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 football tournament in Asia, and the second edition since it was supported by the Asian Football Confederation. The tournament is hosted by the Durand Football Tournament Society in co-operation with the AIFF, Eastern Command of the Indian Armed Forces and the Government of West Bengal, supported by the Government of Assam.
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 have been mandated to participate, along with invited clubs from I-League, I-League 2 and regional league, and teams representing armed forces.
Bengaluru FC were the defending champions, having defeated Mumbai City FC in the 2022 final. The 2023 IndianOil Durand Cup final saw the Kolkata club Mohun Bagan win their 17th Durand Cup title by defeating their arch-rivals East Bengal 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 teams, from India, Nepal, and Bangladesh 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.
TeamHead coachCaptainLocation Indian Super League teamsBengaluru Bibiano Fernandes Parag ShrivasBengaluru, KarnatakaEast Bengal Carles Cuadrat Harmanjot Singh KhabraKolkata, West BengalChennaiyin Owen Coyle Jordan MurrayChennai, Tamil NaduGoa Manolo Márquez Brandon FernandesMargao, GoaHyderabad Thangboi Singto Chinglensana SinghHyderabad, TelanganaJamshedpur Steven Dias Sk SahilJamshedpur, JharkhandKerala Blasters Frank Dauwen Adrián LunaKochi, KeralaMohun Bagan Juan Ferrando Subhasish BoseKolkata, West BengalMumbai City Des Buckingham Rahul BhekeMumbai, MaharashtraNorthEast United Juan Pedro Benali Gaurav BoraGuwahati, AssamOdisha Amit Rana Rakesh OramBhubaneswar, OdishaPunjab Staikos Vergetis Luka MajcenLudhiana, Punjab I-League teamsDelhi Anish Krishna Shetty Bali GagandeepNew Delhi, DelhiGokulam Kerala Domingo Oramas Álex SánchezKozhikode, KeralaMohammedan Mehrajuddin Wadoo Samad Ali MallickKolkata, West Bengal Rajasthan United Pushpender Kundu Hardik BhattJaipur, RajasthanShillong Lajong Bobby Nongbet Hardy NongbriShillong, Meghalaya State leagues team Downtown Heroes Hilal Rasool Parray Shahid NazirSrinagar, Jammu & KashmirBodoland Daimalu Basumatary Didwm HazowaryKokrajhar, Assam Indian Armed Forces teamsIndian Air Force Priya Darshan Mandeep S SinghNew Delhi, DelhiIndian Army L Antony Ramesh Bhabindra Malla ThakuriIndian Navy Abhilash Vasantha VK Vishnu Foreign armed forces teamsBangladesh Army Abdur Razzaque Md. Samimul HaqueDhaka, BangladeshTribhuvan Army Megh Raj KC Bharat KhawasKathmandu, Nepal
Venues Initially, Imphal was drafted as a host city. However, due to the 2023 Manipur unrest, Guwahati was set as the replacement. A total of 43 matches are being played across 3 cities — Kolkata, Guwahati and Kokrajhar. 23 matches will be played in Kolkata, including the final, 11 matches in Guwahati, and 9 matches in Kokrajhar.
KolkataGuwahatiVivekananda Yuba Bharati KriranganKishore Bharati KriranganIndira Gandhi Athletic StadiumCapacity: 68,000Capacity: 12,000Capacity: 30,000 KolkataKokrajharMohun Bagan GroundEast Bengal GroundSAI StadiumCapacity: 22,000Capacity: 23,500Capacity: 10,000
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 in the presence of Gen. Manoj Pande, ACM VR Chaudhari and the AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey and toured upon Kartavya Path from India Gate to Rashtrapati Bhavan, later reaching Indian Military Academy in Dehradun on 2 July. The tour continued to Udhampur on 4 July, then to Pune on 6 July, where a grand reception was organized by the officers and cadets at National Defence Academy.
The trophies were received by the Army Officers Institute in Mumbai on 8 July and was publicly showcased at the Gateway of India and the Marine Drive. The tour continued to Jaipur on 9 July, where public showcasing was done at Amber Fort, Hawa Mahal, Jal Mahal, Albert Hall Museum and Jaipur Vidhan Sabha. The trophies were then unveiled at Indian Naval Academy in Ezhimala on 13 July. The tour in Kerala continued with the trophies being sailed on INS Vikrant at Southern Naval Command, Kochi in the presence of Rear Admiral Susheel Menon and IM Viajayan on 15 July. The trophies reached one of the host cities—Guwahati on 16 July. They were received by the Sports Minister of Assam Nandita Gorlosa and Lt. Gen. Rana Pratap Kalita.
The tour continued to Bangalore on 18 July, following to Shillong on 19 July, where the trophies were sailed across Umiam Lake and Orchid Lake and then brought to Kibithu as a part of tribute offering to India's first Chief of Defence Staff—Gen. Bipin Rawat at General Bipin Rawat Garrison. The trophies traveled to Hyderabad, visiting the Air Force Academy on 20 July and then on 22 July, the trophies reached another host city—Kokrajhar in the presence of Chaubey, the CEM of the BTC Pramod Boro and Maj. Gen. Dinesh Hooda. The trophy tour was flagged in on 25 July in Kolkata which was commemorated by first ever BASE jump in the city taking place from the top of The 42, 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 were released. The song was titled "Bhide" in Hindi which was sung by Arijit Singh, and Divine, composed by Arijit Singh and written by Amitabh Bhattacharya & Divine.
