The 2023 Durand Cup (also known as IndianOil Durand Cup due to sponsorship ties with the

Indian Oil Corporation Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL or IOC), trading as IndianOil, is an Indian multinational oil and gas company under the ownership of the Government of India and administrative control of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. It is ...

) was the 132nd edition of

Durand Cup The Durand Cup (also called the IndianOil Durand Cup Powered by Coal India Limited for sponsorship reasons) is an annual domestic football competition in India which was first held in 1888 in Annadale, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. Hosted by the ...

, the oldest

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

tournament in Asia, and the second edition since it was supported by the

Asian Football Confederation The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in most countries and territories in Asia. The AFC was formed in 1954. It has 47 members. The Asian Ladies Football Confederation ( ...

. The tournament is hosted by the Durand Football Tournament Society in co-operation with the

AIFF AIFF may refer to: * Audio Interchange File Format * All India Football Federation, the national governing body of Association football in India Film festivals * Addis International Film Festival, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia * Alexandria Internation ...

, Eastern Command of the

Indian Armed Forces The Indian Armed Forces are the armed forces, military forces of the India, Republic of India. It consists of three professional uniformed services: the Indian Army, the Indian Navy, and the Indian Air Force.—— Additionally, the Indian Ar ...

and the

Government of West Bengal The Government of West Bengal, also known as the West Bengal Government, is the Administrative division, principal administrative authority of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal, created by the Constitution ...

, supported by the

Government of Assam The Government of Assam or Assam Government abbreviated as GoAS, is the Subnational legislature, state government of the Indian state of Assam. It consists of the Governors of states of India, Governor appointed by the President of India as th ...

. This year for the second time the tournament will be played in more than one city. This will be the second season of the tournament wherein all 12 clubs in the top tier

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is a professional association football league in India and the highest level of the Indian football league system. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sport ...

have been mandated to participate, along with invited clubs from

I-League The I-League is the men's second professional football division of the Indian football league system behind the Indian Super League. Administered by the All India Football Federation, it is currently contested by 13 clubs. It operates as a s ...

I-League 2 The I-League 2 is an Indian men's professional association football, football league. It is the 3rd tier of the Indian football league system, behind the Indian Super League and the I-League. It operates as a system of promotion and relegation ...

and regional league, and teams representing armed forces.

Bengaluru FC Bengaluru Football Club () (Kannada: ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು.ಎಫ್.ಸಿ) is an Indian professional football club based in Bengaluru, Karnataka. The club competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club w ...

were the defending champions, having defeated

Mumbai City FC Mumbai City Football Club is an Indian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is part of the City Football Group. The club competes in the Indian Super League, the top tier of the Ind ...

in the 2022 final. The 2023 IndianOil

final saw the

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

club

Mohun Bagan Mohun Bagan Super Giant, commonly referred to as Mohun Bagan, is an Indian professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, it is one of the oldest football clubs in Asia. The club competes in the Indian Super League, ...

win their 17th

title by defeating their arch-rivals

East Bengal East Bengal (; ''Purbô Bangla/Purbôbongo'') was the eastern province of the Dominion of Pakistan, which covered the territory of modern-day Bangladesh. It consisted of the eastern portion of the Bengal region, and existed from 1947 until 195 ...

by 1-0.

Teams

The organization committee announced an increase in the number of teams from the previous edition. 19 Indian clubs and 5

services Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a ...

teams, from

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

, and

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

will play in this edition. This is the first time in 27 years a foreign team participates in the tournament. The teams have been drawn into six groups of four each. Six group winners and the two best second-placed sides will make the knockout stage.

