The 2018 Hero Super Cup was the inaugural edition of the

Super Cup A super cup is a competition, usually but not exclusively in association football, which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competitions during the prev ...

and 39th season of the main club

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

competition in India. The competition is sponsored by

Hero MotoCorp Hero MotoCorp Limited (formerly Hero Honda) is an Indian multinational motorcycle and scooter manufacturer headquartered in New Delhi. The company is one of the largest two-wheeler manufacturers in the world, as well as in India, where it has ...

and is officially known as the Hero Super Cup. 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 The Kalinga Stadium is a multi-purpose International stadium in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India. Its foundation stone was laid by former chief minister of Odisha Late Biju Patnaik in 1978. It is the home ground of the I League Club Indian Arrows si ...

Bhubaneswar Bhubaneswar (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. The region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Ekamra Kshetra'' (area (''kshetra'') adorned with mango trees (''ekamra'')). Bhubaneswar is ...

. The competition features teams from both the

I-League The I-League (known as Hero I-League for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp) is the second-tier men's professional football competition of the Indian football league system. It is currently contested by 12 clubs across the country with the w ...

and

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federat ...

. Both leagues containing 10 teams each, the top six teams from both qualified for the tournament automatically while the bottom four sides contested in the qualifiers. The Super Cup replaces the

Federation Cup Federation Cup or Fed Cup is the former name of the premier world team competition in women's tennis. Federation Cup may also refer to: * Capital Football Federation Cup, an Australian territory-based association football tournament *Federation Cup ...

, which was considered the top knockout competition before this tournament.

Teams

A total of 16 teams are participating in the competition proper. The top six teams from both the

and

qualified for the Super Cup automatically while the bottom four sides have participated in the qualifiers.

Round dates

On 12 March 2018, the

All India Football Federation The All India Football Federation (AIFF) is the national governing body of football in India. It is a member of FIFA, the international governing body of football and affiliated to Asian Football Confederation. It is affiliated to Ministry o ...

announced the schedule and full format of the tournament. Due to the participation of

Aizawl Aizawl (; Mizo: ) is the capital of the state of Mizoram in India. Aizawl was officially established on 25 February 1890. With a population of 293,416, it is the largest city in the state. It is also the centre of administration containing all ...

and

Bengaluru Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

in the

AFC Cup The AFC Cup is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Under its current rules, the competition is played primarily between clubs from nations that did not receive direct qualifying s ...

, the schedule for the quarter-finals shall be decided at a later date.

Bracket

Qualification round

After the conclusion of the

and

seasons, the

announced the draw for the qualification round of the Super Cup. ---- ---- ----

Round of 16

The

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

commitments of

and

. After

and

advanced to the quarter-finals, the following fixtures were confirmed for the quarter-finals. During the game between

Jamshedpur FC Jamshedpur Football Club (, ) is an Indian professional football club based in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian Football. Founded in 2017, the club debuted in Indian Super League during t ...

and

FC Goa Football Club Goa is an Indian professional football club based in Goa, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was established on 26 August 2014. Nicknamed as '' Gaurs'', the club plays their ho ...

, six players (three each from both the teams) were

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

at the half-time for violent conduct. In the games against

NEROCA F.C. NEROCA FC is an Indian professional football club based in Imphal, Manipur, that competes in the I-League. The club made its I-League 2nd Division debut in the 2015–16 season. The club won the 2016–17 I-League 2nd Division and secured pro ...

Sunil Chhetri Sunil Chhetri (born 3 August 1984) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains both Indian Super League club Bengaluru and the India national team. Widely regarded as the greatest Indian footballer of all time, h ...

scored the first hat-trick of the tournament. ---- ---- ----

Semi-finals

The semi-finals were played on 16 April and 17 April 2018 at the

. ----

Final

The final was played on 20 April 2018 at the

and Bengaluru won the inaugural Super Cup by defeating East Bengal in the final.

Goalscorers

;6 goals *

(

) ;5 goals * Miku (

) ;4 goals * Aser Pierrick Dipanda (

Mohun Bagan Mohun Bagan Athletic Club is an Indian professional sports club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, its football section is one of the oldest in India and Asia. The club is most notable for its victory over East Yorkshire Regiment ...

) ;3 goals *

Hugo Boumous Adnan Hugo Boumous (born 24 July 1995) is a French-Moroccan professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Indian Super League club Mohun Bagan SG. He is known for his playmaking ability and link-up play. He had won golden ...

(

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 located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

) ;2 goals * Andrei Ionescu (

) *

Abdoulaye Koffi Abdoulaye Koffi (born 30 December 1991) is an Ivorian footballer who plays for Al-Hudood SC in the Iraqi Premier League. Personal life Abdoulaye's elder brother, Mohamed Koffi is a former Burkinabé international footballer who plies his trade ...

(

Shillong Lajong Shillong Lajong FC (founded as Lajong SC) is an Indian professional football club based in Shillong, Meghalaya, that competes in the Shillong Premier League. The club was established in 1983 with the prime objective of improving the declining st ...

) *

Coro Coro or CORO may refer to: Entertainment * ''Coro'' (Berio), a composition by Luciano Berio * Coro (music), Italian for choir * Coro TV, Venezuelan community television channel * Omweso (Coro), mancala game played in the Lango region of Uganda * ...

(

) *

Brandon Fernandes Brandon Fernandes (born 20 September 1994) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Indian Super League club Goa, which he captains, and the India national team. Club career Early career Born in Margao, Go ...

(

) ;1 goal *

Robbie Keane Robert David Keane (born 8 July 1980) is an Irish professional Association football, football coach and former Football player, player who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. Keane served as Captain (association football ...

( ATK) *

Udanta Singh Udanta Singh Kumam (born 14 June 1996), is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Indian Super League club Bengaluru and the India national team. Club career Early career Born in Manipur, Singh started his youth career ...

(

) *

Rahul Bheke Rahul is a popular male name in India and has a variety of meanings. The earliest meaning found in the Upanishads is "conqueror of all miseries." Later use of the word is attributed to the Buddha, who named his son ''Rahula'' as he felt that fam ...

(

) * Maílson Alves (

Chennaiyin Chennaiyin Football Club is an Indian professional Association football, football club based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The club competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Football in India, Indian football. The club was founded in Au ...

) *

Dhanachandra Singh Leihaorungbam Dhanachandra Singh is an Indian footballer who plays as left back. International Dhanachandra made his national team debut on 11 June 2015 against Oman in a Group D game of the 2018 World Cup qualifier, playing as centre back a ...

(

) * Willis Plaza (

Churchill Brothers Churchill Brothers FC Goa, or simply known as Churchill Brothers, is an Indian professional football club based in Margao, Goa, that competes in the I-League, alongside Goa Professional League. Founded in 1988 in Margao, the club usually part ...

) *

Katsumi Yusa is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Fukushima United. Career Sanfrecce Hiroshima Yusa debuted for Sanfrecce Hiroshima in a 2-2 home draw against Gamba Osaka in the 2007 J1 League on 1 December. Yusa also ma ...

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