Broadcasting Sony Sports Network have acquired the broadcasting rights of Durand Cup for three editions, starting from 2023. The 2023 edition will be live streamed on the network's OTT platform SonyLIV 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 Group Winners A East Bengal B Mumbai City C Gokulam Kerala D Goa E Chennaiyin F Indian Army
Group Best second-placed teams D NorthEast United A Mohun Bagan
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.
Bracket
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
Statistics
Top scorers + KeyGolden Boot Winner
RankPlayerClubGoals 1 David Lalhlansanga Mohammedan 6 Noah Sadaoui Goa 3 Jorge Pereyra Díaz Mumbai City 5 4 Parthib Gogoi NorthEast United 4 5 Lalremsanga Fanai Mohammedan 3 Bidyashagar Singh Kerala Blasters Aaren D'Silva Hyderabad Carlos Martínez Goa 9 Rowllin Borges Goa 2 Sreekuttan VS Gokulam Kerala Ronney Kharbudon Shillong Lajong Javier Siverio East Bengal Aminou Bouba Gokulam Kerala Rafael Crivellaro Chennaiyin Romain Philippoteaux NorthEast United Victor Rodriguez Goa Justine Emmanuel Kerala Blasters Mohammed Aimen Kerala Blasters Jason Cummings Mohun Bagan Nandha Kumar Sekar East Bengal Phalguni Singh NorthEast United Manvir Singh Mohun Bagan
Hat-tricks Player For Against Result Date Ref Parthib Gogoi NorthEast United Shillong Lajong 4–0 4 August 2023 Noah Sadaoui Goa Shillong Lajong 6–0 8 August 2023 David Lalhlansanga4 Mohammedan Jamshedpur 6–0 20 August 2023 Bidyashagar Singh Kerala Blasters Indian Air Force 5–0 21 August 2023 Aaren D'Silva Hyderabad Tribhuvan Army 3–0 22 August 2023
Notes 4 Player scored 4 goals
Clean sheets + KeyGolden Glove Winner
RankPlayerClubClean sheets 1 Vishal Kaith Mohun Bagan 2 Sayad Bin Abdul Kadir Indian Army Bhabindra Malla Thakuri Indian Army Prabhsukhan Singh Gill East Bengal Phurba Lachenpa Mumbai City Sachin Jha Rajasthan United Mirshad Michu NorthEast United 8 Arsh Anwer Shaikh Mohun Bagan 1 Arshdeep Singh Goa Zothanmawia Gokulam Kerala Ravi Kumar Punjab Ashraful Islam Rana Bangladesh Army Debjit Majumder Chennaiyin Hrithik Tiwari Goa Lalbiakhlua Jongte Mohammedan Sachin Suresh Kerala Blasters Sahil Poonia Bengaluru Gurmeet Singh Hyderabad Ayush Jena Jamshedpur Mohammad Nawaz Mumbai City Md Alamgir Hossen Bangladesh Army Ngamsanglena Haokip Shilong Lajong Niraj Kumar Odisha Mohit Singh Dhami Jamshedpur
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 Anirudh Thapa
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 .
PrizeRecipientAmountChampionsMohun BaganRunner-upEast BengalGolden gloveVishal KaithGolden bootDavid LalhlansangaGolden ballNandhakumar Sekar
Man of the Match awards MatchMan of the MatchMatchMan of the MatchMatchMan of the MatchPlayerClubPlayerClubPlayerClubMatch 1 Liston ColacoMohun BaganMatch 16 Ashangbam Aphaoba SinghOdishaMatch 31 Romain PhilippoteauxNorthEast UnitedMatch 2 Parthib GogoiNorthEast UnitedMatch 17 Seriton FernandesGoaMatch 32 David LalhlansangaMohammedanMatch 3 William PauliankhumRajasthan United Match 18 Nandhakumar SekarEast BengalMatch 33 Bidyashagar SinghKerala BlastersMatch 4 Alberto NogueraMumbai CityMatch 19 Nili PerdomoGokulam KeralaMatch 34 Sairuat KimaRajasthan UnitedMatch 5 RamhlunchhungaHyderabadMatch 20 Ronney KharbudonShillong LajongMatch 35 Aaren D'SilvaHyderabadMatch 6 Harmanjot Singh KhabraEast BengalMatch 21 Rafael CrivellaroChennaiyinMatch 36 Robin YadavBengaluruMatch 7 Bhabindra Malla ThakuriIndian ArmyMatch 22 Vivek KumarIndian Air ForceMatch 37Match 8 Hugo BoumousMohun BaganMatch 23 Carlos MartínezGoaMatch 38Match 9 Noah SadaouiGoaMatch 24 Nandhakumar SekarEast BengalMatch 39Match 10 Lalengmawia RalteMumbai CityMatch 25 Ashley Alban KoliJamshedpurMatch 40Match 11 Girik KhoslaDelhiMatch 26 Suresh MeiteiIndian ArmyMatch 41Match 12 Shibinraj KunniyilIndian Air ForceMatch 27 Vanlalhriatzuala KDelhiMatch 42Match 13 Connor ShieldsChennaiyinMatch 28 Bekey OramBengaluruMatch 43Match 14 Ashraful Islam Rana Bangladesh ArmyMatch 29 Bipin SinghMumbai CityMatch 15 Alexis GómezMohammedanMatch 30 Zacharie MbendaBodoland
See also Men 2023–24 Indian Super League (Tier I) 2023–24 I-League (Tier II) 2023–24 I-League 2 (Tier III) 2023–24 I-League 3 (Tier IV) 2023–24 Indian State Leagues (Tier V) 2024 Super Cup 2024 Reliance Foundation Development League Women 2023–24 Indian Women's League 2023–24 Indian Women's League 2
References