Venues

Initially,

Imphal Imphal (; , ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Manipur. The metropolitan centre of the city contains the ruins of Kangla Palace (officially known as Kangla Fort), the royal seat of the former Kingdom of Manipur, surrounded by a ...

was drafted as a host city. However, due to the 2023 Manipur unrest,

Guwahati Guwahati () the largest city of the Indian state of Assam, and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the seat of the Government of Assam. Th ...

was set as the replacement. A total of 43 matches are being played across 3 cities —

and

Kokrajhar Kokrajhar () is a town in the Bodoland Territorial Region, an Autonomous administrative divisions of India, autonomous territory in Assam, one of the Northeast India, North Eastern states of India. History Under the Kingdom of Bhutan From the ...

. 23 matches will be played in Kolkata, including the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

, 11 matches in Guwahati, and 9 matches in Kokrajhar.

Trophy tour

Like the preceding season, the Durand Football Tournament Society (DFTS) organized a trophy tour across 15 cities before the beginning of the tournament but with much more grandiosity. The tour was flagged off on 30 June from Manekshaw Centre in

Delhi Cantonment Delhi Cantonment (ISO: ''Dillī Chāvanī''; popularly referred to as Delhi Cantt) is a Class I Cantonment Board established in 1914. The area of the Cantonment is and the population of the Cantonment as per the 2011 census is 110,351. The ...

in the presence of Gen.

Manoj Pande General Manoj Pande (born 6 May 1962) is a retired four star general officer of the Indian Army. He last served as the 29th Chief of the Army Staff. He previously served as 43rd Vice Chief of the Army Staff, prior to that he was General Offi ...

, ACM VR Chaudhari and the

President

Kalyan Chaubey Kalyan Chaubey (born 16 December 1976) is an Indian politician of Bharatiya Janata Party and a former professional football goalkeeper. He is the current president of the All India Football Federation. Football Career Playing career Chaubey gr ...

and toured upon Kartavya Path from

India Gate The India Gate (formerly known as All India War Memorial) is a war memorial located near the Rajpath (officially called Kartavya Path, Kartavya path) on the eastern edge of the "ceremonial axis" of New Delhi, India, New Delhi. It stands as a m ...

Rashtrapati Bhavan The Rashtrapati Bhavan (, ISO: ''Rāṣṭrapati Bhavana''; ; formerly Viceroy's House (1931–1947) and Government House (1947–1950)) is the official residence of the President of the Republic of India at the western end of Rajpath, Rai ...

, later reaching

Indian Military Academy The Indian Military Academy (IMA) is one of the oldest military academies in India, and trains officers for the Indian Army. Located in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, it was established in 1932 following a recommendation by a military committee set up ...

Dehradun Dehradun (), also known as Dehra Doon, is the winter capital and the List of cities in Uttarakhand by population, most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous Dehradun district, d ...

on 2 July. The tour continued to

Udhampur Udhampur (ˌʊd̪ʱəmpur) is a city and a municipal council in Udhampur district in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is the headquarters of Udhampur District. Named after Raja Udham Singh, it serves as the district capit ...

on 4 July, then to

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

on 6 July, where a grand reception was organized by the officers and cadets at

National Defence Academy The National Defence Academy (NDA) is the joint defence service training institute of the Indian Armed Forces. Here, cadets of the Indian Army, Indian Navy, and Indian Air Force train together before they go on to their respective service a ...

. The trophies were received by the Army Officers Institute in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

on 8 July and was publicly showcased at the

Gateway of India The Gateway of India is an arch-monument completed in 1924 on the waterfront of Mumbai (Bombay), India. It was erected to commemorate the landing of George V for his coronation as the Emperor of India in December 1911 at Strand Road near We ...

and the Marine Drive. The tour continued to

Jaipur Jaipur (; , ) is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the List of cities and towns in Rajasthan, largest city of the north-western States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had ...

on 9 July, where public showcasing was done at

Amber Fort Amer Fort or Amber Fort is a fort located in Amer, Rajasthan, India. Amer is a town with an area of located from Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan. Located high on a hill, it is the principal tourist attraction in Jaipur. Amer Fort is known f ...

