2018 Intercontinental Cup (India)
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The 2018 Intercontinental Cup (known as the 2018 Hero Intercontinental Cup for sponsorship reasons[1]) was a 4-nations football tournament held at the Mumbai Football Arena in the Indian city of Mumbai between 1 and 10 June 2018. The tournament was organized by the AIFF as part of the senior men's team's preparation for 2019 AFC Asian Cup.[2] The tournament succeeded the Nehru Cup and developed post the Tri-Nation Series, where the then India head coach Stephen Constantine revealed that the intention was to hold a four-team tournament with India competing against teams from the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia.[3] India won the tournament by defeating Kenya 2–0 in the final on 10 June 2018.
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country | India |
| City | Mumbai |
| Dates | 1–10 June 2018 |
| Teams | 4 (from 3 confederations) |
| Venue(s) | 1 (in 1 host city) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | India (1st title) |
| Runners-up | Kenya |
| Third place | New Zealand |
| Fourth place | Chinese Taipei |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 7 |
| Goals scored | 21 (3 per match) |
| Attendance | 27,399 (3,914 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Sunil Chhetri (8 goals) |
| Best player(s) | Sunil Chhetri |
2019 → | |
Participating nations
The FIFA Rankings, as of 1 June 2018:
South Africa
India (97) - first appearance - host
Kenya (112) - first appearance
New Zealand (120) - first appearance
Chinese Taipei (121) - first appearance
Initially, South Africa was announced to participate in the tournament but Kenya later replaced them when South Africa expressed its inability to participate.[4] The other two nations participated in the tournament were Chinese Taipei from AFC region and New Zealand from the OFC region.[2]
Group stage
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  India (H) |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 2 | +7 | 6 | Advance to the Final |
| 2 |  Kenya |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 6 | |
| 3 |  New Zealand |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 6 | |
| 4 |  Chinese Taipei |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 | −10 | 0 |
Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) head-to-head match result
(H) Hosts
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) head-to-head match result
(H) Hosts
Final
Winners
| 2018 Intercontinental Cup champion |
|---|
 India First title |
Crowd attendance
After a poor attendance of 2,569 for the first match of the tournament, Indian captain Sunil Chhetri uploaded a video[7] on his Twitter and Instagram accounts pleading for Indians to attend Indian football matches.[8] Chhetri's plea was endorsed by other sports people, including Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli, cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, and tennis player Sania Mirza.[9] People responded to the plea by booking tickets for India's upcoming game against Kenya, and the game was sold out before the match day.[10] The match was Chhetri's 100th cap for India in which he scored a brace, leading India to win 3–0. The tweet was the most retweeted tweet in 2018, per Twitter India and was awarded The Golden Tweet.[11]
Broadcasting rights
Star Sports did broadcast for the 2018 Intercontinental Cup (India) on Star Sports HD2 & Star Sports 2. It was also streamed live on Hotstar and Jio TV.[12]
Goalscorers
- 8 goals
- 2 goals
- 1 goal
See also
References
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