2023 Belgian Cup final

2023 Belgian Cup final
Event	2022–23 Belgian Cup
Date	30 April 2023
Venue	King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels
Referee	Jonathan Lardot
Attendance	41,500
Weather	sunny
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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

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

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

Summary

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

30 April 2023

14:30 CEST

KV Mechelen	0–2	Antwerp
	Report	Janssen 35' (pen.) Balikwisha 81'

King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels

Attendance: 41,500

Referee: Jonathan Lardot

KV Mechelen

Antwerp


GK	1	Gaëtan Coucke
CB	4	Dries Wouters
CB	30	Jordi Vanlerberghe
CB	27	David Bates		84'
RWB	5	Sandy Walsh
LWB	18	Alec Van Hoorenbeeck		63'
CM	16	Rob Schoofs
CM	7	Geoffry Hairemans
CM	14	Dimitri Lavalée	43'	46'
CF	19	Kerim Mrabti		75'
CF	11	Nikola Storm
Substitutes:
GK	15	Yannick Thoelen
DF	6	Jannes Van Hecke
FW	9	Julien Ngoy		75'
FW	10	Yonas Malede
DF	21	Boli Bolingoli		63'
MF	22	Alessio da Cruz		46'
DF	23	Enock Agyei		84'
Manager:
Steven Defour


GK	1	Jean Butez
RB	2	Ritchie De Laet
CB	51	Willian Pacho		69'
CB	23	Toby Alderweireld	9'
LB	34	Jelle Bataille	6'	69'
DM	48	Arthur Vermeeren
RM	7	Gyrano Kerk		85'
CM	14	Calvin Stengs
CM	24	Jurgen Ekkelenkamp		69'
LM	11	Arbnor Muja
CF	18	Vincent Janssen		73'
Substitutes:
GK	26	Ortwin De Wolf
MF	8	Alhassan Yusuf
FW	10	Michel-Ange Balikwisha	87'	73'
DF	22	Gastón Ávila		69'
MF	27	Mandela Keita		69'
MF	32	Christopher Scott		85'
DF	33	Zeno van den Bosch		69'
Manager:
Mark van Bommel