| 1977–78 | |
| Country: | Netherlands |
| Num Teams: | 46 |
| Defending Champions: | FC Twente |
| Winners: | AZ'67 |
| Second: | Ajax |
| Prev Season: | 1976–77 |
| Next Season: | 1978–79 |
The 1977-78 KNVB Cup 60th edition of the Dutch national football annual knockout tournament for the KNVB Cup. 46 teams contested, beginning on 8 October 1977 and ending at the final on 5 May 1978.
FC Twente unsuccessfully defended its 1977 title at the Second round losing to Go Ahead Eagles, 2–1 (aet. AZ'67 from Alkmaar (at the time called AZ'67) successfully pursued on 5 May 1978 in Olympisch Stadion, Amsterdam its first KNVB Cup losing to Ajax, 1–0. 50,000 attended. AZ'67 contested in the Cup Winners' cup
During the quarter and semi-finals, two-legged matches were played.
The matches of the first round were played on 8-9 October 1977.
| Home team | Result | Away team | |
|---|---|---|---|
| PEC Zwolle 1 | 1–1 (p) | FC Eindhoven 1 | |
| SC Cambuur 1 | 2–0 | FC Den Bosch 1 | |
| SVV 1 | (p) 3-3 | BSV Limburgia A | |
| SC Veendam 1 | 5–2 | Helmond Sport 1 | |
| FC Wageningen 1 | 1–0 | SC Amersfoort 1 | |
| Willem II 1 | 1–2 | VV DWV A | |
| IJsselmeervogels A | 2–1 | sc Heerenveen 1 |
| Home team | Result | Away team | |
|---|---|---|---|
| VV DOVO A | 2–1 | RKAV Volendam A | |
| Excelsior 1 | 5–0 | VV Rheden A | |
| FC Dordrecht 1 | 0–1 | SC BVV A | |
| FC Groningen 1 | 2–0 | HFC EDO A | |
| FC Vlaardingen 1 | 3–0 | Enschedese Boys A | |
| Fortuna Sittard 1 | 3–2 (aet) | De Graafschap 1 | |
| SC Heracles 1 | 1–0 | MVV 1 |
1 Eerste Divisie; A Amateur teams
The matches of the second round were played on November 19 and 20, 1977. The Eredivisie clubs entered the tournament here.
| Home team | Result | Away team | |
|---|---|---|---|
| HFC Haarlem E | 1–0 | NEC E | |
| PSV E | 6–0 | SVV | |
| Sparta E | 5–0 | SC Heracles | |
| Vitesse Arnhem E | 3–0 | FC Den Haag E | |
| FC Volendam E | 3–3 (p) | FC Utrecht E | |
| FC Wageningen | 2–0 (aet) | FC VVV E | |
| IJsselmeervogels | 1–3 | FC Groningen | |
| AZ'67 E | 2–0 | Fortuna Sittard (on December 14) |
| Home team | Result | Away team | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ajax E | 4–1 | Telstar E | |
| VV DOVO | 0–3 | SC Veendam | |
| VV DWV | 0–1 (aet) | Roda JC E | |
| FC Eindhoven | 3–1 (aet) | SC Cambuur | |
| Excelsior | 3–2 | NAC E | |
| FC Vlaardingen | 0–3 | FC Amsterdam E | |
| Feyenoord E | 3–0 | SC BVV | |
| Go Ahead Eagles E | 2–1 (aet) | FC Twente E |
E Eredivisie
The matches of the round of 16 were played between December 21 and 26, 1977.
| Home team | Result | Away team | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ajax | 7–0 | FC Eindhoven | |
| AZ'67 | 1–0 | FC Amsterdam | |
| Excelsior | 2–1 | FC Groningen | |
| PSV | 1–6 | FC Wageningen | |
| Roda JC | 1–0 | HFC Haarlem | |
| Sparta | 1–0 | Go Ahead Eagles | |
| SC Veendam | 2–1 | Feyenoord | |
| Vitesse Arnhem | 4–3 (aet) | FC Utrecht |
The quarter finals were played between February 1 and March 15, 1978.
| Team 1 | Aggregate | Team 2 | Match 1 | Match 2 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roda JC | 1–4 | Ajax | 0–3 | 1–1 | |
| SC Veendam | 2–4 | Excelsior | 2–1 | 0–3 | |
| Vitesse Arnhem | 0–4 | Sparta | 0–2 | 0–2 | |
| FC Wageningen | 1–3 | AZ'67 | 1–2 | 0–1 |
The semi-finals were played on March 30 and April 19, 1978.
| Team 1 | Aggregate | Team 2 | Match 1 | Match 2 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Excelsior | 1–5 | AZ'67 | 1–2 | 0–3 | |
| Sparta | 2–3 | Ajax | 2–1 | 0–2 |
AZ contested in the Cup Winners' cup