1992 Belgian Cup final

The 1992 Belgian Cup final took place on 7 June 1992 between Royal Antwerp and KV Mechelen and was the 37th Belgian Cup final. Both clubs got a chance to win their second Belgian Cup, after Antwerp had already won in 1955, while Mechelen was victorious in 1987. The match ended in a 2–2 draw after extra time and was won by Antwerp on penalty kicks (9–8).^[1] Antwerp thus qualified for the 1992–93 European Cup Winners' Cup where it would go on to lose the final.^[2]

36 years later both clubs would again meet in the final of the 2022–23 Belgian Cup.^[3]

While the first half was a dull affair, KV Mechelen took the initiative in the second half and got the best chances to take the lead with Marc Emmers seeing his shot punched away by Svilar, Philippe Albert dribbling past several Antwerp players and Zlatko Arambasic missing a big opportunity. Antwerp was able to open the score against the run of play, with Wim Kiekens heading in a free kick by Patrick Van Veirdeghem with just under 20 minutes to play. Somewhat later a penalty kick could possibly have been given for a tackle by Gijsbrechts on Alex Czerniatynski but referee Alphonse Constantin judged it not to be a foul. Mechelen was not able to respond until two minutes before the end of the regular time when Zlatko Arambasic was able to outrun the entire Antwerp defense and score the equalizer.

Mechelen kept the momentum going as only five minutes into extra-time René Eijkelkamp was able to convert a long-range kick over Svilar to give his team the lead. At the other end Michel Preud'homme needed cat-like reflexes to keep Czerniatynski from heading in the equalizer. With several Mechelen players starting to become fatigued and suffer from cramps, it seemed inevitable that Antwerp would score. First Hans-Peter Lehnhoff hit the crossbar, but eventually just three minutes before the end of the game, Alex Czerniatynski was able to easily tap in a loose ball after Michel Preud'homme could not hold on to a difficult shot by Willy Vincent.

The penalty shootout would become the longest ever in a Belgian Cup Final (and still is as of 2022), as 22 penalty kicks were needed to decide a winner, with Ratko Svilar eventually saving the shot by Lei Clijsters.

The details of the game are summarized in the following table:

7 June 1992

16:00 CET

Antwerp	2–2 (a.e.t.)	KV Mechelen
Kiekens 72' Czerniatynski 117'	Report	Arambasic 88' Eijkelkamp 95'
Penalties
Vincent Broeckaert Van Rethy Kiekens Lehnhoff Smidts Ukkonen Czerniatynski Jakovljević Emmerechts Svilar	9–8	Preud'homme Eijkelkamp Versavel Emmers Albert Bartholomeeusen Bogers Arambasic Severeyns Gijsbrechts Clijsters

Olympiastadion, Bruges

Attendance: 20,000

Referee: Alphonse Constantin

GK Ratko Svilar RB Wim Kiekens CB Nico Broeckaert CB Geert Emmerechts LB Rudi Smidts (c) MF Ronny Van Rethy MF Patrick Van Veirdeghem  115' MF Hans-Peter Lehnhoff MF Dragan Jakovljević FW Nico Claesen  91' FW Alex Czerniatynski Substitutes: FW Willy Vincent  91' DF Kari Ukkonen  115' Manager: Walter Meeuws

GK Michel Preud'homme RB Koen Sanders CB Davy Gijsbrechts CB Lei Clijsters (c) LB Adrie Bogers MF Joël Bartholomeeusen MF Philippe Albert MF Marc Emmers MF Frank Leen FW Zlatko Arambasic FW René Eijkelkamp Substitutes: DF Patrick Versavel FW Francis Severeyns Manager: Georges Leekens

• Official website (in French and Dutch)