2020 Belgian Cup final

The 2020 Belgian Cup final, named Croky Cup after the sponsor, was the 65th Belgian Cup final. It was originally scheduled to take place on 22 March 2020, but was postponed to 1 August 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium. The match was played without supporters and saw Club Brugge play Antwerp. Prior to the match, Club Brugge had already won the Belgian Cup 11 times, with their most recent appearance the 2016 Belgian Cup Final loss against Standard Liège. Antwerp featured in the cup final for the fourth time, with their previous final already 26 years ago when the club beat Mechelen on penalty kicks.

2020 Belgian Cup final
Event2019–20 Belgian Cup
Date1 August 2020
VenueKing Baudouin Stadium, Brussels
RefereeNicolas Laforge
Attendance0[note 1]
2019
2021

Defending champions Mechelen were unable to defend their title as they were found guilty of match-fixing as part of the investigation surrounding the 2017–19 Belgian football fraud scandal and therefore banned from the competition for one season.

Route to the final

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Club Brugge Antwerp
Opponent Result Legs Scorers Round Opponent Result Legs Scorers
Francs Borains (IV) 3–0 3–0 away Tau, Okereke (2) Sixth round Lokeren (II) 4–2 4–2 home (a.e.t.) Mbokani, Miyoshi (2), Baby
Oostende (I) 1–1 1–1 away (a.e.t.) (4–2 p) Diatta Seventh round Genk (I) 3–3 3–3 home (a.e.t.) (4–3 p) Juklerød, Mbokani (2)
Anderlecht (I) 2–0 2–0 away Vormer, Balanta Quarter-finals Standard Liège (I) 3–1 3–1 away De Laet, Benson, Mbokani
Zulte Waregem (I) 3–2 1–1 home; 2–1 away Rits; Mechele, De Ketelaere Semi-finals Kortrijk (I) 2–1 1–1 home; 1–0 away Mbokani; Refaelov

Pre-match

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Both clubs were only allowed to use players that were part of the squad during the 2019–20 season, meaning that newly signed players during the summer 2020 transfer window were not eligible, while all players who had already left could of course no longer be used either. Antwerp was hampered due to this as no less than nine players had left the club over the summer up to that point, most notably including goalkeeper Sinan Bolat, defenders Dino Arslanagić, Wesley Hoedt and Daniel Opare, midfielders Steven Defour and Kevin Mirallas; and striker Zinho Gano. On the other hand, Club Brugge had seen almost no departures, with Percy Tau most influential.

Match

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Details

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Club Brugge0–1Antwerp
Refaelov   25'
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Club Brugge
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Antwerp
GK 88   Simon Mignolet
RB 77   Clinton Mata
CB 44   Brandon Mechele
CB 17   Simon Deli
LB 11   Krépin Diatta
MF 25   Ruud Vormer (c)   90'
MF 20   Hans Vanaken
FW 3   Éder Álvarez Balanta   39'   75'
MF 2   Eduard Sobol   60'   72'
CF 90   Charles De Ketelaere
LW 14   David Okereke   52'
Substitutes:
MF 26   Mats Rits   76'   75'
MF 16   Siebe Schrijvers   72'
FW 27   Youssouph Mamadou Badji   52'
FW 42   Emmanuel Dennis
GK 22   Ethan Horvath
DF 5   Odilon Kossounou
DF 18   Federico Ricca
Manager:
  Philippe Clement
GK 60   Davor Matijaš   82'
RW 3   Abdoulaye Seck
CB 40   Junior Pius   32'
CB 2   Ritchie De Laet
MF 7   Didier Lamkel Zé   90'
CB 30   Aurélio Buta
CM 38   Faris Haroun (c)   90'
CM 18   Martin Hongla
DF 6   Simen Juklerød
FW 11   Lior Refaelov   90+1'
FW 70   Dieumerci Mbokani
Substitutes:
GK 41   Bill Lathouwers
MF 12   Luete Ava Dongo
DF 17   Robbe Quirynen
MF 8   Ivo Rodrigues   90'
MF 19   Koji Miyoshi
MF 22   Bruny Nsimba   90+1'
FW 28   Manuel Benson
Manager:
  Ivan Leko

Assistant referees:
Florian Lemaire
Vito Di Vincenzo
Fourth official:
Bram Van Driessche

Match rules

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

Notes

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  1. ^ a b The final was played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium.

References

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