2020 Belgian Cup final

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

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.

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

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

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

Details

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

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

References