The 2019–20 KNVB Cup, for sponsoring reasons officially called the TOTO KNVB Beker, was the 102nd edition of the

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

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 ...

. 64 teams contested, beginning on 17 August 2019 with the first of two preliminary rounds and was scheduled to conclude on 19 April 2020, 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.

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 ...

unsuccessfully defending its 2019 Cup in the semi-finals losing to

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 ...

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 ...

and

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

were finalists and on 24 April 2020, the KNVB Cup was abandoned due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands The COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands has resulted in confirmed cases of COVID-19 and deaths. The virus reached the Netherlands on 27 February 2020, when its first COVID-19 case was confirmed in Tilburg. It involved a 56-year-old Dutchman ...

. The winners were planned to participate in the 2020 Johan Cruyff Shield against the

2019–20 Eredivisie The 2019–20 Eredivisie was the 64th season of the Dutch football league Eredivisie since its establishment in 1955. The season began on 2 August 2019 and was suspended on 12 March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands. The season ...

champions, but due to both the Eredivisie and the KNVB Cup being abandoned, the Johan Cruyff Shield was cancelled as well.

Schedule

Matches

Preliminary rounds

The draw for the first preliminary round was performed by

Sjaak Swart Jesaia Swart (born 3 July 1938), commonly known as Sjaak Swart, is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a winger for Ajax. During his career at Ajax, he amassed a total of almost 600 matches, a record for the club. Biography Sw ...

on 6 July 2019 at the Fox Sports NL & Eredivisie VoetbalFestival at the

Jaarbeurs The Jaarbeurs (; Dutch for 'Yearly Fair') is an exhibition and convention centre in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Noted events include the former Space '86, the Hobby Computer Club Days (''HCC Dagen''), and the Mega Record & CD Fair. The venue use ...

Utrecht. The draw for the second preliminary round at the same time as the draw for the first round of the main tournament at the end of August/start of September 2019

First preliminary round

58 amateur teams qualified for this stage, although 26 received a bye to the next round, leaving 32 teams to compete for a spot in the second preliminary round. The participants are semi-finalists from the district cup tournaments, and teams from the

Derde Divisie The Derde Divisie (; ), formerly known as Topklasse (; ), is the fourth tier of football in the Netherlands, which had its inaugural season as a third tier in 2010–11 and as a fourth tier in 2016–17. The league is placed between the Tweede D ...

Second preliminary round

In the second preliminary round, 40 amateur teams are qualified. The participants are the 28 winners of the first preliminary round, and 12 teams from the

Tweede Divisie Tweede Divisie (; ) is the highest amateur (and historically the lowest professional) football league in the Netherlands. It was established in 1956, together with the Eredivisie and the Eerste Divisie. Between 1956 and 1960 and between 1962 and 19 ...

. The matches were played on 24, 25, and 26 September 2019. Draw made out that

HSV Hoek Hoekse Sportvereniging Hoek, known as HSV Hoek, is a Association football, football club based in Hoek, Zeeland, Netherlands, that competes in the Derde Divisie, the Football in the Netherlands#Structure of the competition (from the 2016–17 sea ...

(4),

SteDoCo Voetbalvereniging Sterk Door Combinatie, more commonly known as VV SteDoCo or simply SteDoCo, is a Dutch football club based in the towns of Hoornaar and Hoogblokland in the Molenlanden. It currently plays in the Derde Divisie, the fourth tier o ...

(4),

Sparta Nijkerk Voetbalvereniging Sparta Nijkerk, is an association football club from Nijkerk, Netherlands. The club was founded in 1931, is currently (season 2022–23) playing in the Derde Divisie. History In one of their most notable matches of recent memor ...

(4) and

FC 's-Gravenzande FC 's-Gravenzande is a football club based in 's-Gravenzande, Netherlands. Founded in 2010 from a merger between s-Gravenzandse VV and s-Gravenzandse SV. History In the 2023–24 season, FC 's-Gravenzande qualified for the promotion playoff ...

(5) received a bye and are qualified for the main tournament.

Main tournament

In the main tournament the following teams compete: 18 winners from the second preliminary round, 34 professional teams, four (replacement) period champions from the

and the four teams that drew a bye in the second preliminary round. The four professional teams that have placed for the group stage of any European tournament get a bye in the first round.

First round

The four teams that qualified for any European tournament group stage received a bye for this round. The draw was held on 31 August 2019. The matches in the first round were played on 19, 29, 30 and 31 October 2019.

Second round

The matches of the second round took place between 17 and 19 December 2019.

, PSV,

and AZ entered in this round as they skipped the first round due to qualifying for the group stages of the Champions League or the

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 ...

Round of 16

The matches of the round of 16 took place between 21 and 23 January 2020.

Quarter-finals

The matches of the quarter-finals took place between 11 and 13 February 2020. From this round on the referees were assisted by

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 ...