Guwahati: The prestigious Durand Cup season for the Guwahati-based Northeast United Football Club (NEUFC) will get underway on Wednesday against Odisha.
The game will be held in Guwahati at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Sarusajai, and will begin from 5.30 p.m.
The Durand Cup, the oldest football competition in Asia, was first played in 1888. Three states will host the tournament this year.
The league features up to 20 teams, including 11 teams from the Indian Super League (ISL), 5 teams from the I-League, and 4 teams from the Indian Armed Forces.
Mohammedan SC defeated FC Goa by a score of three goals to one at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata to start the 131st edition of the competition. On September 18, the tournament’s championship match will take place there.
The games will be held at five locations spread over three states. The Salt Lake Stadium, Naihati Stadium, Kishore Bharati Stadium, Khuman Lampak Stadium, and Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in West Bengal, Imphal, Manipur, and Guwahati, Assam, respectively, are the venues chosen for the competition.
There are 11 ISL teams competing in the competition: ATK Mohun Bagan, Bengaluru, Chennaiyin, East Bengal, FC Goa, Hyderabad, Jamshedpur, Kerala Blasters, Mumbai City, NorthEast United, and Odisha.
Additionally, there are four military teams—Army Green, Army Red, Indian Air Force, and Indian Navy—and five I-League teams—Mohammedan, NEROCA, Rajasthan United, Sudeva Delhi, and TRAU.
The 20 clubs have been split up into four groups, with Group A consisting of Mohammedan, Bengaluru, FC Goa, Indian Air Force, and Jamshedpur. East Bengal, Mumbai City, Indian Navy, Rajasthan United, and ATK Mohun Bagan make up Group B.
Army Red, Hyderabad, Chennaiyin, NEROCA, TRAU, and Hyderabad make up Group C. Army Green, Sudeva Delhi, Kerala Blasters, and Odisha are the other teams in Group D alongside Northeast United FC.
Mohun Bagan and East Bengal have distinguished themselves as the most successful clubs in the long and famous history of the Durand Cup, having won 16 trophies apiece.