KNVB Cup

The KNVB Beker, officially known as the Eurojackpot KNVB Beker due to sponsorship, is a knockout tournament organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) that began in 1898. Its format was inspired by the English FA Cup. Internationally, it is commonly called the Dutch Cup. The competition includes all clubs from the top four tiers of Dutch football—the Eredivisie, Eerste Divisie, Tweede Divisie, and Derde Divisie—along with the 24 semi-finalists (or their replacements) from the six KNVB District Cups. The final has been held at De Kuip every season since 1989. The cup winner faces the Eredivisie champion in the Johan Cruyff Shield, a super cup that opens the following season.

The first attempt at a nationwide knockout competition in the Netherlands came in 1894, with a trophy donated by H.M.C. Holdert, a former president of V.V.A. (Amsterdam). Seven teams entered, and the country’s first cup match took place on 11 February, with Haarlem losing 3–1 to HFC. However, several teams withdrew, interest waned, and Holdert took back his trophy, canceling the planned final between HFC and R.A.P. Four years later, in January 1898, Holdert offered a new cup, again modeled on the English FA Cup. The KNVB Cup was conceived at a board meeting of the Dutch Football Association in The Hague on 19 January 1898. The board initially planned to hold the competition in the 1897–98 season but canceled it after severe weather in early February caused numerous postponements in the western leagues.

The tournament finally launched in the 1898–99 season. The first final, played on 9 May 1899, saw RAP Amsterdam beat HVV Den Haag 1–0 with an extra-time goal from Jan Hisgen. In 1946, the trophy was replaced with a silver one, a rare material in the immediate post-World War II period, and this trophy remains in use today. In 2018, a gold-colored trophy was commissioned to mark the 100th edition of the tournament.

The competition’s name has changed with sponsors. In 1995, it became the Amstel Cup after the beer brand Amstel. On 16 August 2005, it was renamed the Gatorade Cup after the sports drink company. In 2006, the name reverted to KNVB Beker, though Gatorade stayed as principal sponsor. On 12 January 2018, TOTO became title sponsor through the 2021–22 season, rebranding it the TOTO KNVB Beker. On 10 June 2025, a new five-year sponsorship deal with EUROJACKPOT was announced, running through the 2029–30 season and renaming the competition the Eurojackpot KNVB Beker.

Until 1998, the cup winner entered the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup. After that tournament was discontinued, the winner now qualifies for the UEFA Europa League. If the winner finishes in the top two of the Eredivisie and enters the UEFA Champions League, the Europa League spot is given to the next highest Eredivisie team. In 1998, both finalists—Ajax and PSV—qualified for the Champions League, so a third-place play-off was held between the beaten semi-finalists, SC Heerenveen and FC Twente, to decide who would take the Cup Winners’ Cup place.

Broadcast rights for the KNVB Cup are part of the KNVB’s overall package, which also includes the Johan Cruyff Shield. In the Netherlands, the cup is broadcast live on ESPN channels.