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.
Route to the final
Union SGAntwerpOpponentResultLegsScorersRoundOpponentResultLegsScorersMeux (IV)2–12–1 homeLeysen, RasmussenSeventh roundLierse Kempenzonen (II)4–14–1 awayAlderweireld, Ilenikhena, De Laet, Oularé Beveren (II)2–02–0 awayBateau , Koyalipou Eighth roundCharleroi (I)5–25–2 homeEjuke, Boukamir , Janssen (2), IlenikhenaAnderlecht (I)2–12–1 homeLapoussin, Rodríguez (pen.)Quarter-finalsOH Leuven (I)3–23–2 awayJanssen (2 of which 1 pen.), Van Den BoschClub Brugge (I)3–21–2 away; 2–0 homeMachida; Amoura, SykesSemi-finalsOostende (II)4–11–1 away; 3–0 homeDoumbia; 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
GK 49 Anthony Moris LB 5 Kevin Mac AllisterCB 16 Christian Burgess CB 28 Kōki MachidaCB 21 Alessio Castro-Montes RB 24 Charles VanhoutteMF 23 Cameron PuertasMF 4 Mathias Rasmussen MF 10 Loïc Lapoussin CF 47 Mohamed Amoura CF 29 Gustaf Nilsson Substitutes:FW 7 Elton KabanguMF 8 Jean Thierry Lazare FW 11 Henok TeklabGK 12 Heinz LindnerFW 13 Kevin Rodríguez DF 26 Ross Sykes DF 27 Noah Sadiki Manager: Alexander Blessin GK 91 Senne LammensRB 2 Ritchie De Laet CB 23 Toby AlderweireldCB 33 Zeno Van Den Bosch LB 5 Owen Wijndal RW 7 Gyrano Kerk MF 27 Mandela KeitaMF 24 Jurgen Ekkelenkamp LW 6 Eliot Matazo FW 10 Michel-Ange BalikwishaFW 18 Vincent Janssen Substitutes:MF 8 Alhassan Yusuf FW 9 George Ilenikhena FW 19 Chidera Ejuke DF 34 Jelle Bataille DF 44 Soumaïla Coulibaly FW 60 Victor UdohGK 81 Niels DevalckeneerManager: 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.
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