Bank holiday Monday, or as we call it in the Netherlands: Second Easter Day. A day promising to be a somewhat cloudy and mediocre Easter Monday, but it’s no excuse not to treat yourself to some old-fashioned cup magic.
Following seven rounds of cup football, including two qualifying rounds for amateur teams, the spectacular conclusion of the Dutch KNVB Beker (18.00 CET) is set to be played in the traditional battleground of Stadion Feijenoord, better known as De Kuip, in Rotterdam.
But before we dive in the story of the final, let’s take a look back at the wonderful and wild campaign that has led us to this equally wonderful moment.
Road to Rotterdam
When many players were still on holiday after the EUROs or just starting their preseasons, the lucky amateurs in the Netherlands had to pay close attention to the draw for the first round of the KNVB Beker qualifying rounds on July 17th.
It resulted in preliminary matchups between some beautiful names. Quick against UNA, Hollandia fighting UDI’19, TEC-URK, GOES against Hercules, and SV Poortugaal versus ONS Sneek. The second qualifying round, which took place in late September, saw the biggest amateur teams get involved, and also saw some fairytales come true.
Kolping Boys from Oudorp and FC Winterswijk qualified for the tournament’s main draw for the first time in history, FC Rijnvogels completed a rather unique quintet of amateur clubs from the Katwijk municipality to feature in the last 64, and 2023/24 dreamers USV Hercules made their third consecutive main draw after a 123rd-minute winner.
As clubs that appeared in Europa were exempt from playing the first round, 58 teams fought to make the last 32. 14 amateur teams got matched up with professional clubs, and five of them survived. VV Noordwijk beat FC Dordrecht with goals in the 86th and 88th minutes, BVV Barendrecht knocked out Eredivisie side NAC Breda after a 94th-minute winner, Quick Boys from Katwijk confidently beat Eredivisie side Almere City 3-0, fellow Katwijk team Rijnsburgse Boys beat Roda JC 3-1, and Koninklijke HFC knocked FC Emmen out after a 1-0 home win.
The six teams which appeared in Europe – PSV, Feyenoord, Ajax, AZ, Go Ahead Eagles, and FC Twente – entered the tournament in the second round. The Eagles (penalties against Sparta), Feyenoord (2-1 win from 1-0 down to MVV Maastricht), and Twente (3-2 away win against VV Katwijk) survived after coming close to elimination, but three professional teams weren’t as lucky: third-tier side Quick Boys continued their storybook run by eliminating Fortuna Sittard with a 3-1 win, neighbours Noordwijk (fourth tier) knocked out Willem II with a 2-1 win, and Rijnsburgse Boys defeated FC Volendam 2-0.
Read more about Quick Boys’ fairytale cup run in this feature article
Premier League icon and Heerenveen manager Robin van Persie was clear about whether or not he wanted to meet Quick Boys in the round of 16: “I don’t hope so.”
His prayers weren’t heard, and his side got knocked out by none other than Quick Boys, who beat their third Eredivisie opponents with a 3-2 win after extra time. Rijnsburgse Boys weren’t as lucky with a 4-1 loss to reigning cup champions Feyenoord, but Noordwijk joined Quick Boys in the quarter-finals after a 1-0 win over fellow amateurs BVV Barendrecht.
Meanwhile, Ajax were also knocked out by AZ, who beat Ajax for the second time in about a month, and PSV got eerily close to elimination but survived a 5-4 thriller against Excelsior. Go Ahead Eagles turned a 1-0 deficit around to beat FC Twente 3-1 and reached their fourth quarter-final of the last 40 years.
The amateur fairytales came to an end as Quick Boys and Noordwijk got knocked out by AZ and Go Ahead Eagles, respectively, while PSV remained the only team from the traditional top-3 to make the semi-finals by beating Feyenoord 2-0. Heracles Almelo beat FC Utrecht to become the fourth and final semi-finalists.
We’re all caught up. So, who are the writers of the KNVB Beker’s newest chapter in its book of many fairytales?
The warriors
The 107th KNVB Beker campaign and 106th KNVB Beker final will see either AZ or Go Ahead Eagles win the trophy we endearingly call the ‘Pinecone’. For AZ, it could be the fifth time in club history and the second time in the last 43 years. For Go Ahead Eagles, however, it could be the first major trophy in nearly 100 years.
AZ
Their eighth cup final in club history almost had to be postponed at least a year when Heracles Almelo made it awfully hard on AZ to progress, but the four-time winners clinched their spot in the grand finale after winning a dramatic penalty shootout 4-3.
AZ will want to end a losing streak in KNVB Beker finals after two consecutive losses. In the final of the 2016/17 KNVB Cup, now-relegated Vitesse won their first major trophy in club history by beating AZ 2-0 thanks to a brace from former Norwich City striker Ricky van Wolfswinkel. One year later, Feyenoord beat the team from Alkmaar 3-0 after goals from Nicolai Jorgensen, Jens Toornstra, and current Feyenoord manager Robin van Persie.
The 12-year trophy drought may come as a bit of a surprise, seeing as though AZ have remained competitive throughout, but falls into severe insignificance compared to their opponents’ story.
Go Ahead Eagles
Founded in 1902 as Be Quick, Go Ahead Eagles enjoyed early success by winning the national championship four times between 1917 and 1933. But the club would soon only win regional championships and fail to reach the highest tier of Dutch football when the league system turned professional in 1954.
The club reached the Eredivisie in 1964 and made their first-ever cup final the year after, but lost 1-0 to Feyenoord in a game that the players from that Go Ahead Eagles side still say they should have won, as the ball went out of play before Feyenoord’s sole goal. “You lose because of a decision that is not part of the game,” goalkeeper Nico van Zoghel, 81, told NOS during Studio Voetbal.
Making it to the final earned Go Ahead a spot in the Europa Cup II – their first ever European adventure. One year before their famous Europa Cup win, Celtic drew Go Ahead in the first round and knocked the Dutch minnows out with an aggregate 7-0 win.
The club remained in the Eredivisie until 1987, when the iconic Adelaarshorst stadium faded into the Eerste Divisie. The club remained in the second tier until 2013, after which it promoted two more times, last in 2021.
An impressive run followed with 13th, 11th, and 9th-placed finishes in their first three seasons back in the highest tier of Dutch football. Especially the 2023/24 campaign impressed many, and it would eventually earn Go Ahead Eagles their second-ever European adventure. However, Norwegian side SK Brann knocked Go Ahead Eagles out in the second qualifying round of the Conference League after a 2-1 win in Norway.
Go Ahead Eagles have stolen the hearts of many football enthusiasts in the Netherlands. What first looked like an impressive side under Rene Hake, who left the club to become Erik ten Hag’s assistant at Manchester United, turned into a creative monster under Paul Simonis. Even after losing star forward Oliver Edvardsen to Ajax in January, the Eagles have impressed mightily with Nordic stars as Oliver Antman, who leads the Eredivisie in assists with 14 assists, Victor Edvardsen, and Jakob Breum.
With their last major trophy stemming from 1933, Go Ahead Eagles are ready to make their dreams come true. A spectacular final public practice before the cup final saw fans come out in numbers and show their support for the first cup final in 60 years.
The stage is set. Will AZ win their fifth KNVB Beker title, or will Go Ahead Eagles write history with their first cup win?