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] 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) |
| Top scorer(s) | Sunil Chhetri (8 goals) |
| Best player(s) | Sunil Chhetri |
|
2019 → | |
The FIFA Rankings, as of 1 June 2018:
South Africa India (97) Kenya (112) New Zealand (120) Chinese Taipei (121)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]
| 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 |
| India | 5–0 | Chinese Taipei |
|---|---|---|
 48' 78' |
Report |
Attendance: 2,569[4]
Referee: Nivon Robesh Gamini (Sri Lanka)
| Kenya | 2–1 | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|
69' |
Report |
|
Referee: Santhosh Kumar (India)
| India | 3–0 | Kenya |
|---|---|---|
|
71' |
Report |
Attendance: 8,890[5]
Referee: Hettikamkanamge Perera (Sri Lanka)
| Chinese Taipei | 0–1 | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Referee: C. R. Srikrishna (India)
| India | 1–2 | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
86' |
Referee: Hettikamkanamge Perera (Sri Lanka)
| Chinese Taipei | 0–4 | Kenya |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
55' (pen.), 88' 70' |
Referee: Santhosh Kumar (India)
| India | 2–0 | Kenya |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
Referee: Nivon Robesh Gamini (Sri Lanka)
| 2018 Intercontinental Cup champion |
|---|
 India First title |
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]
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]
Clifton Miheso Dennis Odhiambo Myer Bevan Moses Dyer Jeje Lalpekhlua Ovella Ochieng Pronay Halder Sarpreet Singh Timothy Otieno Udanta Singh