# Super Cup (India)

The Super Cup, also known as the AIFF Super Cup, is an annual premier football cup competition in Indian football. It was founded on February 19, 2018 as a replacement for Federation Cup. Organised by the All India Football Federation (AIFF), the competition is open to the Indian Super League and the I-League, the top two divisions of the Indian football league system respectively.

## History

On 19 February 2018, the All India Football Federation announced the creation of the Super Cup as a reformed Federation Cup, India's main knockout football tournament. The qualifiers for the inaugural recherished tournament were held between 15–16 March. The tournament proper then commenced on 31 March and concluded with the final on 20 April 2018. Bengaluru emerged as the winners of the inaugural edition of the recherished tournament. They defeated East Bengal 4–1 in the final.
In the second edition, seven I-League clubs, namely Minerva Punjab, East Bengal, Mohun Bagan, NEROCA, Gokulam Kerala, Aizawl and Churchill Brothers withdrew from the competition citing "unfair treatment to I-League clubs by the AIFF."
From 2020 to 2022, the competition was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For the 2024 season onwards the Super Cup was renamed as the Kalinga Super Cup. Inaugural edition was played between 9 and 28 January.

## Competition format

Until 2019, the competition proper was a 16-team knockout tournament. In the event of a match being drawn after the group stage, the extra time was played, followed by a penalty shoot-out if required.
In 2024, the competition comprised 16 clubs in group stage. All clubs in the top tier Indian Super League entered the group stage, and the I-League clubs played qualifiers for the four remaining spots. During the group stage, clubs were divided into four groups of four, playing against each other in a single round-robin format. At the end of the group stage, the club with the most points qualified to the semi-finals. The competition then culminated with the final to determine the champions, presented with the trophy and a spot in the AFC Champions League Two qualifiers.

## Winners
### Super Cup finals

| Season | Winner | Score | Runner-up | Venue | Top scorer |
| 2018 | Bengaluru | 4–1 | East Bengal | Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar | Sunil Chhetri (6) |
| 2019 | Goa | 2–1 | Chennaiyin | Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar | Coro (5) |
| 2020–2022 | Tournament suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Indian National Team's international fixtures | Tournament suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Indian National Team's international fixtures | Tournament suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Indian National Team's international fixtures | Tournament suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Indian National Team's international fixtures | Tournament suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Indian National Team's international fixtures |
| 2023 | Odisha | 2–1 | Bengaluru | EMS Stadium, Kozhikode | Wilmar Jordán (7) |
| 2024 | East Bengal | 3–2 | Odisha | Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar | Cleiton Silva (5) |

### Performance by club

| Club | Wins | Winning years | Runners-up | Total finals appearances |
| Bengaluru | 1 | 2018 | 1 | 2 |
| Odisha | 1 | 2023 | 1 | 2 |
| East Bengal | 1 | 2024 | 1 | 2 |
| Goa | 1 | 2019 | 0 | 1 |
| Chennaiyin | 0 | – | 1 | 1 |

### List of winning coaches

| Season | Winning Head coach | Club | Runner-up Head coach | Club |
| 2018 | Albert Roca | Bengaluru | Khalid Jamil | East Bengal |
| 2019 | Sergio Lobera | Goa | John Gregory | Chennaiyin |
| 2023 | Clifford Miranda | Odisha | Simon Grayson | Bengaluru |
| 2024 | Carles Cuadrat | East Bengal | Sergio Lobera | Odisha |

## Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Goals | Apps | Years | Club(s) |
| 1 | Sunil Chhetri | 9 | 10 | 2018–2023 | Bengaluru |
| 2 | Wilmar Jordán | 8 | 7 | 2023–2024 | NorthEast United, Punjab |
| 2 | Diego Maurício | 8 | 10 | 2023–2024 | Odisha |
| 4 | Coro | 7 | 7 | 2018–2019 | Goa |
| 4 | Nandhakumar Sekar | 7 | 14 | 2023–2024 | Odisha, East Bengal |
| 6 | Ansumana Kromah | 6 | 8 | 2018–2023 | East Bengal, Churchill Brothers |
| 7 | Miku | 5 | 5 | 2018–2019 | Bengaluru |
| 7 | Dimitrios Diamantakos | 5 | 6 | 2023–2024 | Kerala Blasters |
| 7 | Cleiton Silva | 5 | 8 | 2023–2024 | East Bengal |

## Sponsorship and media coverage
### Sponsorship

The title sponsor for the Super Cup was Hero MotoCorp until the 2023 edition. Hero MotoCorp was also the title sponsor for the Indian Super League and I-League, the leagues which comprise Super Cup participants. The next title sponsor was the Government of Odisha with the tournament being known as Kalinga Super Cup.
| Period | Sponsor | Tournament |
| 2018–2023 | Hero MotoCorp | Hero Super Cup |
| 2023–2024 | Government of Odisha and Odisha Tourism | Kalinga Super Cup |
| 2025– | | |

### Media coverage

Star Sports was the official broadcaster for the AIFF Super Cup, with all matches being broadcast on the channel, and Disney+ Hotstar was the official online streaming partner of the tournament. Since 2023, Sony Sports and FanCode became the official media partners.
Television :
| Period | Broadcaster | Region |
| 2018–2019 | Star Sports | India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka |
| 2018–2019 | Fox Sports | Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Myanmar, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam |
| 2018–2019 | ATN Channel | Canada |
| 2018–2019 | ESPN+ | United States of America |
| 2018–2019 | OSN Sports | Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Yemen |
| 2018–2019 | Star Gold UK | England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales |
| 2018–2019 | SuperSport | South Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa |
| 2018–2019 | Eurosport | Europe |
| 2018–2019 | ESPN Africa | Parts of Africa |
| 2023 | Sony Sports Network | India |
Online streaming :
| Period | Broadcaster | Region |
| 2018–2019 | Disney+ Hotstar | Worldwide |
| 2023 | FanCode | India |
| 2024 | JioCinema | India |
| 2025– | JioHotstar | India |