The 2024 Super Cup final was the final match of the 2024 Super Cup, the fourth edition of the

Super Cup A super cup is a competition, in association football, basketball, handball, volleyball and rugby union which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competi ...

. It was played at

Kalinga Stadium The Kalinga Stadium is a Multi-purpose stadium, multi-purpose international sports complex in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India. Its foundation stone was laid by then chief minister of Odisha Biju Patnaik in 1978. It is best known as the home ground ...

Bhubaneswar Bhubaneswar () is the capital and the largest city of the States and territories of India, Indian state of Odisha. It is located in the Khordha district. The suburban region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Chakra ...

on 28 January 2024 between

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 ...

and

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

won the match 3–2 for their ninth national cup title and the first major title in 12 years.

Road to the final

The Super Cup is a new annual Indian

knock-out A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several Contact sports, full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of World Taekwondo Federation#Sparri ...

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 ...

competition that is open to all twelve teams in the

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 ...

and top four teams from the

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 ...

and is run by the

All India Football Federation All India Football Federation (AIFF) is the governing body of football, futsal and beach soccer in India. It is a member of FIFA, and is affiliated with the Asian Football Confederation and South Asian Football Federation. It is affiliated wit ...

. The Indian Super League teams automatically qualified for the competition. The top three teams of the I-League qualified automatically while the fourth spot was decided via a play-off match between

Inter Kashi Inter Kashi Football Club, commonly referred to as Inter Kashi (इंटर काशी), is an Indian professional football club based in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. The club currently competes in the I-League, the second tier league of the In ...

and Rajasthan United.

East Bengal

Before the 2024 Indian Super Cup, East Bengal had reached the final of the Federation Cup and

, India's top domestic cup competitions, 17 times and won the tournament eight times. East Bengal last reached the final in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

but came runner-up to

Bengaluru 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 ...

. East Bengal was grouped in Group A, alongside

sides –

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, ...

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

and an

side Sreenidhi Deccan. East Bengal began their Super Cup campaign on 9 January 2024 and faced Hyderabad in the opening fixture of the tournament and managed a 3–2 victory with

Cleiton Silva Cleiton Augusto Oliveira Silva (born 3 February 1987) is a Brazilian professional footballer who most recently played as a forward for Indian Super League club East Bengal. He is the second-highest all-time goal scorer in the Thai League 1. ...

scoring a brace and

Saúl Crespo Saúl Crespo Prieto (born 23 July 1996), commonly known as Saúl, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Indian Super League club East Bengal. Club career Saúl was born in Sonarpur Ponferrada, Castile and L ...

scoring the third. On 14 January, East Bengal faced Sreenidhi Deccan and won 2–1 with goals from

Hijazi Maher Hijazi Maher Saleh Abu Saeed (; born 20 September 1997) is a Jordanian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Indian Super League club East Bengal and the Jordan national team. He can also operate as left-back. Club career Hija ...

and

Javier Siverio Javier Siverio Toro (born 14 November 1997) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a striker for Indian Super League club Jamshedpur. Club career Siverio was born in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, and joined Las Palmas' yo ...

. On 19 January, East Bengal faced their arch-rivals Mohun Bagan in the

Kolkata Derby The Kolkata Derby (locally known as "Boro Match") is the association football, football match in Kolkata, between Mohun Bagan Super Giant, Mohun Bagan and East Bengal FC, East Bengal. The rivalry between these two teams is over 100 years old, ...

fixture in a virtual quarter-final tie that would decide the group champions and who would progress into the semi-finals and East Bengal won 3–1 with captain Cleiton Silva scoring a brace while

Nandhakumar Sekar Nandhakumar Sekar (born 20 December 1995) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Indian Super League club East Bengal and the India national team. Career Sekar made his professional debut in the I-League with Chennai ...

scoring the other, as East Bengal won all three matches in the group to qualify for the semi-final. On 24 January, East Bengal faced Group B winners

Jamshedpur Jamshedpur (; ), also known as Tatanagar, is a major industrial city in eastern India. It is the List of cities in Jharkhand by population, largest city in the state of Jharkhand. With a population of 629,658 in the city limits and 1.3 million ...

in the semi-finals and won 2–0 with goals from Hijazi Maher and Javier Siverio as they entered the final for the second time, after 2018.

