2018 Intercontinental Cup (India)

International football tournament

2018 Hero Intercontinental CupTournament details

Host country| India
City| Mumbai
Dates| 1–10 June 2018
Teams| 4 (from 3 confederations)
Venue(s)| 1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions|  India (1st title)
Runners-up|  Kenya
Third place|  New Zealand
Fourth place|  Chinese Taipei
Tournament statistics
Matches played| 7
Goals scored| 21 (3 per match)
Attendance| 27,399 (3,914 per match)
Top scorer(s)|  Sunil Chhetri (8 goals)
Best player(s)|  Sunil Chhetri

<- 2012 (Nehru Cup)

2019 ->

International football competition

The 2018 Intercontinental Cup (known as the 2018 Hero Intercontinental Cup for sponsorship reasons[1]) was a 4-nations football tournament held at the Mumbai Football Arena in the Indian city of Mumbai between 1 and 10 June 2018. The tournament was organized by the AIFF as part of the senior men's team's preparation for 2019 AFC Asian Cup.[2] The tournament succeeded the Nehru Cup and developed post the Tri-Nation Series, where the then India head coach Stephen Constantine revealed that the intention was to hold a four-team tournament with India competing against teams from the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia.[3] India won the tournament by defeating Kenya 2–0 in the final on 10 June 2018.

## Participating nations

[edit]

The FIFA Rankings, as of 1 June 2018:

* ~~South Africa~~ (72)
* India (97) - first appearance \- host
* Kenya (112) - first appearance
* New Zealand (120) - first appearance
* Chinese Taipei (121) - first appearance

Initially, South Africa was announced to participate in the tournament but Kenya later replaced them when South Africa expressed its inability to participate.[4] The other two nations participated in the tournament were Chinese Taipei from AFC region and New Zealand from the OFC region.[2]

## Group stage

[edit]

All times are local, IST (UTC+05:30).

Pos | Team  | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

1  |  India (H) | 3  | 2  | 0  | 1  | 9  | 2  | +7  | 6  | Advance to the Final
2  |  Kenya | 3  | 2  | 0  | 1  | 6  | 4  | +2  | 6
3  |  New Zealand | 3  | 2  | 0  | 1  | 4  | 3  | +1  | 6  |
4  |  Chinese Taipei | 3  | 0  | 0  | 3  | 0  | 10  | −10  | 0

Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) head-to-head match result
(H) Hosts

1 June 2018 (2018-06-01)

20:00

India | 5–0|  Chinese Taipei

|
|

* Chhetri 14', 34', 62'
* U. Singh 48'
* Halder 78'

| Report |

Mumbai Football Arena, Mumbai

Attendance: 2,569[5]

Referee: Nivon Robesh Gamini (Sri Lanka)

2 June 2018 (2018-06-02)

20:00

Kenya | 2–1|  New Zealand

|
|

* Miheso 45'
* Ochieng 69'

| Report |

* Singh 42'

Mumbai Football Arena, Mumbai

Attendance: 150

Referee: Santhosh Kumar (India)

* * *

4 June 2018 (2018-06-04)

20:00

India | 3–0|  Kenya

|
|

* Chhetri 68' (pen.), 90+2'
* Lalpekhlua 71'

| Report |

Mumbai Football Arena, Mumbai

Attendance: 8,890[6]

Referee: Hettikamkanamge Perera (Sri Lanka)

5 June 2018 (2018-06-05)

20:00

Chinese Taipei | 0–1|  New Zealand

|
|

| Report |

* Bevan 36' (pen.)

