AZ Alkmaar delivered a dominant performance to win the cup final on Sunday by beating NEC Nijmegen 5-1 at the Feyenoord Stadium in Rotterdam.
AZ took a deserved lead after 32 minutes when left back Mees de Wit scored from close range after a dizzying run to the goal line by left winger Ro-Zangelo Daal.
It added two more after Sven Mijnans’ break in the 67th minute and Peer Koopmeiners six minutes after that.
NEC pulled one back in the 78th minute through Japanese striker Koki Ogawa.
Mijnans had the ball back in the net five minutes before the end, but it was disallowed for offside in the build-up, but at the start of injury time, brand new Dutch international Kees Smit tapped NEC goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen to make it 4-1.
Five minutes into stoppage time there was time for another goal from Ireland international Troy Parrott, with his shot from close range taking a poor deflection.
It was AZ’s fifth cup final, but the first in thirteen years, while NEC has now lost all six finals in which it has played.
Cup success means that AZ qualifies for the competition phase of next season’s Europa League. Last Thursday they were eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Conference League by the Ukrainian Shakhtar Donetsk.
Published on April 20, 2026