Odisha

Odisha started the campaign as the defending champions of the

having won it the previous year in

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

. They were grouped in Group D, alongside

sides –

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

and

side

. Odisha started their campaign on 12 January 2024 against Indian Super League side Bengaluru and won 1–1 courtesy of a solitary strike from

Ahmed Jahouh Ahmed Jahouh (; born 31 July 1988) is a Moroccan professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder. Club career Earlier career Born in Al Aaroui, Jahouh started his career with Ittihad Khemisset. In 2010, he joined Moghreb Tétouan ...

. On 17 January, Odisha faced Inter Kashi and won 3–0 with goals from Lalthathanga Khawlhring,

Diego Mauricio Diego is a Spanish masculine given name. The Portuguese equivalent is Diogo. The etymology of Diego is disputed, with two major origin hypotheses: ''Tiago'' and ''Didacus''. The name also has several patronymic derivations, listed below. ...

, and

Isak Vanlalruatfela Isak Vanlalruatfela (born 19 May 2001) is an Indian professional footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American fo ...

. On 22 January, Odisha faced Goa in the last match of the group stage and won 3–2 with goals from Ahmed Jahou and Mourtada Fall scoring a brace. In the semi-final, Odisha faced Mumbai City on 25 January and won 1–1 courtesy of a penalty goal by Diego Mauricio as Odisha entered their second consecutive final in the Super Cup.

Pre-match

Venue

On 18 December 2023, it was announced by 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 ...

that the

would host the entire Super Cup. This would be the third time that Kalinga Stadium would be hosting the Super Cup after 2018 and 2019.

Analysis

Coming into this match, both sides looked at it as a chance to qualify for the 2024–25 AFC Champions League Two preliminary stage.

were the defending champions of the tournament, this time playing at their home ground

, hoping to defend the title. Their coach

Sergio Lobera Sergio Lobera Rodríguez (born 16 January 1977) is a Spanish professional football manager who is currently the head coach of Indian Super League club Odisha. Managerial career Lobera was born in Zaragoza, Aragon. After impressing with Dosa Sal ...

had already won the trophy in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

with

. He stated before the match, "We have a big game in front of us. We have the responsibility to keep the trophy here. We are excited about this opportunity and the most important thing is to enjoy this final. It's a big game for everyone - the players, coaches, staff and supporters,".

were looking to break their twelve-year wait for a major domestic trophy having last won the 2012 Federation Cup at

Siliguri Siliguri (, ; ), also known as Shiliguri, is a major Tier ii cities in india, tier-II city in West Bengal. It forms the twin cities, Twin Cities with the neighbouring city of Jalpaiguri. The city spans areas of the Darjeeling district, Darjeel ...

defeating

Dempo Dempo Mining Corporation Limited is a prominent mining company from the western Indian state of Goa. The mineral business was founded by Vasantrao S. Dempo in 1941, along with his younger brother Vaikuntrao Dempo. Vasantrao was the founding c ...

in the final. East Bengal had already reached the

2023 Durand Cup The 2023 Durand Cup (also known as IndianOil Durand Cup due to sponsorship ties with the Indian Oil Corporation) was the 132nd edition of Durand Cup, the oldest association football, football tournament in Asia, and the second edition since it ...

final in the season and finished runner-up. Coach

Carles Cuadrat Carles Cuadrat Xiqués (born 28 October 1968) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player who is the interim head coach of the Philippines national team. Cuadrat was a defender, who played as a left-back and spent most of hi ...

said before the match, "We are feeling very good. We have been fighting for results for a long time. It's very important for us to be in another final. We couldn't win the first one (Durand Cup), so we'll try our best to get the result in this one,".

