New Delhi : The Hero Intercontinental Cup, involving four teams, will be held in Bhubaneswar from June 9 to 18. This is the third edition of the football competition. The first edition, held in Mumbai in 2018, was won by India, while the next edition, to be held in Ahmedabad in 2019, was won by North Korea. Besides India, Lebanon, Mongolia and Vanuatu, among others, are participating in the tournament. The Indian men’s national team had never played against Mongolia and Vanuatu. The hosts have won six matches against Lebanon.
On 31 May, the captain of the Indian football team, Sunil Chhetri, handed over the first ticket to the Chief Minister in the presence of the General Secretary of the Indian Football Federation (AIFF), Dr Shaji Prabhakaran, and the coach of the Indian football team, Igor Stimek. Earlier this year, Odisha successfully hosted the Men’s Hockey World Cup at Bhubaneswar and Rourkela.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said, “Football is very popular in Odisha. It is yet another honour for us to host this great event which is sure to generate interest among many football fans in the state and across India. We wish the teams the best of luck and call upon the fans to come out in large numbers to witness some first class football.
The state’s interest in football is growing as state partner Odisha FC, based at the Kalinga Sports Complex, recently won the prestigious Super Cup. The association with Odisha FC has enabled the state to build a strong grassroots structure. With two teams in the Indian Women’s League (IWL), Odisha is the only state to hold this distinction.
Odisha is also emerging as a major football centre. Odisha hosted the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2022, SAFF U-20 Championship 2022, matches in the ISL, IWL 2021-22 and Odisha Women’s League, which has given a huge boost to the growth of the football ecosystem in the state and has been encouraged.
In association with the AIFF, Bhubaneswar is also the base for the India U16 and U19 teams, who frequently hold training camps and sessions there in state-of-the-art infrastructure. The Intercontinental Cup will open on 9 June with Lebanon playing Vanuatu, while the home team will play their first match against Mongolia.
The Indian team is currently unbeaten on the pitch. The streak began on 8 June 2022 with a 2-0 win over Cambodia in the third qualifying round of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup in Kolkata. Since then, Igor Stimac’s side have defeated Afghanistan (2-1), Hong Kong (4-0), Myanmar (1-0) and the Kyrgyz Federation (2-0) in Imphal en route to the tri-nation tournament.
The Indian football team is on the rise, and the government is doing all possible to promote the sport, including the foundation of the Indian Super League