Hawa Mahal The Hawa Mahal is a palace in the city of Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. Built from red and pink sandstone, it is on the edge of the City Palace, Jaipur, and extends to the '' Zenana'', or women's chambers. Hawa Mahal is known as the “palace of ...

Jal Mahal Jal Mahal (meaning "Water Palace") is a palace in the middle of the Man Sagar Lake in Jaipur city, the capital of the state of Rajasthan, India. The palace was originally constructed around 1699; the building and the lake around it were later ...

Albert Hall Museum The Albert Hall Museum in Jaipur is the oldest museum of the state and functions as the state museum of Rajasthan, India. The building is situated in Ram Niwas Garden, Ram Niwas garden outside the city wall opposite New gate and is a fine examp ...

and Jaipur Vidhan Sabha. The trophies were then unveiled at

Indian Naval Academy The Indian Naval Academy (INA or INA Ezhimala) is the Defense (military), defence service training establishment for officer cadre of the Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard, located in Ezhimala, Kannur district, Kerala. Situated between Ez ...

Ezhimala Ezhimala, a hill reaching a height of , is located near Payyanur, in Kannur district of Kerala, South India. It is a part of a conspicuous and isolated cluster of hills, forming a promontory, north of Kannur (Cannanore). The Indian Naval Acad ...

on 13 July. The tour in

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

continued with the trophies being sailed on

INS Vikrant Two ships operated by the Indian Navy have had the name INS ''Vikrant''. * , a British-built aircraft carrier which was in service from 1961 to 1997, operated as a museum ship A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been p ...

Southern Naval Command The Southern Naval Command is one of the three, command-level formations of the Indian Navy. Southern Naval Command is the largest naval command in India and it has its headquarters in Kochi, Kerala at INS Venduruthy. It is the Training Comman ...

Kochi Kochi ( , ), List of renamed Indian cities and states#Kerala, formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the Ernakulam district, district of Ernakulam in the ...

in the presence of

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

Susheel Menon and IM Viajayan on 15 July. The trophies reached one of the host cities—

on 16 July. They were received by the Sports Minister of

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

Nandita Gorlosa and Lt. Gen.

Rana Pratap Kalita Lieutenant General Rana Pratap Kalita, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, SM, VSM is a former general officer in the Indian Army. He served as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) of the Indian Army's Eastern Command. He previously commanded th ...

. The tour continued to

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

on 18 July, following to

Shillong Shillong (, ) is a hill station and the capital of Meghalaya, a Indian state, state in northeastern India. It is the headquarters of the East Khasi Hills district. Shillong is the list of most populous cities in India, 330th most populous city ...

on 19 July, where the trophies were sailed across

Umiam Lake Umïam Lake, also known as Bara Pani, is a reservoir in the hills north of Shillong in the state of Meghalaya, India. It was created by damming the Umïam River in the early 1960s. The principal catchment area of the lake and dam is spread o ...

and Orchid Lake and then brought to

Kibithu Kibithu, also spelled Kibithoo, is a village in Arunachal Pradesh in Anjaw district, India. It is one of the easternmost permanently populated towns of India, located on the LAC (line of actual control) at . It is nearly 70 km north of d ...

as a part of tribute offering to India's first Chief of Defence Staff— Gen.

Bipin Rawat Bipin Rawat (16 March 1958 – 8 December 2021) was an Indian military officer who was a Four-star rank, four-star General (India), general of the Indian Army. He served as the first Chief of Defence Staff (India), Chief of Defence Staff (CDS ...

at General Bipin Rawat Garrison. The trophies traveled to Hyderabad, visiting the

Air Force Academy An air force academy or air academy is a national institution that provides initial officer training, possibly including undergraduate level education, to air force officer cadets who are preparing to be commissioned officers in a national air forc ...

on 20 July and then on 22 July, the trophies reached another host city—

in the presence of Chaubey, the CEM of the BTC

Pramod Boro Pramod Boro (born 1 March 1975) is an Indian politician serving as the president of the United People's Party Liberal (UPPL) since 2020 and the 2nd and current Chief Executive Member of the Bodoland Territorial Council since 2020 representing Ko ...