Mumbai Football Arena, Mumbai

Attendance: 150

Referee: C. R. Srikrishna (India)

* * *

7 June 2018 (2018-06-07)

20:00

India | 1–2|  New Zealand

|
|

* Chhetri 47'

| Report |

* De Jong 49'
* Dyer 86'

Mumbai Football Arena, Mumbai

Attendance: 6,600

Referee: Hettikamkanamge Perera (Sri Lanka)

8 June 2018 (2018-06-08)

20:00

Chinese Taipei | 0–4|  Kenya

|
|

| Report |

* Odhiambo 52'
* Atudo 55' (pen.), 88'
* Otieno 70'

Mumbai Football Arena, Mumbai

Attendance: 150

Referee: Santhosh Kumar (India)

## Final

[edit]

10 June 2018 (2018-06-10)

20:00 IST

India | 2–0|  Kenya

|
|

* Chhetri 8', 29'

| Report |

Mumbai Football Arena, Mumbai

Attendance: 8,890

Referee: Nivon Robesh Gamini (Sri Lanka)

## Winners

[edit]

2018 Intercontinental Cup champion

India
First title

## Crowd attendance

[edit]

After a poor attendance of 2,569 for the first match of the tournament, Indian captain Sunil Chhetri uploaded a video[7] on his Twitter and Instagram accounts pleading for Indians to attend Indian football matches.[8] Chhetri's plea was endorsed by other sports people, including Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli, cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, and tennis player Sania Mirza.[9] People responded to the plea by booking tickets for India's upcoming game against Kenya, and the game was sold out before the match day.[10] The match was Chhetri's 100th cap for India in which he scored a brace, leading India to win 3–0. The tweet was the most retweeted tweet in 2018, per Twitter India and was awarded The Golden Tweet.[11]

## Broadcasting rights

[edit]

Star Sports did broadcast for the 2018 Intercontinental Cup (India) on Star Sports HD2 & Star Sports 2. It was also streamed live on Hotstar and Jio TV.[12]

## Goalscorers

[edit]

8 goals

* Sunil Chhetri

2 goals

* Jockins Atudo

1 goal

* Andre De Jong
* Clifton Miheso
* Dennis Odhiambo
* Myer Bevan
* Moses Dyer
* Jeje Lalpekhlua
* Ovella Ochieng
* Pronay Halder
* Sarpreet Singh
* Timothy Otieno
* Udanta Singh

## See also

[edit]

* Intercontinental Cup (India)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Mumbai Football Arena To Host Hero Intercontinental Cup From June 1". www.the-aiff.com. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
2. ^ a b "AIFF announces inaugural four-nation Intercontinental Cup to be held in Mumbai". 20 April 2018. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
3. ^ Bal, Sarthac (18 August 2017). "India vs Mauritius in tri-nation football, Stephen Constantine may test bench". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 19 August 2017. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
4. ^ "Kenya replace South Africa in Intercontinental Cup". 7 May 2018. Archived from the original on 13 October 2020. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
5. ^ "'Scream at us, but come watch us': Indian captain Sunil Chhetri makes heartfelt plea to fans". Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
6. ^ @ThatUnitedLady (4 June 2018). "Attendance figures: India vs Chinese Taipei, June 1: 2569 India vs Kenya, today: 8890" (Tweet) - via Twitter.
7. ^ @chetrisunil11 (2 June 2018). "This is nothing but a small plea from me to you. Take out a little time and give me a listen" (Tweet) - via Twitter.
8. ^ "India captain Sunil Chhetri in plea to fans after only 2,569 watch cup game". bbc.com. BBC. 3 June 2018. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
9. ^ "'Can I have a ticket please?': Sania Mirza joins Tendulkar, Kohli in support of Chhetri's plea to football fans". moneycontrol.com. Moneycontrol.com. 4 June 2018. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
10. ^ "After Sunil Chhetri's emotional plea, tickets for India game sold out". economictimes.indiatimes.com. The Economic Times. 4 June 2018. Archived from the original on 13 June 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
11. ^ "Sunil Chhetri's plea to Indian fans marked as Golden Tweet by Twitter India". 6 December 2018. Archived from the original on 12 January 2019. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
12. ^ "Intercontinental Cup 2018: Venue, fixtures and TV guide". Sulthan's Monologue. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 30 May 2018.

*[Pos]: Position
*[Pld]: Played
*[W]: Won
*[D]: Drawn
*[L]: Lost
*[GF]: Goals for
*[GA]: Goals against
*[GD]: Goal difference
*[Pts]: Points