Odisha FC are the latest club from India to play in the knockout stage of the AFC Cup and only the third to have done it in their debut campaign. The Juggernauts came up top in the South Zone group by piping Bangladesh champions Bashundhara Kings and also averting challenges from the other ISL team in the contest, Mohun Bagan Super Giant and Maldivian winners Maziya S&RC. The 2022 Super Cup winners will now lock horns with Central Coast Mariners of Australia in the double-legged inter-zonal semi-final.
Like many other Indian clubs in the competition in the past, Odisha FC hopes to make the nation proud in the AFC Cup before a new tournament, AFC Champions League 2, comes in its place. Most of the clubs that participated at this stage managed to make it to the knockouts with some even going to the very end of the tournament. None has won the trophy but has produced unforgettable moments by playing in the competition which will always remain part of the legacy of those teams.
Here we looked at the performance of all the Indian clubs to have played in the AFC Cup:
One-Timers
Before going on to successful clubs in the competition, we look at those clubs that enjoyed AFC Cup football only for a season. It became a historical feat for them to play at the continental level and a moment to preserve. After a period of regular appearances in the AFC Cup from 2004-2009 by the likes of Mahindra United, Dempo, Mohun Bagan and East Bengal, other Indian clubs started coming to the stage. Churchill Brothers was the only club to make multiple appearances among the other one-timers in the competition with their best finish coming in their last appearance in 2014 where they reached the last-16. A third club from Goa, Salgaocar tried their luck but like the other future I-league champions Aizawl FC, Minerva Punjab, Chennai City and Gokulam Kerala, their journey ended in the group stages. Chennaiyin FC is the only founding club of ISL not to have reached the knockouts after participating in 2019.
Mahindra United
Founded in 1962, Mahindra United was the first club besides East Bengal to represent India in the inaugural edition of the AFC Cup in 2004. They qualified for the competition by winning the Federation Cup a year ago and finished third in the group stage in their debut campaign. The Mumbai-based side’s best-ever run at the continental level came in 2007 by advancing to the quarterfinals. Qualifying to the knockouts as the best second-placed side, a point better than fellow Indian side Mohun Bagan, they lost to Lebanon outfit Al-Nejmeh narrowly 4-5 on aggregate in the last four. After loads of success, Mahindra United was dissolved in 2010 with Pune FC as the other Indian club to play in the AFC Cup and stopped operating.
Dempo
Another historically successful club, Dempo SC took part in the AFC Cup five times and qualified for the knockouts in their last three appearances. The club from Goa brought incredible success in 2008 by becoming the first Indian team to reach the semi-final of the competition. National Football League holder back then, Dempo made it to the knockouts by being one of the best runners-up and beat Singaporean outfit Home United, now known as Lion City, in the quarterfinals by a 5-4 margin. Two more last-16 finishes followed in their last two campaigns in 2009 and 2011 before Dempo FC eventually pulled out from the I-League.
Mohun Bagan
Mohun Bagan has made the second-most appearances in the AFC Cup for an Indian club with seven and are the only side to maintain their stay at this stage for the last few seasons. Their first taste of the competition was in 2007 when they narrowly missed out on knockout football after coming second in their group. The Kolkata giants managed a last-16 berth back in 2016 which was their first qualification to the knockouts. However, their prominent ventures in the competition have come after they entered the ISL back in 2020 with simultaneous inter-zonal semi-final appearances in 2021 and 2022. Liston Colaco also became the first and only Indian player to score a hat-trick at the AFC stage.
East Bengal
In the inaugural itself, East Bengal became the first Indian Club in history to reach the knockout stage of the competition, making it to the quarterfinals. They are the only side to have done so.
Till now, the Red and Gold hold the record for most participation by an Indian club in the tournament with eight even though their last appearance was in 2015. East Bengal were the second Indian club to reach the AFC Cup semi-final stage in 2013 and they did it by staying unbeaten on the way. Chidi Edeh became the first player to score a hat trick for an Indian club at this level in the last-16 stage of that edition.
Bengaluru FC
However, none has quite produced the success Bengaluru FC has brought to the AFC Cup stage with the club formed only in 2013. The exceptional achievement of the Blues by becoming the first Indian club to reach the final of an AFC competition in 2016, in just their second continental campaign, will be hard to repeat. Under the tutorship of former FC Barcelona assistant coach Alberto Roca, the side beat then-defending champions Johor Darul Ta'zim in the semi-finals remarkably to enter the showpiece played on 5th November. Despite losing the final to eventual champions Air Force club from Iraq by 1-0, Bengaluru FC won the hearts of the Indian football fraternity. They also reached the inter-zonal playoff final in the next campaign and made it to the knockouts in their first four appearances since their debut in 201
