The 2016–17 KNVB Cup was the 99th edition of the Dutch national

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

annual knockout tournament for the

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; ), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organised by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside the N ...

. 63 teams contested, beginning 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 examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

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 Assistant referee (association football), match official in association football who assists the referee by reviewing decisions using video footage and providing advice to the referee based on those revi ...

-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), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

and his team Willem II. The defending champions were

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...

from the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

, after beating

FC Utrecht Football Club Utrecht () is a Dutch professional association football, football club based in Utrecht. The club competes in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football league system, Dutch football, and plays its home matches at the Stadion ...

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 (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

. They also participated in the 2017 edition of the

Johan Cruyff Shield The Johan Cruyff Shield (, ) is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national footbal ...

, 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 Football Club Volendam () is a professional association football, football club based in Volendam, Netherlands. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of the Dutch football league system, following promotion from the Eerste Divisie in the 2024 ...

and

SC Cambuur SC Cambuur, also known as Cambuur Leeuwarden, or simply Cambuur, () is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from the city of Leeuwarden formed on 19 June 1964. They currently play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutc ...

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 ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2016-17 KNVB Cup KNVB Cup seasons