and Maj. Gen. Dinesh Hooda. The trophy tour was flagged in on 25 July in

which was commemorated by first ever

BASE jump BASE jumping () is the recreational sport of jumping from fixed objects, using a parachute to descend to the ground. BASE is an acronym that stands for four categories of fixed objects from which one can jump: buildings, antenna (radio), antenna ...

in the city taking place from the top of

The 42 The 42 is a residential skyscraper in Kolkata, in the state of West Bengal, India. It is located on Chowringhee Road, the central business district of the city, between the commercial building of Tata Centre and the residential building of J ...

, led by Lt. Col. Satyandra Verma and Gp. Capt. Kamal Singh Oberh.

Official song

On 10 August 2023, Durand Cup Official theme song and a music video featuring

Vicky Kaushal Vicky Kaushal (; born 16 May 1988) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi films. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a National Film Award and three Filmfare Awards, and has appeared in ''Forbes India'' Celebrity 100 list of ...

were released. The song was titled ''"Bhide"'' in Hindi which was sung by

Arijit Singh Arijit Singh (; born 25 April 1987) is an Indian playback singer. A leading figure in contemporary Hindi film music, he is the recipient of several accolades including two National Film Awards and seven Filmfare Awards. He was conferred the P ...

, and

Divine Divinity (from Latin ) refers to the quality, presence, or nature of that which is divine—a term that, before the rise of monotheism, evoked a broad and dynamic field of sacred power. In the ancient world, divinity was not limited to a singl ...

, composed by

and written by

Amitabh Bhattacharya Amitabh Bhattacharya (born 16 November 1976) is an Indian Bengali lyricist and playback singer who works in Bollywood films. At the beginning of his career back in 2000's, he was working for few musicians as a singer & met Pritam, who gave him ...

Broadcasting

Sony Sports Network The Sony Sports Network, formerly known as the Sony Pictures Sports Network and also known as Sony TEN, is a group of Indian pay television sports channels owned by Culver Max Entertainment. The original TEN Sports channel was first establish ...

have acquired the broadcasting rights of

for three editions, starting from 2023. The 2023 edition will be live streamed on the network's OTT platform

SonyLIV Sony LIV is an Indian subscription video-on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Culver Max Entertainment. Sony LIV was introduced in 2013 as the first OTT service in India. As a streaming service, it provides live sports, origina ...

as well as TV channels Sony Ten 2 and Sony Ten 2 HD.

Group stage

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Group E

Group F

Ranking of second-placed teams

Knockout stage

Qualified teams

In the knockout stage matches (quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final), no extra time would be played and for any draws, matches would be directly decided by a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

Bracket

Quarter-finals

---- ---- ----

Semi-finals

----

Final

Statistics

Top scorers

Hat-tricks

;Notes ⁴ Player scored 4 goals

Clean sheets

Discipline

Player

* Most yellow cards: 2 ** Md. Mizanur Rahman * Most red cards: 1 ** Md. Mizanur Rahaman ** Nishu Kumar ** Liton Shil ** Dettol Moirangthem ** Ngamsanglena Haokip ** Bhabindra Malla Thakuri **

Hormipam Ruivah Hormipam Ruivah (born 25 January 2001) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Indian Super League club Kerala Blasters. Club career Youth and early career Hormipam hails from Somdal Village in the Ukhrul District ...

Anirudh Thapa Anirudh Thapa (born 15 January 1998) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Indian Super League club Mohun Bagan. Club career Early life and youth career Thapa was born in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, where he started ...

Club

* Most yellow cards: 3 ** Bangladesh Army * Most red cards: 2 ** Indian Army

Awards

Prize money

The total pool of prize money for the 2023 edition is .

Man of the Match awards

References

{{2023–24 in Asian football (AFC)

Group Stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

Durand Cup seasons 2023 domestic association football cups