2025 IFA Shield
Football tournament season
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The 2025 IFA Shield was the 125th edition of the IFA Shield hosted by the Indian Football Association. The tournament was planned to held in March 2025 but was pushed to October due to clash of fixtures from I-League and Indian Super League.
| ২০২৫ আইএফএ শিল্ড | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Country | India |
| Dates | 8–18 October |
| Teams | 6 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Mohun Bagan (21st title) |
| Runners-up | East Bengal |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 7 |
| Goals scored | 20 (2.86 per match) |
| Attendance | 65,880 (9,411 per match) |
| Top goal scorer(s) | Jamie Maclaren Hamid Ahadad (2 goals) |
The tournament will feature domestic teams from the Indian Super League and I-League. At first, international invitees like Paro FC (Bhutan) were invited but later the plan was withdrawn.[1][2][3]
Defending champions Real Kashmir were also invited to take part, but they denied. On 3 October, 6 participants were confirmed by IFA.
Teams
Here is the list of confirmed teams:[4][5]
| Club | Location |
|---|---|
| Indian Super League teams | |
| East Bengal | Kolkata, West Bengal |
| Mohun Bagan | |
| I-League teams | |
| Gokulam Kerala | Kozhikode, Kerala |
| Namdhari | Sri Bhaini Sahib, Punjab |
| Sreenidi Deccan | Hyderabad, Telangana |
| I-League 2 team | |
| United SC | Kalyani, West Bengal |
Venues
Format
6 teams will be divided into two groups of 3 teams. After a group stage consisting of single round-robin matches, top teams from each group will qualify for final.[5]
Rules
- Each team can register 6 foreign players.[4]
- 4 foreign players can play on the field at a time, and 2 can be used as substitutes.
Tiebreakers
Teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tie-breaking criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings.
- Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
- Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
- Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
- If more than two teams are tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
- Goal difference in all group matches;
- Goals scored in all group matches;
- Disciplinary points (yellow card = 1 point, red card as a result of two yellow cards = 3 points, direct red card = 3 points, yellow card followed by direct red card = 4 points);
- Drawing of lots.
Group stage
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | EAB | NAM | SDC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | East Bengal | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | +6 | 6 | Advance to the Final | 2–0 | 4–0 | ||
| 2 | Namdhari | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 3 | 3–0 | ||||
| 3 | Sreenidi Deccan | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | −7 | 0 |
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
| East Bengal | 4–0 | Sreenidi Deccan |
|---|---|---|
|
AIFF I-League PDF Report |
Man of the Match: Saúl Crespo (East Bengal)
| Sreenidi Deccan | 0–3 | Namdhari |
|---|---|---|
| AIFF I-League PDF Report |
|
Man of the Match: Moro Lamine (Namdhari)
- At first the venue was announced as Kalyani Stadium, but IFA later changed it to Kishore Bharati Krirangan.[6]
Man of the Match: Mohammed Rashid (East Bengal)
Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | MBG | USC | GOK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mohun Bagan | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | +6 | 6 | Advance to the Final | 2–0 | 5–1 | ||
| 2 | United SC | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 3 | 1–0 | ||||
| 3 | Gokulam Kerala | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 6 | −5 | 0 |
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Man of the Match: Jamie Maclaren (Mohun Bagan)
| United SC | 1–0 | Gokulam Kerala |
|---|---|---|
|
AIFF I-League PDF Report |
Man of the Match: Amit Basak (United SC)
Man of the Match: Robson (Mohun Bagan)
Final
The group toppers will qualify for the final directly. The match is going to be held on 18 October 2025 at Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan.
Match
Man of the Match: Naorem Mahesh (East Bengal)
        Mohun Bagan
|
  East Bengal
|
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Player of the Match
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Match rules
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Statistics
Goalscorers
- As of 18 October 2025
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Hamid Ahadad |
East Bengal | 2 |
 Jamie Maclaren |
Mohun Bagan | ||
| 2 |  Jay Gupta |
East Bengal | 1 |
| Jeakson Singh | |||
 Mohammed Rashid | |||
| PV Vishnu | |||
 Saúl Crespo | |||
| Alberto Rodríguez |
Mohun Bagan | ||
| Apuia | |||
| Dimi Petratos | |||
| Jason Cummings | |||
 Robson Robinho | |||
| Bhupinder Singh |
Namdhari | ||
| Guilherme Gomes | |||
 Lamine Moro | |||
| Amit Basak |
United SC | ||
| Own Goal(s) | 2 | ||
| Total | 18 | ||
Clean sheets
- As of 18 October 2025
| Rank | Player | Club | Clean Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Debjit Majumder |
East Bengal | 1 |
| Niraj Kumar Singh |
Namdhari | ||
| Prabhsukhan Singh Gill |
East Bengal | ||
| Suraj Ali |
United SC | ||
| Syed Zahid Hussain |
Mohun Bagan |
Prize money
| Place | Prize money (₹) |
|---|---|
| Champions | ₹5 lakh |
| Runners-up | ₹3 lakh |
Broadcasting
All matches were broadcast on a virtual platform of Shrachi Sports Entertainment Network (SSEN) app.[7] No television broadcasting was done.