Super Cup (India)

Association football tournament in India

Not to be confused with the original Indian Super Cup (1997–2011), the match between the league and cup champions.

Football tournament

Super Cup

Organising body| AIFF
Founded| February 19, 2018; 7 years ago (2018-02-19) (succeeded the Federation Cup)
Region| India
Number of teams| 16
Qualifier for| AFC Champions League Two
Current champions| East Bengal (1st title)
Most successful club(s)| Bengaluru
Goa
Odisha
East Bengal
(1 title each)
Television broadcasters| JioCinema

* International: Broadcasters

Website| Super Cup
2025 Indian Super Cup

The Super Cup, also known as the AIFF Super Cup, is an annual premier football cup competition in Indian football. It was founded on February 19, 2018 as a replacement for Federation Cup.[1] Organised by the All India Football Federation (AIFF),[2] the competition is open to the Indian Super League and the I-League, the top two divisions of the Indian football league system respectively.

## History

[edit]

On 19 February 2018, the All India Football Federation announced the creation of the Super Cup as a reformed Federation Cup, India's main knockout football tournament.[3][1] The qualifiers for the inaugural recherished tournament were held between 15–16 March. The tournament proper then commenced on 31 March and concluded with the final on 20 April 2018.[3] Bengaluru emerged as the winners of the inaugural edition of the recherished tournament. They defeated East Bengal 4–1 in the final.[4]

In the second edition, seven I-League clubs, namely Minerva Punjab, East Bengal, Mohun Bagan, NEROCA, Gokulam Kerala, Aizawl and Churchill Brothers withdrew from the competition citing "unfair treatment to I-League clubs by the AIFF."[5]

From 2020 to 2022, the competition was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. From the 2024 edition the competition is known as the Kalinga Super Cup, as part of the title sponsorship agreement with the Government of Odisha.[6]

## Competition format

[edit]

Until 2019, the competition proper was a 16-team knockout tournament. In the event of a match being drawn after the group stage, the extra time was played, followed by a penalty shoot-out if required.

In 2024, the competition comprised 16 clubs in group stage. All clubs in the top tier Indian Super League entered the group stage, and the I-League clubs played qualifiers for the four remaining spots. During the group stage, clubs were divided into four groups of four, playing against each other in a single round-robin format. At the end of the group stage, the club with the most points qualified to the semi-finals. The competition then culminated with the final to determine the champions, presented with the trophy and a spot in the AFC Champions League Two qualifiers.

## Winners

[edit]

### Super Cup finals

[edit]

Season  | Winner  | Score  | Runner-up  | Venue  | Top scorer

|
|
|
|
|

2018 | Bengaluru | 4–1 | East Bengal | Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar |  Sunil Chhetri (6)
2019 | Goa | 2–1 | Chennaiyin | Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar |  Coro (5)
2020–2022 | Tournament suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Indian National Team's international fixtures
2023 | Odisha | 2–1 | Bengaluru | EMS Stadium, Kozhikode |  Wilmar Jordán (7)
2024 | East Bengal | 3–2 | Odisha | Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar |  Cleiton Silva (5)
2025 |  |  |  | Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar |

### Performance by club

[edit]

Club  | Wins  | Winning years  | Runners-up  | Total finals appearances

|
|
|
|

Bengaluru | 1  | 2018 | 1  | 2
Odisha | 1  | 2023 | 1  | 2
East Bengal | 1  | 2024 | 1  | 2
Goa | 1  | 2019 | 0  | 1
Chennaiyin | 0  | –  | 1  | 1

### List of winning coaches

[edit]

Season  | Winning Head coach  | Club  | Runner-up Head coach  | Club

|
|
|
|

2018 |  Albert Roca | Bengaluru |  Khalid Jamil | East Bengal
2019 |  Sergio Lobera | Goa |  John Gregory | Chennaiyin
2023 |  Clifford Miranda | Odisha |  Simon Grayson | Bengaluru
2024 |  Carles Cuadrat | East Bengal |  Sergio Lobera | Odisha

## Top scorers

[edit]

