The 2016–17 KNVB Cup was the 99th season of the annual Dutch national football cup competition. It started on 6 September 2016 with the first of six rounds, and ended on 30 April 2017 with the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

played at

De Kuip Stadion Feijenoord (), more commonly known by its nickname De Kuip (, the Tub), is a stadium in Rotterdam, Netherlands. It was completed in 1937. The name is derived from the Feijenoord district in Rotterdam, and from the club with the same na ...

in Rotterdam. This edition was notable for several unicums, which included holding the first test in an official match of a top tier-domestic competition of the

Video assistant referee The video assistant referee (VAR) is a match official in association football who reviews decisions made by the referee. The assistant video assistant referee (AVAR) is a current or former referee appointed to assist the VAR in the video ope ...

-system. Anouar Kali held the distinction of becoming the first player to receive a red card after an intervention from the video referee in the first round-game between

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...

and his team Willem II. The defending champions were

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club (association football), football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names bef ...

from the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

, after beating FC Utrecht 2–1 in the final in the previous season on 24 April 2016. Vitesse defeated AZ 2–0 in the final to win its first major trophy in the 124-year history of the club. As winners, Vitesse automatically qualified for the group stage of the 2017–18 edition of the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

. They also participated in the 2017 edition of the Johan Cruyff Shield, the Dutch Supercup match at the start of next season between the Cup winner and the champions of the

Calendar

First round

The draw of the first round was done on 27 August 2016. 64 teams participated and played on 20, 21 or 22 September 2016.

Second round

The draw of the first round was done on 22 September 2016. 32 teams participated and matches were played on 25, 26 and 27 October 2016. The lowest ranked team left was Jodan Boys from the fifth tier of Dutch football.

Third round

The third round draw was held on 27 October 2016. 16 teams participated and the matches were played on 13, 14, and 15 December 2016. The lowest ranked team left was Jodan Boys from the fifth tier of Dutch football.

Quarter-finals

The quarter-final draw was held on 15 December 2016. 8 teams participated and the matches were played on 24, 25, and 26 January 2017. The lowest ranked team left were FC Volendam and

SC Cambuur SC Cambuur, also known as Cambuur Leeuwarden, or simply Cambuur, () is a Dutch football club from the city of Leeuwarden formed on 19 June 1964. They currently play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, after winning the 2020–21 Ee ...

from the second tier of Dutch football.

Semi-finals

The 4 winners from the previous round progress to this stage. Cupholders

were eliminated in the previous round and therefore no longer active in the competition. The draw was held on 26 January 2017. Matches were played on 1 and 2 March 2017. The lowest ranked team left was

from the second tier of Dutch football.

Final

The two winners from the previous round progressed to this stage. The winner of the semi-final match between AZ and

was marked as the 'home' team in the final, as that was the first match to be drawn at the draw for the semi-finals. The final took place on 30 April 2017 at

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

References

{{2016–17 in European football (UEFA)

2016-17 16-17 is a band from Basel, Switzerland. Their music combines punk rock, hardcore punk, jazz and industrial music. Biography 16-17 was founded in 1983 by Alex Buess, Knut Remond and Markus Kneubühler. When the group played its first con ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay, ...