2018 Intercontinental Cup (India)

The 2018 Intercontinental Cup (known as the 2018 Hero Intercontinental Cup for sponsorship reasons[1]) was a 4-team association 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] India won the tournament by defeating Kenya 2–0 in the final on 10 June 2018.

2018 Hero Intercontinental Cup
Tournament details
Host countryIndia
CityMumbai
Dates1–10 June 2018
Teams4 (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 played7
Goals scored21 (3 per match)
Top scorer(s) Sunil Chhetri (8 goals)
Best player(s) Sunil Chhetri

Participating nations

The FIFA Rankings, as of 1 June 2018:

Initially, South Africa was announced to participate in the tournament but Kenya later replaced them when South Africa expressed its inability to participate.[3] 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) Host.
India 5–0 Chinese Taipei
 Report
Attendance: 2,569[4]
Referee: Nivon Robesh Gamini (Sri Lanka)
Kenya 2–1 New Zealand
 Report
India 3–0 Kenya
 Report
Attendance: 8,890[5]
Chinese Taipei 0–1 New Zealand
Report
India 1–2 New Zealand
 Report
Chinese Taipei 0–4 Kenya
Report

Final
India 2–0 Kenya
 Report
Referee: Nivon Robesh Gamini (Sri Lanka)

Crowd attendance

After a poor attendance of 2,569 for the first match of the tournament, Indian captain Sunil Chhetri uploaded a video[6] on his Twitter and Instagram accounts pleading for Indians to attend Indian football matches.[7] Chhetri's plea was endorsed by other sports people, including Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli, cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, and tennis player Sania Mirza.[8] 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.[9] 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.[10]

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.[11]

Goalscorers
8 goals
2 goals
1 goal

References
  1. "Mumbai Football Arena To Host Hero Intercontinental Cup From June 1". www.the-aiff.com. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  2. "AIFF announces inaugural four-nation Intercontinental Cup to be held in Mumbai". 20 April 2018.
  3. "Kenya replace South Africa in Intercontinental Cup". 7 May 2018.
  4. "'Scream at us, but come watch us': Indian captain Sunil Chhetri makes heartfelt plea to fans".
  5. @ThatUnitedLady (4 June 2018). "Attendance figures: India vs Chinese Taipei, June 1: 2569 India vs Kenya, today: 8890" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  6. @chetrisunil11 (2 June 2018). "This is nothing but a small plea from me to you. Take out a little time and give me a listen" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  7. "India captain Sunil Chhetri in plea to fans after only 2,569 watch cup game". bbc.com. BBC. 3 June 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  8. "'Can I have a ticket please?': Sania Mirza joins Tendulkar, Kohli in support of Chhetri's plea to football fans". moneycontrol.com. Moneycontrol.com. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  9. "After Sunil Chhetri's emotional plea, tickets for India game sold out". economictimes.indiatimes.com. The Economic Times. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  10. "Sunil Chhetri's plea to Indian fans marked as Golden Tweet by Twitter India". 6 December 2018.
  11. "Intercontinental Cup 2018: Venue, fixtures and TV guide". Sulthan's Monologue. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
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