# 2022–23 Royal Antwerp F.C. season

The 2022–23 season was the 119th season in the existence of Royal Antwerp F.C. and the club's sixth consecutive season in the top flight of Belgian football. In addition to the domestic league, Antwerp participated in this season's editions of the Belgian Cup and the UEFA Europa Conference League.
On 4 June 2023, club captain Toby Alderweireld scored a goal in the 94th minute of the final match day to secure a dramatic 2–2 draw against Genk, handing Royal Antwerp their first league title in 66 years. The goal denied Genk the title themselves, and came just as Union St-Gilloise were conceding three late goals to Club Brugge to deny them also.

## Players
### First-team squad

    As of 31 January 2023
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | FRA | Jean Butez |
| 2 | DF | BEL | Ritchie De Laet |
| 3 | DF | BEL | Björn Engels |
| 7 | FW | NED | Gyrano Kerk (on loan from Lokomotiv Moscow) |
| 8 | MF | NGA | Alhassan Yusuf |
| 10 | FW | BEL | Michel-Ange Balikwisha |
| 11 | FW | KOS | Arbnor Muja |
| 14 | FW | NED | Calvin Stengs (on loan from OGC Nice) |
| 16 | MF | BEL | Pieter Gerkens |
| 18 | FW | NED | Vincent Janssen |
| 19 | FW | JPN | Koji Miyoshi |
| 21 | DF | USA | Sam Vines |
| 22 | DF | ARG | Gastón Ávila |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 23 | DF | BEL | Toby Alderweireld (captain) |
| 24 | MF | NED | Jurgen Ekkelenkamp |
| 26 | GK | BEL | Ortwin De Wolf |
| 27 | MF | BEL | Mandela Keita (on loan from OH Leuven) |
| 32 | MF | GER | Christopher Scott |
| 33 | DF | BEL | Zeno Van Den Bosch |
| 34 | DF | BEL | Jelle Bataille |
| 38 | MF | BEL | Faris Haroun |
| 48 | MF | BEL | Arthur Vermeeren |
| 50 | DF | KOS | Laurit Krasniqi |
| 51 | DF | ECU | Willian Pacho |
| 55 | FW | ECU | Anthony Valencia |
| 87 | GK | BEL | Davino Verhulst |

### Other players under contract

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | DF | COD | Luete Ava Dongo |

### Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 6 | MF | BEL | Birger Verstraete (at K.V. Mechelen) |
| 7 | FW | DEN | Viktor Fischer (at AIK Fotboll) |
| 15 | MF | CMR | Frank Boya (at STVV) |
| 24 | DF | BEL | Dorian Dessoleil (at K.V. Kortrijk) |
| 80 | MF | BEL | Pierre Dwomoh (at K.V. Oostende) |
| 99 | FW | SUI | Michael Frey (at Schalke 04) |
| — | MF | BEL | Alexis De Sart (at RWDM) |

## Transfers
### In

| Date | Pos. | Player | From | Fee |
| 31 January 2023 | MF | Mandela Keita | Oud-Heverlee Leuven | On loan |
| 28 January 2023 | FW | Gyrano Kerk | FC Lokomotiv Moscow | On loan |
| 30 August 2022 | FW | Calvin Stengs | OGC Nice | On loan |
| 7 August 2022 | MF | Jurgen Ekkelenkamp | Hertha BSC | Undisclosed |
| 5 August 2022 | FW | Arbnor Muja | Drita | € 400,000 |
| 23 July 2022 | DF | Gastón Ávila | Boca Juniors | Undisclosed |
| 15 July 2022 | DF | Toby Alderweireld | Al-Duhail | Undisclosed |
| 29 June 2022 | GK | Davino Verhulst | Apollon Smyrnis | Undisclosed |
| 28 June 2022 | MF | Christopher Scott | Bayern Munich II | € 1,400,000 |
| 18 June 2022 | FW | Vincent Janssen | Monterrey | Undisclosed |
| 8 June 2022 | MF | Anthony Valencia | Independiente del Valle | Undisclosed |

### Out

| Date | Pos. | Player | To | Fee |
| 31 January 2023 | FW | Bruny Nsimba | S.K. Beveren | Undisclosed |
| 6 January 2023 | DF | Dinis Almeida | PFC Ludogorets Razgrad | Undisclosed |
| 21 December 2022 | MF | Radja Nainggolan | S.P.A.L. | Contract terminated |
| 6 September 2022 | DF | Junior Pius | | Undisclosed |
| 1 September 2022 | DF | Abdoulaye Seck | Maccabi Haifa | Undisclosed |
| 23 August 2022 | FW | Didier Lamkel Zé | K.V. Kortrijk | € 500,000 |
| 20 August 2022 | GK | Davor Matijaš | Beerschot | Undisclosed |
| 4 August 2022 | FW | Manuel Benson | Burnley F.C. | Undisclosed |
| 4 August 2022 | FW | Emanuel Emegha | SK Sturm Graz | Undisclosed |
| 16 July 2022 | FW | Guy Mbenza | Al-Tai FC | € 700,000 |
| 30 June 2022 | MF | Nill De Pauw | | End of contract |
| 30 June 2022 | MF | Sander Coopman | S.K. Beveren | End of contract |
| 30 June 2022 | DF | Aurélio Buta | Eintracht Frankfurt | End of contract |
| 22 June 2022 | FW | Johannes Eggestein | FC St. Pauli | Undisclosed |
| 18 May 2022 | GK | Alireza Beiranvand | Persepolis F.C. | Undisclosed |

