The 2025 IFA Shield was the 125th edition of the IFA Shield hosted by the Indian Football Association. The tournament was planned to held in March 2025 but was pushed to October due to clash of fixtures from I-League and Indian Super League.
The tournament will feature domestic teams from the Indian Super League and I-League. At first, international invitees like Paro FC (Bhutan) were invited but later the plan was withdrawn.
Defending champions Real Kashmir were also invited to take part, but they denied. On 3 October, 6 participants were confirmed by IFA.
Teams Here is the list of confirmed teams:
ClubLocation Indian Super League teamsEast BengalKolkata, West BengalMohun BaganI-League teams Gokulam KeralaKozhikode, KeralaNamdhariSri Bhaini Sahib, PunjabSreenidi DeccanHyderabad, TelanganaI-League 2 team United SCKalyani, West Bengal
Venues Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan, Salt Lake City Kishore Bharati Krirangan, Santoshpur Kalyani Stadium, Kalyani
Format 6 teams will be divided into two groups of 3 teams. After a group stage consisting of single round-robin matches, top teams from each group will qualify for final. Rules Each team can register 6 foreign players. 4 foreign players can play on the field at a time, and 2 can be used as substitutes.
Tiebreakers Teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tie-breaking criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings. Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams; Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams; Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams; If more than two teams are tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams; Goal difference in all group matches; Goals scored in all group matches; Disciplinary points (yellow card = 1 point, red card as a result of two yellow cards = 3 points, direct red card = 3 points, yellow card followed by direct red card = 4 points); Drawing of lots.
Group stage Group A
Group B
Final The group toppers will qualify for the final directly. The match is going to be held on 18 October 2025 at Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan. Match
GK 1 Vishal KaithDF 15 Subhasish BoseDF 5 Tom AldredDF 55 Mehtab Singh MF 17 Liston Colaco DF 21 MF 45 ApuiaMF 11 Manvir Singh MF 6 Anirudh Thapa FW 35 FW 29 Jamie MaclarenSubstitutes:DF 27 Abhishek SinghDF 32 Dippendu Biswas DF 44 Asish Rai MF 10 Robson Robinho MF 22 Deepak Tangri MF 9 Dimitri Petratos MF 11 Manvir Singh GK 24 Zahid Hussain MF 16 FW 72 Suhail Bhat Head coach: Jose Francisco Molina GK 13 Prabhsukhan GillDF 5 Lalchungnunga DF 4 Anwar AliDF 12 Mohammad Rakip DF 6 Kevin Sibille MF 74MF 21 Saúl Crespo FW 15 Naorem Mahesh FW 17 Hamid Ahadad FW 29 Bipin Singh FW 10 Edmund LalrindikaSubstitutes:GK 24 Debjit MajumderMF 23 Souvik ChakrabartiMF 25 Jeakson Singh DF 16 Martand Raina MF 8 Miguel FigueiraFW 9 Hiroshi IbusukiFW 82 PV Vishnu FW 14 Lalhlansanga DF 27 Jay GuptaFW 84 Sayan Banerjee Head coach: Oscar Bruzon
Player of the Match Naorem Mahesh(East Bengal)Match rules 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra time if necessary. Penalty shoot-out if scores still level. Ten named substitutes. Maximum of five substitutions.
Statistics Goalscorers
RankPlayerClubGoals1 Hamid AhadadEast Bengal2 Jamie MaclarenMohun Bagan2 Jay GuptaEast Bengal1 Jeakson Singh Mohammed Rashid PV Vishnu Saúl Crespo Alberto RodríguezMohun Bagan Apuia Dimi Petratos Jason Cummings Robson Robinho Bhupinder Singh Namdhari Guilherme Gomes Lamine Moro Amit BasakUnited SCOwn Goal(s)2Total18
Clean sheets
+RankPlayerClubClean Sheets1 Debjit MajumderEast Bengal1 Niraj Kumar SinghNamdhariEast Bengal Suraj AliUnited SC Syed Zahid Hussain
Prize money PlacePrize money (₹)Champions ₹5 lakh Runners-up ₹3 lakh
Broadcasting All matches were broadcast on a virtual platform of Shrachi Sports Entertainment Network (SSEN) app. No television broadcasting was done.
See also 2025 CFL Premier Division 2025 Bengal Super League 2025–26 AIFF Super Cup
Notes
References