Rank  | Player  | Goals  | Apps | Years  | Club(s)

|
|
|
|
|

1  |  Sunil Chhetri | 9 | 10  | 2018–2023 | Bengaluru
2  |  Wilmar Jordán | 8 | 7  | 2023–2024  | NorthEast United, Punjab
Diego Maurício | 8 | 10  | 2023–2024  | Odisha
4  |  Coro | 7 | 7  | 2018–2019  | Goa
Nandhakumar Sekar | 7 | 14  | 2023–2024  | Odisha, East Bengal
6  |  Ansumana Kromah | 6 | 8  | 2018–2023  | East Bengal, Churchill Brothers
7  |  Miku | 5 | 5  | 2018–2019  | Bengaluru
Dimitrios Diamantakos | 5 | 6  | 2023–2024  | Kerala Blasters
Cleiton Silva | 5 | 8  | 2023–2024  | East Bengal

## Sponsorship and media coverage

[edit]

### Sponsorship

[edit]

The title sponsor for the Super Cup was Hero MotoCorp until the 2023 edition.[7] Hero MotoCorp was also the title sponsor for the Indian Super League and I-League, the leagues which comprise Super Cup participants.[8][9] The next title sponsor was the Government of Odisha with the tournament being known as Kalinga Super Cup.[10][11]

Period  | Sponsor  | Tournament

|
|

2018–2023  |  Hero MotoCorp | Hero Super Cup
2024–  |  Government of Odisha and Odisha Tourism | Kalinga Super Cup

### Media coverage

[edit]

Star Sports was the official broadcaster for the AIFF Super Cup, with all matches being broadcast on the channel, and Disney+ Hotstar was the official online streaming partner of the tournament.[12] Since 2023, Sony Sports and FanCode became the official media partners.

Television  Period  | Broadcaster  | Region

|
|

2018–2019  | Star Sports | India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka
Fox Sports | Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Myanmar, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam
ATN Channel | Canada
ESPN+ | United States of America
OSN Sports | Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Yemen
Star Gold UK | England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales
SuperSport | South Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa
Eurosport | Europe
ESPN Africa | Parts of Africa
2023  | Sony Sports Network | India
2025–  | Star Sports | India
Online streaming  Period  | Broadcaster  | Region

|
|

2018–2019  | Disney+ Hotstar | Worldwide
2023  | FanCode | India
2024  | JioCinema | India
2025–  | JioHotstar | India

## See also

[edit]

* History of Indian football
* Durand Cup
* I-League 2
* I-League 3
* State leagues
* Indian Super Cup (1997–2011)
* Institutional League

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "Indian football calendar for 2024-25 season announced". Khel Now. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
2. ^ "Hero Super Cup". the-aiff.com. AIFF.
3. ^ a b Saharoy, Shilarze (12 March 2018). "Chennaiyin to face Aizawl in Super Cup on March 31". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 18 June 2020. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
4. ^ "Chhetri scores a brace as Bengaluru FC thrash East Bengal 4–1 to win title". Scroll.in. 20 April 2018. Archived from the original on 28 June 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
5. ^ "Super Cup: Minerva Punjab miss pre-match conference, meeting; AIFF terms it 'blatant disregard'". 14 March 2019. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
6. ^ Sportstar, Team (29 November 2023). "Super Cup 2024 renamed as Kalinga Super Cup with winner earning AFC Cup qualification". Sportstar. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
7. ^ "East Bengal seal semi-final berth in Hero Super Cup". Business Standard. 8 April 2018. Archived from the original on 6 October 2022. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
8. ^ "Four teams, one shot at glory: Here are the scenarios for the I-League title race ahead of final day". Scroll.in. 6 March 2018. Archived from the original on 10 August 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
9. ^ "Indian Super League (ISL) 2017–18: Full Schedule, match-time and results". The Times of India. 17 November 2017. Archived from the original on 28 April 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
10. ^ "Kalinga Super Cup will kick off in Odisha from January 9, 2024". the-aiff.com. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
11. ^ "Odisha's rise as a shining example for sports infra". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
12. ^ "Super Cup 2018: NEROCA FC v Kerala Blasters FC – TV channel, stream, kick-off time & match preview". Yahoo Sports. 5 April 2018. Archived from the original on 28 April 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2018.

## External links

[edit]

* Archived website

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