Three amateur Walloon clubs competing in the sixteenth-finals of the Belgian Cup this weekend have the chance to secure a direct spot for next season’s national tournament under a new Pro League qualification format, DHnet reported.
How the Croky Cup Wild Card Works for Walloon Amateurs
Beginning in the 2027–28 season, the Croky Cup will permanently guarantee two direct berths in the sixteenth-finals for amateur clubs—one for each linguistic wing in Belgium, according to a Pro League announcement. While the Flemish wing plans to award its ticket to the winner of the VV Cup, the exact mechanism for the French-speaking amateur wing remains under discussion at the federation level.
David Delferière, an amateur wing representative on the federation’s superior council, explained that a proposal has been put forward to award the French-speaking ticket to the winner of a future FFA Cup. That proposed competition would feature 64 teams from the top six divisions, though organizers are still working out how to handle reserve teams and potential supercup fixtures against Flemish counterparts, with hopes of launching the tournament by the end of the season.
The Immediate Stakes for Habay, Rochefort, and Mons
Because the FFA Cup is not yet operational, the federation has had to establish an interim method for assigning the wild card for next autumn. Delferière outlined that the berth is proposed to go to the amateur club that advances the furthest in the current edition of the Belgian Cup, provided they do not secure promotion to the Challenger Pro League at the end of the campaign.
Three Walloon amateur teams remain alive in the sixteenth-finals: Habay, Rochefort, and Mons. If all three are eliminated at the same stage this weekend or fail to progress, governing bodies may resort to a random draw or a test match, though officials acknowledge that a playoff would further congest an already crowded calendar.
Venue Hurdles and Elite Resistance in the Sixteenth-Finals
The path forward comes with immediate logistical hurdles for the participating amateur sides. Habay-la-Neuve was forced to reverse its fixture and play away against Beveren because its home ground in the Luxembourg province falls short of tournament requirements—failing to meet the 1,500 total capacity, 300 seated spaces, and 300-lux floodlighting minimums mandated for television broadcasts. Nijlen faced a similar requirement when shifting its match against Union to the Stade Marien, as reported by DHnet.
Meanwhile, the broader structure of the competition continues to draw scrutiny from lower-tier representatives. Delferière noted that amateur stakeholders pushed for an open draw in the sixteenth-finals to allow top-flight giants to face each other immediately, but elite clubs rejected the change to preserve seeded protections.
Schedule of This Weekend Matches and Beyond
The sixteenth-finals action runs across Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, Club Brugge hosts Lokeren, while Mons faces Sporting Charleroi in a Hainaut derby, Antwerp travels to Heist, and Francs Borains visits Leuven. Additional Saturday matches feature Virton against Genk, and La Louvière playing FC Liège. Sunday’s slate includes Union defending its title against Nijlen, Gent traveling to Rochefort, Mechelen hosting Eupen, and a Limburg derby between Sint-Truiden and Lommel rounding out the round.
The winners of this weekend’s ties will advance to the eighth-finals, scheduled to take place between December 4 and December 6, with the quarterfinals following in early February ahead of the spring semifinals.