#### Notes
## Pre-season and friendlies

Win  Draw  Loss  Fixtures

## Competitions
### Overall record

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| Belgian Pro League | 24 July 2022 | 4 June 2023 | Matchday 1 | Winners | 40 | 25 | 8 | 7 | 69 | 34 | +35 | 062.50 |
| Belgian Cup | 10 November 2022 | 30 April 2023 | Sixth round | Winners | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 3 | +9 | 066.67 |
| UEFA Europa Conference League | 21 July 2022 | 25 August 2022 | Second qualifying round | Play-off round | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 5 | +4 | 050.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 52 | 32 | 11 | 9 | 90 | 42 | +48 | 061.54 |
Source: Soccerway

### Pro League
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Genk (J) | 34 | 23 | 6 | 5 | 78 | 37 | +41 | 75 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League and Play-offs I |
| 2 | Union SG | 34 | 23 | 6 | 5 | 70 | 41 | +29 | 75 | Qualification for the Play-offs I |
| 3 | Antwerp (C) | 34 | 22 | 6 | 6 | 59 | 26 | +33 | 72 | Qualification for the Play-offs I |
| 4 | Club Brugge | 34 | 16 | 11 | 7 | 61 | 36 | +25 | 59 | Qualification for the Play-offs I |
| 5 | Gent (U) | 34 | 16 | 8 | 10 | 64 | 38 | +26 | 56 | Qualification for the Play-offs II |
* ↑ The regular season winners will qualify for the 2023–24 UEFA Europa Conference League if they do not qualify for the 2023–24 UEFA Champions League in the playoffs.

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 23 April 2023. Source:

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 |
| Ground | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A |
| Result | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | L | W | L | W | L | L | D | D | D | W | L | W | W | D | D | W | W | D | W | W | L | W | W | W | W |
| Position | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |

#### Matches

The league fixtures were announced on 22 June 2022.

#### Play-Off I

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation | ANT | GNK | USG | CLU |
| 1 | Antwerp (C) | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 8 | +2 | 47 | Qualification for the Champions League play-off round | — | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 |
| 2 | Genk (K) | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 46 | Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round | 2–2 | — | 1–1 | 3–1 |
| 3 | Union SG | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 46 | Qualification for the Europa League play-off round | 0–2 | 3–0 | — | 1–3 |
| 4 | Club Brugge | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 12 | −2 | 36 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League second qualifying round | 2–0 | 1–3 | 1–2 | — |
* 1 2 Tied on Points and Points without half points added due to rounding. Regular Season finishing position: Genk 1, Union SG 2.

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source: Jupiler Pro League

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Ground | A | H | H | A | H | A |
| Result | W | W | W | L | D | D |
| Position | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |

#### Matches
### UEFA Europa Conference League
#### Second qualifying round

The draw for the second qualifying round was held on 15 June 2022.

#### Third qualifying round

The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 18 July 2022.

#### Play-off round

The draw for the play-off round was held on 2 August 2022.

### Goalscorers

| Rank | No. | Pos | Nat | Name | First Division A | Belgian Cup | Europa Conference League | Total |
| 1 | 18 | FW | | Vincent Janssen | 18 | 3 | 0 | 21 |
| 2 | 10 | FW | | Michel-Ange Balikwisha | 7 | 2 | 1 | 10 |
| 3 | 99 | FW | | Michael Frey | 7 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
| 4 | 23 | DF | | Toby Alderweireld | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 5 | 7 | FW | | Gyrano Kerk | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 5 | 24 | MF | | Jurgen Ekkelenkamp | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 7 | 11 | FW | | Arbnor Muja | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 8 | 4 | MF | | Radja Nainggolan | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 8 | 14 | FW | | Calvin Stengs | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 10 | 2 | DF | | Ritchie De Laet | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 10 | 55 | FW | | Anthony Valencia | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 10 | 61 | DF | | Dinis Almeida | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 13 | 6 | MF | | Birger Verstraete | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 13 | 16 | MF | | Pieter Gerkens | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 | 17 | FW | | Bruny Nsimba | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 | 19 | FW | | Koji Miyoshi | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 | 20 | MF | | Mandela Keita | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 | 21 | DF | | Sam Vines | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 | 32 | MF | | Christopher Scott | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 | 34 | DF | | Jelle Bataille | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 | 48 | MF | | Arthur Vermeeren | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 | 50 | DF | | Laurit Krasniqi | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | 69 | 12 | 9 | 90 |