TheKNVB Beker (pronounced[ˌkaːʔɛɱveːˈbeːˈbeːkər]; English:KNVB Cup), branded as theEurojackpot KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in theNetherlands organised by theRoyal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898.[1] It was based on the format of the EnglishFA Cup. Outside the Netherlands, it is often referred to as theDutch Cup. The tournament consists of all teams from the top four tiers of Dutch league football (Eredivisie,Eerste Divisie,Tweede Divisie andDerde Divisie), as well as the 24 semi-finalists (or replacements) of the sixKNVB District Cups. The finals of the tournament traditionally takes place inDe Kuip, and has been held there every season since the 1989 final. The winners of the cup compete against the winners of the Eredivisie for theJohan Cruyff Shield, (equivalent to a super cup) which acts as the curtain raiser for the following season.
The first attempt to hold a knock-out competition open to all clubs in the Netherlands was made in 1894, with the winners receiving a trophy offered by H.M.C. Holdert, former president ofV.V.A. (Amsterdam).[2] Seven teams entered and the first ever cup match in the Netherlands was thus held on 11 February, betweenHaarlem andHFC, ending in a 3–1 win to the latter.[2] However, no other match was played due to the withdraws of several teams, and the lack of interest shown by the clubs caused Holdert to withdraw his trophy, so the final between HFC andR.A.P. was canceled,[2] but four years later, in January 1898, Holdert offered another cup, to be contested just like the EnglishFA Cup, and thus the KNVB Cup was conceived during a board meeting of the Dutch Football Association, inThe Hague, on 19 January 1898.[3] Initially, it was decided to stage a competition for this new trophy already in the ongoing 1897–98 season, but the board had to cancel it after a prolonged stretch of bad weather in the first weeks of February had led to numerous match postponements in the western leagues.[3]
In 1946, the trophy was changed to one made out of silver, which was extremely rare in the immediate aftermath ofWorld War II. That trophy remains in use today.
Like many national cup competitions, the name of the tournament has changed with sponsorship. From 1995, the competition went from being theKNVB Beker to being known as theAmstel Cup after the then sponsorAmstel. On 16 August 2005, the name was changed to theGatorade Cup after the drinks companyGatorade. In 2006, the name returned to being theKNVB Beker with Gatorade remaining as the principal sponsor.
On 12 January 2018, it was announced that TOTO would be the name sponsor of the KNVB Cup, until the 2021–22 season. The competition was renamed theTOTO KNVB Beker with immediate effect.[7]
Up until 1998, the winner of the cup entered into theUEFA Cup Winners' Cup, but with the abandonment of that tournament, the winner now goes into theUEFA Europa League. If the winning team has finished in the top two of theEredivisie and thus gained entry into theUEFA Champions League, the berth will be redistributed to that season's Eredivisie.
In 1998, both KNVB Cup finalists,Ajax andPSV, gained entry in the Champions League, so a third-place play-off was played between the beaten semi-finalists,SC Heerenveen andFC Twente, to determine who would take the Cup Winners' Cup place.
1914–15 Koninklijke HFC (3/3) 1915–16 Quick Den Haag (4/4) 1916–17 Ajax (1/19) 1917–18 RHC (1/2) 1918–19 not played 1919–20 CVV 1920–21 Schoten 1921–22 not played 1922–23 not played 1923–24 not played 1924–25 ZFC 1925–26 LONGA 1926–27 VUC Den Haag 1927–28 RHC (2/2) 1928–29 not played 1929–30 Feyenoord (1/14)
1930–31 not played 1931–32 DFC (2/2) 1932–33 not played 1933–34 Velocitas 1897 1934–35 Feyenoord (2/14) 1935–36 Roermond 1936–37 EVV 1937–38 VSV 1938–39 FC Wageningen (1/2) 1939–40 not played 1940–41 not played 1941–42 not played 1942–43 Ajax (2/19) 1943–44 Willem II (1/2) 1944–45 not played
1945–46 not played 1946–47 not played 1947–48 FC Wageningen (2/2) 1948–49 Quick 1888 1949–50 PSV (1/11) 1950–51 not played 1951–52 not played 1952–53 not played 1953–54 not played 1954–55 not played 1955–56 not played 1956–57 Fortuna '54 (1/2) 1957–58 Sparta (1/3) 1958–59 VVV 1959–60 not played
2025–26 KNVB Cup
Austria
Germany
Switzerland
Belgium
Bulgaria
Cyprus
Greece
Israel
Russia
Middle East and North Africa
