1–0 home (a.e.t.) (4–3 p) none; Janssen

Pre-match

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Going into the match, Antwerp were deemed (slight) favorites based on their season thus far. Already certain of qualifying for the 2022–23 Belgian Pro League Championship Play-offs several weeks before the match, Antwerp was quasi-certain of qualifying for European football during the 2023–24 season. Towards the final matchdays of the regular season, however, the club had edged closer to the top of the table as league leaders Genk started dropping points and as a result, Antwerp would start the Championship Play-offs, to commence a week after the final, just two points off the lead. This momentum on the one hand could give the team extra energy for the Cup final, while on the other hand losing it would put extra pressure on them to obtain the title, which would be their first since 1957.

Meanwhile, while on the road to the final Antwerp had beaten bigger teams (leaders Genk, second-place Union SG as well as Standard Liège), Mechelen had seemingly taken the easier route via teams all finishing in the bottom five of the table, with Seraing and Zulte Waregem even relegated. Furthermore, the team itself had played a dull season, never in real danger of relegation but always in the bottom half of the table. Especially from the moment the team qualified for the final, their league performance dropped with many players seemingly not willing to risk long-term injuries. On the final matchday of the regular season, Mechelen did beat Anderlecht away from home, their first win since early March. As they finished 13th, for Mechelen the league was done for the season, meaning the Cup final would be their last match before the summer break.

The winner of the match will qualify for the 2023–24 UEFA Europa League Play-off round. If Antwerp were to win but also finish in the top two of the league, they would instead qualify for the qualifying rounds of the 2023–24 UEFA Champions League, with the ticket for the 2023–24 UEFA Europa League Play-off round, in that case, being passed along to the third-place finisher in the league.

Match

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Summary

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For the first half hour the Antwerp Province derby was a dull match to watch, with a lot of atmosphere in the stands and at the sidelines, but no entertainment on the pitch. This changed when Mechelen defender Dries Wouters made an unfortunate error in the penalty area, fouling Jurgen Ekkelenkamp and causing referee Jonathan Lardot to immediately award a penalty kick to Antwerp. Vincent Janssen scored twice past Gaëtan Coucke, after the first penalty kick was disallowed as he had kicked the ball prior to the referee blowing his whistle to indicate it could be taken. Mechelen responded immediately, with both Nikola Storm and Rob Schoofs getting opportunities to shoot, none without any real danger.

After the break, the level went up strongly for a short period of time as Antwerp received multiple chances to double its lead. Ekkelenkamp shot wide after preparatory work by Arbnor Muja, while Janssen aimed a shot straight at Coucke. Several substitutions as well as injury treatments to Willian Pacho and Janssen caused the pace of the match to slow considerably and it took until ten minutes from time for the match to be decided, when Michel-Ange Balikwisha started a counterattack which he in the end converted himself on an assist from Calvin Stengs. Mechelen was not able to respond and became the logical runner-up in a match without many chances.

Details

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KV Mechelen0–2Antwerp
Report Janssen 35' (pen.)
Balikwisha 81'
KV Mechelen
Antwerp
GK 1 Belgium Gaëtan Coucke
CB 4 Belgium Dries Wouters
CB 30 Belgium Jordi Vanlerberghe
CB 27 Scotland David Bates downward-facing red arrow 84'
RWB 5 Indonesia Sandy Walsh
LWB 18 Belgium Alec Van Hoorenbeeck downward-facing red arrow 63'
CM 16 Belgium Rob Schoofs
CM 7 Belgium Geoffry Hairemans
CM 14 Belgium Dimitri Lavalée Yellow card 43' downward-facing red arrow 46'
CF 19 Sweden Kerim Mrabti downward-facing red arrow 75'
CF 11 Belgium Nikola Storm
Substitutes:
GK 15 Belgium Yannick Thoelen
DF 6 Belgium Jannes Van Hecke
FW 9 Belgium Julien Ngoy upward-facing green arrow 75'
FW 10 Israel Yonas Malede
DF 21 Belgium Boli Bolingoli upward-facing green arrow 63'
MF 22 Cape Verde Alessio da Cruz upward-facing green arrow 46'
DF 23 Belgium Enock Agyei upward-facing green arrow 84'
Manager:
Belgium Steven Defour
GK 1 France Jean Butez
RB 2 Belgium Ritchie De Laet
CB 51 Ecuador Willian Pacho downward-facing red arrow 69'
CB 23 Belgium Toby Alderweireld Yellow card 9'
LB 34 Belgium Jelle Bataille Yellow card 6' downward-facing red arrow 69'
DM 48 Belgium Arthur Vermeeren
RM 7 Netherlands Gyrano Kerk downward-facing red arrow 85'
CM 14 Netherlands Calvin Stengs
CM 24 Netherlands Jurgen Ekkelenkamp downward-facing red arrow 69'
LM 11 Albania Arbnor Muja
CF 18 Netherlands Vincent Janssen downward-facing red arrow 73'
Substitutes:
GK 26 Belgium Ortwin De Wolf
MF 8 Nigeria Alhassan Yusuf
FW 10 Belgium Michel-Ange Balikwisha Yellow card 87' upward-facing green arrow 73'
DF 22 Argentina Gastón Ávila upward-facing green arrow 69'
MF 27 Belgium Mandela Keita upward-facing green arrow 69'
MF 32 Germany Christopher Scott upward-facing green arrow 85'
DF 33 Belgium Zeno van den Bosch upward-facing green arrow 69'
Manager:
Netherlands 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

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  1. ^ "Antwerp win Belgian Cup with 2-0 final victory over Mechelen". reuters.com. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
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