Match

Summary

The defending champions

started at a frantic pace at their home ground

with

coming close twice to take the lead and Odisha eventually scored the first goal of the match in the thirty-ninth minute when Diego Mauricio pounced on a loose ball inside the box to finish it and make it 1–0 before half time. East Bengal made two changes as they came out in the second half with

Naorem Mahesh Singh Naorem Mahesh Singh (born 3 March 1999) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Indian Super League club East Bengal FC and the India national team. Club career Early career Born in Manipur, Singh began his career in ...

and Lalchungnunga coming on for

and Mandar Rao Dessai respectively and they made an instant impact as Mahesh got passed two Odisha players to play a perfect through ball for

as the later dribbled past the Odisha goalkeeper to equalize the game in the fifty-first minute. Just ten minutes later, East Bengal was awarded a penalty when Mourtada Fall tripped

Borja Herrera Borja Herrera González (born 8 January 1993) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Indian Super League club Goa. Club career Born in Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Herrera finished his formation with AD Huracán. He ...

inside the box and

made it 2–1 from the spot. Just seven minutes later, Odisha found themselves a man down as Mourtada Fall received a second yellow for an elbow on Borja Herrera. East Bengal had a few more chances to finish the game but Odisha earned themselves a penalty at the very last second of the match in the injury time and

equalized for Odisha to take the game into extra time. In the first half of the extra time, Souvik Chakrabarti came close to getting the lead back for East Bengal as his close effort struck the bar but minutes later Souvik received his second yellow for time wasting and both teams went down to ten men. In the hundred-eleventh minute, East Bengal scored the winner as captain Cleiton Silva pounced on

Narender Gahlot Narender Gahlot (born 24 April 2001) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Indian Super League club Odisha. Club career Indian Arrows He made his professional debut playing for the Indian Arrows in 2018–19 I-League. ...

to snatch the ball inside the box and finish it to make it 3–2 as East Bengal managed to hold onto the lead and become the champions of the

2024 Indian Super Cup The 2024 Super Cup (also known as the 2024 Kalinga Super Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the fourth edition of the Super Cup and the 42nd season of the national knockout football competition in India. Odisha were the defending champions, havin ...

Details

Post match

East Bengal captain

ended the tournament as the highest goalscorer of the campaign while defender

was awarded the 'Best Defender of the Tournament' award. Odisha goalkeeper

Lalthuammawia Ralte Lalthuammawia Ralte (orn 28 November 1992), known as Mawia, is an Indian footballer who plays as a goalkeeper. Career Shillong Lajong In the summer of 2011 Ralte signed with newly promoted club Shillong Lajong to play in the I-League. He then ...

was awarded the 'Best Goalkeeper of the Tournament',

as the 'Best Midfielder of the Tournament', while

was awarded as the 'Player of the Tournament'. The champion team was welcomed by the ever longing East Bengal fans at the

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport () is an international airport serving the city of Kolkata and the Kolkata metropolitan area, the capital metropolis of the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the primary aviation hub for eas ...

, Kolkata by an estimated 5,000+ crowd with pyros, smokes, and red and gold colors. The team was escorted from the airport to the club premises where thousands more joined in to celebrate the triumph. East Bengal also earned a spot in the

2024–25 AFC Champions League Two The 2024–25 AFC Champions League Two was the 21st edition of the Asia's second-tier club football tournament, organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and first since it was rebranded as the AFC Champions League Two. This was the fi ...

Preliminary stage and thus returned to the continental stage after a gap of nine years since their last participation in the

2015 AFC Cup The 2015 AFC Cup was the 12th edition of the AFC Cup, Asia's secondary club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Johor Darul Ta'zim from Malaysia won the tournament after defeating Istiklol from Tajikistan in ...

References

External links

Super Cup Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Indian Super Cup final 2024 Super Cup (India) finals 2023–24 in Indian football