2016–17 Belgian Cup

2016–17 Belgian Cup
Country  Belgium
Dates 30 July 2016 – 18 March 2017
Teams 312
Champions Zulte Waregem (2nd title)
Runners-up Oostende

The 2016–17 Belgian Cup is the 62nd season of Belgium's annual football cup competition. The competition began on 30 July 2016 and is scheduled to end with the final in March 2017. The winners of the competition will qualify for the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League Group Stage. Standard Liège were the defending champions, but were eliminated in the 6th round by ASV Geel.

Competition format

The competition consists of ten rounds. Except for the semi-finals, all rounds are single-match elimination rounds. When tied after 90 minutes in the first three rounds, penalties are taken immediately. In rounds four to seven and the quarterfinals, when tied after 90 minutes first an extra time period of 30 minutes are played, then penalties are taken if still necessary. The semi-finals will be played over two legs, where the team winning on aggregate advances. The final will be played as a single match.

Teams enter the competition in different rounds, based upon their 2016–17 league affiliation. Teams from the fifth-level Belgian Third Amateur Division or lower began in round 1. Belgian Second Amateur Division teams entered in round 2, Belgian First Amateur Division teams entered in round 3, Belgian First Division B teams in round 5 and finally the Belgian First Division A teams enter in round 6.

RoundClubs
remaining		Clubs
involved		Winners from
previous round		New entries
this round		Leagues entering at this round
Round 1312224none224Belgian Third Amateur Division and Belgian Provincial Leagues
Round 220016011248Belgian Second Amateur Division
Round 3120968016Belgian First Amateur Division
Round 4724848nonenone
Round 54832248Belgian First Division B
Round 632321616Belgian First Division A
Round 7161616nonenone
Quarter-Finals888nonenone
Semi-Finals444nonenone
Final222nonenone

Round and draw dates

The schedule is as follows.

Round Draw date Match date
First Round 26 June 2016 30 and 31 July 2016
Second Round 6 and 7 August 2016
Third Round 13 and 14 August 2016
Fourth Round 20 and 21 August 2016
Fifth Round 26, 27 and 28 August 2016
Sixth Round 29 August 2016 20 and 21 September 2016
Seventh Round 21 September 2016 29 November 2016 to 1 December 2016
Quarter-finals 1 December 2016 13 and 14 December 2016
Semi-finals 14 December 2016 Leg 1: 17 January 2017
Leg 2: 1 February 2017
Final 18 March 2017

First round

This round of matches was played on 30 & 31 July 2016 [1] and includes teams playing in the Belgian Third Amateur Division and Belgian Provincial Leagues. Teams from the Belgian Third Amateur Division were seeded and could not play each other.

Four teams from the lowest division at level nine of the Belgian football pyramid participated, namely Hermalienne, Lacs de l'eau d'heure, Negenmanneke and Pulle. These all got eliminated.

Notes
  1. ↑ Match played on the pitch of Andrimont.
  2. ↑ Originally URS Lixhe-Lanaye was drawn against Ster-Francorchamps, but they merged with CS Visé to become URSL Visé

Second round

The lowest ranked clubs still in the tournament were six teams from the third provincial level (level 8), of which only Ransartoise B managed to progress.

Notes
  1. ↑ The game was played at the ground of Walhain.

Third round

Ransartoise B was the lowest ranked team still in the tournament at this point being the only team from level 8, but they got eliminated by Ingelmunster.

Fourth round

The lowest ranked clubs in this round were five teams from level 6, namely Katelijne, Lochristi, Paturageois, Racing Waregem and Vlijtingen. They all failed to progress.

Fifth Round

Four teams from the Belgian Third Amateur Division (level 5) had managed to progress to this round but were all eliminated at this point: Francs Borains, Helchteren, Rebecq and Turnhout.

Sixth Round

The sixth round saw the entry of the Belgian First Division A teams. The matches were played on 20 and 21 September 2016.

Seventh Round

Quarter-finals

The matches were played on 13 and 14 December 2016.

Semi-finals

The semi-finals will be played over two legs, with the first legs played on 17 and 18 January 2017 and the second legs on 31 January and 1 February 2017.

First Legs

Second Legs

Final

The final took place on 18 March 2017 at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels.

    References

    1. ↑ "1st Round". Soccerway. November 2016.
    This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.