2023–24 Belgian Cup

The 2023–24 Belgian Cup, called the Croky Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the 69th season of Belgium's annual football cup competition. The competition began on 29 July 2023 and ended with the final on 9 May 2024. The winners qualified for the 2024–25 UEFA Europa League play-off round. Match times up to 29 October 2023 and from 31 March 2024 were CEST (UTC+2). Times on interim ("winter") days were CET (UTC+1). Antwerp were the defending cup holders.

Union SG won the cup on 9 May 2024 (their third Belgian Cup win), defeating Antwerp 1–0 in the final.

Competition format

The competition consists of eleven proper rounds. All rounds are single-match elimination rounds. When tied after 90 minutes in the first four rounds, penalties will be taken immediately. From round five, when tied after 90 minutes first an extra time period of 30 minutes will be played, then penalties are to be taken if still necessary.

Teams will enter the competition in different rounds, based upon their 2023–24 league affiliation. Teams from the fifth-level Belgian Division 3 or lower will begin in round 1, with the exception of sixteen teams from the Belgian Provincial Leagues which were randomly drawn to start in the preliminary round. Belgian Division 2 teams entered in round 2, Belgian National Division 1 teams entered in round 3, Challenger Pro League teams in round 5 and finally the Belgian Pro League teams entered in round 6. U23 teams are not eligible for the Belgian Cup and will not enter the cup.

Round and draw dates

First round

This round of matches was played on the weekend of 29 to 31 July 2023 and included 204 teams playing in the Belgian Provincial Leagues.

For this initial round, teams were split into ten groups according to geolocation.

Second round

Third round

Fourth round

Fifth round

Sixth round

Seventh round

The draw for the seventh round took place on 11 September 2023 and included the sixteen teams that progressed from the sixth round and the sixteen teams from the 2023–24 Belgian Pro League. The Pro League teams were seeded and could not meet each other. Furthermore, the eight non-professional teams left in the draw were always entitled to home-ground advantage, with the exception of Harelbeke, Meux and Elene-Grotenberge as their respective home grounds were not deemed suitable to host a cup match at this stage.

Eighth round

The draw for the eighth round took place on 2 November 2023, one day after the completion of the previous round. No more seedings were used during the draw, but before the draw Knokke was certain of receiving home-ground advantage as the only non-professional team left in the draw. Most notable fixtures of the draw include a '' Clasico'' to be played between Anderlecht and Standard, the return of former captain Ruud Vormer to Club Brugge as they received his new team Zulte Waregem, and saw Knokke receive Oud-Heverlee Leuven. Title holders Antwerp were paired at home to Charleroi, who have yet to win the cup.

Quarter-finals

The draw for the quarter-finals and semi-finals took place on 8 December 2023. With no amateur sides left, the draw was fully open as there were no seedings or predetermined home advantages. The draw resulted in a "Battle of Flanders" between Gent and Club Brugge and a Brussels derby between Union SG and Anderlecht. The matches at Union SG and OH Leuven were postponed due to snow.

Semi-finals

The four quarter-final winners entered the semi-finals, held over two legs. The first legs were initially planned to be played one week after the quarter-finals, but as some of those matches were postponed the semi-finals were postponed as well.

First legs

Second legs

Final

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2023-24 Belgian Cup

Belgian Cup seasons
Cup