The 2018 AIFF Super Cup, officially known as the 2018 Hero Super Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the inaugural edition of the Super Cup and the 39th season of the national knockout football competition in India. The competition was sponsored by Hero MotoCorp. The Super Cup replaced the Federation Cup as the national knockout competition. The competition began with the qualifiers on 15 March 2018 and concluded with the final on 20 April 2018. The entire tournament took place in the Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar.
The competition featured teams from both the I-League and the Indian Super League. Both leagues contain 10 teams each; the top six teams from both qualified for the tournament automatically, while the bottom four sides contested in the qualifiers.
Bengaluru won the title by defeating East Bengal in the final.
Teams A total of 16 teams are participating in the competition proper. The top six teams from both the I-League and Indian Super League qualified for the Super Cup automatically while the bottom four sides have participated in the qualifiers.
Qualification round(8 teams) Main competition(12 teams)I-League Gokulam Kerala Chennai City Churchill Brothers Indian Arrows
Indian Super League Mumbai City Delhi Dynamos ATK NorthEast UnitedI-League Minerva Punjab NEROCA Mohun Bagan East Bengal Aizawl Shillong Lajong
Indian Super League Bengaluru Chennaiyin Goa Pune City Jamshedpur Kerala Blasters
Schedule On 12 March 2018, the All India Football Federation announced the schedule and full format of the tournament. Due to the participation of Aizawl and Bengaluru in the AFC Cup, the schedule for the quarter-finals shall be decided at a later date. PhaseRoundMatch datesQualification round15–16 March 2018Main tournamentRound of 1631 March – 6 April 2018Quarter-finals8–13 April 2018Semi-finals16–17 April 2018Final20 April 2018
Bracket
Qualification round After the conclusion of the I-League and Indian Super League seasons, the All India Football Federation announced the draw for the qualification round of the Super Cup.
Round of 16 The All India Football Federation announced the draw for the round of 16 of the competition on 12 March 2018.
Quarter-finals The dates for the quarter-final matches were scheduled to be announced at a later date to accommodate AFC Cup commitments of Aizawl and Bengaluru. After Aizawl and Bengaluru advanced to the quarter-finals, the following fixtures were confirmed for the quarter-finals. During the game between Jamshedpur FC and FC Goa, six players (three each from both the teams) were sent off at the half-time for violent conduct. In the games against NEROCA F.C., Sunil Chhetri scored the first hat-trick of the tournament.
Semi-finals The semi-finals were played on 16 April and 17 April 2018 at the Kalinga Stadium.
Final
The final was played on 20 April 2018 at the Kalinga Stadium and Bengaluru won the inaugural Super Cup by defeating East Bengal in the final.
Goalscorers 6 goals Sunil Chhetri (Bengaluru)
5 goals Miku (Bengaluru)
4 goals Aser Pierrick Dipanda (Mohun Bagan)
3 goals Hugo Boumous (Goa)
2 goals
Andrei Ionescu (Aizawl) Abdoulaye Koffi (Shillong Lajong) Coro (Goa) Brandon Fernandes (Goa)
1 goal
Robbie Keane (ATK) Udanta Singh (Bengaluru) Rahul Bheke (Bengaluru) Maílson Alves (Chennaiyin) Dhanachandra Singh (Chennaiyin) Willis Plaza (Churchill Brothers) Katsumi Yusa (East Bengal) Mahmoud Amnah (East Bengal) Dudu Omagbemi (East Bengal) Laldanmawia Ralte (East Bengal) Ansumana Kromah (East Bengal) Manvir Singh (Goa) Henry Kisekka (Gokulam Kerala) Ashim Biswas (Jamshedpur) Pulga (Kerala Blasters) Prasanth Karuthadathkuni (Kerala Blasters) Sheikh Faiaz (Mohun Bagan) Nikhil Kadam (Mohun Bagan) Akram Moghrabi (Mohun Bagan) Achille Emaná (Mumbai City) Jean-Michel Joachim (NEROCA) Aryn Williams (NEROCA) Felix Chidi Odili (NEROCA) Pritam Singh (NEROCA) Jonatan Lucca (Pune City) Marcelinho (Pune City) Rakesh Pradhan (Shillong Lajong) Samuel Lalmuanpuia (Shillong Lajong)
See also 2017–18 I-League 2017–18 Indian Super League
References
Notes
External links Official website Super Cup on All India Football Federation website .